VICTORY AT TRENTON AFTER THE DELAWARE CROSSING

Victory at Trenton after the Delaware crossing

On a bitter, stormy Christmas night, George Washington led a force of Continental soldiers and militia across the ice-choked Delaware River, gambling that a surprise strike could salvage a collapsing cause. The men pushed heavy boats through wind, snow, and freezing rain, then trudged toward Trenton in the dark with muskets that sometimes would not fire properly in the cold. At dawn on December 26th, 1776, they fell on the Hessian garrison, German troops hired by Britain to fight in America, and shattered it in a sharp battle that lasted only hours. Hundreds of enemy soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured, and the Americans seized badly needed weapons and supplies. Strategically, the victory did not decide the war, but it changed the mood of a struggling army and a doubtful population. Trenton proved that the Continental Army could still strike hard and win, and it gave Washington the momentum to continue a winter campaign that kept the Revolution alive.