Common assault , as NJ explains, does not need any physical contact at all. Someone who threw a punch but missed, doesn't deserve any credit, and the law doesn't give him any.Assault is any act, deliberate or reckless, which causes another to apprehend, to fear, immediate unlawful violence.
There are some delightful old cases illustrating this principle of no direct contact; one man deliberately frightened a horse so the rider would fall off, another encouraged his dog to attack someone ,to frighten them, and so on. All involved acts which deliberately or recklessly put the victim in fear of violence. Technically, hitting some one is battery, not mere assault
Nowadays, the fashion is to charge assault where someone is hit as "assault by battery" or "did assault X by beating" or some such words. What words are used in the charge in this case?