The First Christmas Present to America - 1776 - The Revolution is saved at Trenton

Ernest R. Bower | December 25, 2003 | Ernest R. Bower

[XRdsRev]

Merry Christmas and God Bless America !

[Eala]

ping

[txzman]

Great Post - Thank You and merry Christmas. By the way, where is the story from - is that your writing?

[hershey]

Terrific post! One of my all time favorite A&E films, 'The Crossing', documents this wonderfully (with a little artistic license).

[Congressman Billybob]

It's unfortunate that the writer of this excellent piece doesn't know the correct use of the word "it's."

A sidebar story to this one is that General Washington brought to his encampment, days before this attack, Thomas Paine, whose American Crisis I had just been published in Philadelphia. Washington directed Paine to read his work before the assembled troops. It began with these words:

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman...."

Congressman Billybob

Click here to stick a thumb in the eye of CFR, "Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob."

[XRdsRev]

Oops. Sorry about that. I originally wrote this piece last night but the file was accidentally deleted. I had to undertake a quick rewrite this morning from memory and made a few errors. I see that I misused "it's" in several places and also was a little redundant in my word choice. Probably screwed up the "comma" things too.

I need an editor ! hahaha

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

[Ditto]

Immediately, two American officers, William Washington and future president James Monroe, spurred their horses forward and attacked the enemy pickets themselves.

Great post. I know Monroe was a young officer at Trenton, and even wounded there taking out some Hessian cannon, but I thought it was Alexander Hamilton who helped take out the pickets.

[XRdsRev]

Hamilton was at General Washington's side and witnessed this episode but did not actually take part in it. Here is an excerpt from an account by a Hunterdon County (NJ) militiaman who witnessed the attack on the picket post.

"Among our company was an artillery station, under the charge of Lt. James Munroe. Lt. Monroe started the Battle of Trenton, by storming the Hessian outpost in the Howell house, just north of Five Points. He received a rifle ball to the artery of his arm, and nearly bled to death. He lived to be President of the USA. Lt. Monroe and his captain were the only two Colonial men wounded in that battle."

[Ditto]

Thanks for the info.

[Natural Law]

I am a decendant of one who participated in the action. My family lore, passed down from generation to generation, has a different spin. My ancestor's version was that many of the Hessians were conscripts. Being from poor and underclassed families in Germany, they had no hope for land or betterment. The surrender was a negotiated deal in which the Hessians would receive amnesty, annomity, farm land and integration into a German speaking community in Pennsylvania. The Continental Army would receive the publicity boost necessary to gain further funding from Congress. When the American troops arrived the Hessians were well into a celebration and were none too sober. A British officer was shot by a Hessian when he attempted to form an organized resistance.

[SAMWolf]

Trenton Bump

[fella]

"The Crossing" is a fine show and should be played every Xmas to remind us of what our forfathers had to do to gain for us what we have. Gods' blessings was gained for us by what they did, we should give God and them thanks.

[Coleus]

Christmas 1776



Washington was able to assemble a force totaling about 7,000 by the last week of December 1776. If he was to use this force, he would have to do so before the enlistments expired on December 31. With great boldness, Washington formulated a plan to strike by surprise at the Hessian garrisons at Trenton and Bordentown on Christmas night, when the troops might be expected to relax their guard for holiday revelry. A Continental force of 2,400 men under Washington's personal command was to cross the Delaware at McConkey's Ferry above Trenton and then proceed in two columns by different routes, converging on the opposite ends of the main street of Trenton in the early morning of December 26. A second force, mainly militia, under Col. John Cadwalader was to cross below near Bordentown to attack the Hessian garrison there; a third, also militia, under Brig. Gen. James Ewing, was to cross directly opposite Trenton to block the Hessian route of escape across Assunpink Creek.


Trenton, New Jersey, 26 December 1776. General Washington here matched surprise and endurance against the superior numbers and training of the British, and the Continental Army won its first victory in long months of painful striving. Trenton eliminated 1,000 Hessians and drove the British from their salient in New Jersey. It saved the flagging American cause and put new heart into Washinton's men. Alexander Hamilton's Company of New York Artillery (now D Battery*, 5th Field Artillery) opened the fight at dawn, blasting the bewildered Hessians as they tried to form ranks in the streets.

