George Washington needed a miracle. As the turbulent year of 1776 was drawing to a close, things looked pretty grim for the revolutionary guerrillas. Colonial forces, mostly made up of irregulars who used to be farmers, were getting the snot beat out of them by well-trained, well-disciplined, well-equipped British forces. It was a make or break situation.
Washington was desperate
As Christmas day approached, revolutionary General George Washington was desperate to claim a decisive victory. While fiery passion for freedom spurred the colonies to declare war on the English oppressors, the realities of warfare dampened their ardor.
The defeat of colonial forces at New York City, and it’s fall to the British months earlier, became the first setback of many. As George and his ragtag army retreated south, the British chased them through New Jersey and Delaware. The enemy were threatening the colonial capitol itself, with the King’s forces poised just outside Philadelphia.
Not only was his army cold, hungry, ill-equipped, and demoralized, Washington was painfully aware that the Continental Army troop enlistments were about to expire on December 31.
He knew that the only way their new nation would survive the winter was though a Christmas miracle. That got the part of his brain which crafted strategy considering the prospects. George needed a miracle so bad, he decided to make one or die trying.
Earlier in the month, colonial guerrilla forces made a raid across the river in Delaware, where they “destroyed or captured all watercraft for a 75-mile stretch along the river to deter the British from crossing.”
Since the British high command considered Washington and his band of misfits nothing but an annoyance, “General Howe decided to move his men into winter quarters in Trenton, Pennington and Bordentown, New Jersey.” He set up his command post in Brunswick and dug in for the winter.
Drunken barbarians
While the British troops were too well trained, equipped, and defended to attack head on, Washington knew that their barbarian mercenaries, the Hessians, weren’t nearly as professional as they should be. George knew full well they would be drinking and carousing through the day, never imagining the Americans would attack on a Christian religious holiday.
George might be Christian but he wasn’t going to stand on tradition if it meant getting his troops wiped out and his buddies all hung. That gave him the spark of an idea he needed.
The Hessians picked Trenton to camp. So, while the German mercenaries were drinking and carousing, George Washington led 2,400 troops to the edge of the ice-encrusted Delaware river and waited for nightfall.
The troops were in bad shape. “many lacking warm winter clothing.” Some didn’t even have shoes. The forces were split in three divisions for well separated crossings. The general took command of one and they waited for the cover of darkness.
In freezing blackness and horrid weather conditions, the troops plunged into the icy river. With all the snow, sleet, and hail coming down, the Hessians were lulled into a false sense of security. They didn’t know what kind of a maniac George Washington really was. They also didn’t know what hit them because they were too hung over to fight. George “managed to capture more than 900 men and their weapons and accouterments, and lost only two soldiers.”
British General Howe “was so stunned by the outcome of Trenton that he sent for General Cornwallis, who was about to board a ship for England, to return to New Jersey to command the army.” That battle was a turning point for American forces. Not only did General George became an overnight hero, Washington would go on to score successive victories at the Battles of the Assunpink Creek and Princeton.” The rest is history.
