At the “halfway” point between Philadelphia and New York, a wooden bridge over the Millstone River was constructed in 1705. A second bridge replaced the first in 1738. It was made of stone with wooden planking.
On January 3, 1777, George Washington and his Continentals crossed over the bridge after their victory at Princeton. Upon reaching high ground, the Commander-in-Chief ordered Captain Thomas Rodney of the Dover Light Infantry and a number of carpenters to remove the planking, thereby sundering the bridge. This rendered the span temporarily impassable for pursuing enemy forces led by General Cornwallis.
This allowed the American forces to add at least two hours of separation time from the enemy. Without sundering the bridge, the Americans would probably have been overtaken and defeated by a larger, superior force.
Resource: Section of: (1777) Plan of the operations of General Washington against the King’s troops in New Jersey, from the 26th of December to the 3rd of January 1777. [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/gm71000654/.