Christmas night was cold, windy, and snowy and the Delaware River was filled with blocks of ice. Neither Cadwalader nor Ewing was able to fulfill his part of the plan. Driven on by Washington's indomitable will, the main force did cross as planned and the two columns, commanded respectively by Greene and Sullivan, converged on Trenton at eight o'clock in the morning of December 26, taking the Hessians completely by surprise. A New England private noted in his diary for the 26th: "This morning at 4 a clock we set off with our Field pieces and Marched 8 miles to Trenton where we ware attacked by a Number of Hushing and we Toock 1000 of them besides killed some. Then we marched back and got to the River at Night and got over all the Hushing." This rather undramatic description of a very dramatic event was not far wrong, except in attributing the attack to the "Hushings." The Hessians surrendered after a fight lasting only an hour and a half. Forty were killed and the prisoner count was 918. Only 400 escaped to Bordentown, and these only because Ewing was not in place to block their escape. The Americans lost only 4 dead and 4 wounded.



www.americanrevolution.com

[XRdsRev]

I am afraid your family lore is very far from the truth. The Hessians were highly disciplined and their officers were dedicated noble men, most with Royal titles back home. They would not barter away their honor and they would have been very foolish indeed to negotiate their surrender with an enemy that they had pretty much beaten to a pulp.

On December 25, 1776, every Hessian and British soldier believed that they had the war won...why would they consider surrendering ?

Finally, I will have to check my research but I don't think any British soldiers or officers were either killed, wounded or captured at Trenton.

[Natural Law]

I've never seen an official history that wasn't somehow embellished to make the victors look more noble and brave.

The undisputed facts are that the socalled professional soldiers were captured by the rag-tag band of colonials with very few casualties and many of the Hessians actually disappeared into Pannsylvania "Dutch" (aka Deutsch) territory. No offense, but I'll stick to the family lore.

[XRdsRev]

I don't base my research on "official" histories, my research is focused whenever possible on first person period accounts or records written shortly thereafter.

You can believe whatever story you wish. I don't mean to disparage your family lore but generally family legends are not very accurate compared to documentary evidence. The concept that the Hessians had pre-arranged to surrender to the Americans at Trenton is laughable and is not corroborated by any documented period accounts nor does it make any sense if you understand the circumstances that faced the armies in late December 1776.

The concept of the Hessians pre-arranging their surrender to the Americans at Trenton makes about as much sense as would General Grant making a deal to surrender the Union Army to General Lee at Appomattox. It makes no sense.

Wow, I am shocked that any reasonable person would even infer what you did.



Lets have a little fun....if the Hessians had indeed agreed to surrender beforehand to the Americans as you seem to believe, answer these questions.

1) Why didn't they just march to the Delaware, stack their arms and surrender right from the start ? Once they had surrendered, they would have been dishonored in the eyes of their King, regardless of whether they fought or not, so why not just give up without firing a shot ?

2) Did the 100+ Hessians who were killed or wounded, forget the plan ? It must have really sucked for the guys who were killed since they didn't get a very good deal.

3) If surrender was such a good idea for the Hessian enlistedmen, why did over 600 Hessian soldiers flee the town, swim across a frigid creek to get away and run for reinforcements at Bordentown, only a few miles away ? I guess they hadn't been told about the plan.

4) Did it ever occur to you that your family lore might be cover for the fact that the Hessians were embarrassed by the fact that the ragtag Americans completely defeated them ? What better way to preserve their shattered dignity than to say they hadn't been beaten, that their defeat had all been part of a larger planned conspiracy.

If I had been a Hessian, I would have been very embarrassed by what happened at Trenton. Especially in the eyes of my countrymen who would have expected me to fight to the death rather than surrender myself to a barefoot American farmer. If I were in their shoes, I might have made up a convenient story to cover my a*s too.

[Coleus]

[narses]

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[Incorrigible]

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