Trenton: The Crossing

By December 1776, the Continental Army had been driven out of New York, chased across New Jersey, and reduced to a fraction of its strength. Enlistments for most of the army were set to expire on December 31. Washington decided to attack. On Christmas night his army crossed the ice-choked Delaware River and marched on the Hessian garrison at Trenton. The attack orders, copied in Henry Knox's own hand with a map of the town on the reverse, survive at the Gilder Lehrman Institute. So does Knox's letter to his wife written two days later, and Washington's own report to Congress.

Washington's plan called for three columns to cross the Delaware on the night of December 25 and converge on Trenton at five in the morning. Two of the three columns were unable to cross because of ice in the river, leaving Washington with roughly 2,400 men, 3,000 fewer than planned. Henry Knox, the army's chief artillery officer, carried his own copy of the written orders, with a map of Trenton sketched on the reverse.

Despite the weather, Knox wrote that the army crossed and marched in near total silence. The storm that nearly stopped the crossing also concealed the army's approach. The Hessian garrison, commanded by Colonel Johann Rall, had posted no long-range patrols that night because of the severe weather.

The Continental Army reached Trenton around eight in the morning, behind schedule but undetected. Washington split his force into two columns, one under Nathanael Greene attacking from the north, the other under John Sullivan cutting off the southern escape route. The fighting in the streets was brief and one-sided. Rall was mortally wounded attempting to rally his men and formally surrendered to Washington before he died.

Washington reported the victory to Congress the next day. His letter, and the extensive editorial footnotes accompanying it at Founders Online, cite multiple corroborating accounts from officers present, including Tench Tilghman's letters and a Hessian officer's diary describing the same engagement from the other side.

The military significance of Trenton was smaller than its psychological effect. Congress, hearing of the victory within days, regained confidence in Washington's command. The army's enlistments, set to expire days later, were extended. Washington followed Trenton with another crossing and the Battle of Princeton a week later, driving British forces out of most of New Jersey and ending a campaign year that had begun in near-total collapse with something the Continental cause badly needed: proof that the army could win.