The French and Indian War
George Washington first gained public notice late in 1753 when he volunteered to carry a message from Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia to the French moving into the Ohio country, warning them to quit the territory, which the British claimed. In delivery the message Washington learned that the French were planning a further advance. He hurried to get back to Virginia, where he was commissioned lieutenant colonel by Dinwiddie and sent with about 400 men to reinforce the post that Dinwiddie had ordered built at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.
The French captured the post before he can reach it, and hearing they were approaching in force, Washington retired to the Great Meadows to build an entrance camp.
In late May,he won his first military victory when he supervised a small body of french troops. The French soon revenged this defeat, overwhelming him with a superior force at Fort Necessity on July 3rd, 1754.
Washington surrendered on easy terms on July 4th and returned to Virginia with all of the survivors of his command. These battles marked the beginning of the end of the French and Indian Wars in America, in which Washington continued to figure.
The French captured the post before he can reach it, and hearing they were approaching in force, Washington retired to the Great Meadows to build an entrance camp.
In late May,he won his first military victory when he supervised a small body of french troops. The French soon revenged this defeat, overwhelming him with a superior force at Fort Necessity on July 3rd, 1754.
Washington surrendered on easy terms on July 4th and returned to Virginia with all of the survivors of his command. These battles marked the beginning of the end of the French and Indian Wars in America, in which Washington continued to figure.
Revolutionary War
Washington's convictions were soon put to the test. On 16 December 1773, angry Bostonians led by Samuel Adams dumped 45 tons of tea into Boston Harbor, protesting Parliament's Tea Act. The Boston Tea Party was only the latest in a string of increasingly tense encounters between Bostonians and the British. Alarmed, and already disposed to be angry, the British Parliament passed a series of punitive measures and sent a garrison of soldiers to shut down the port of Boston.
For many colonists, military occupation was a step too far. Thomas Jefferson introduced a resolution calling for Virginia to stand in solidarity with Boston. His proposal infuriated the royal governor, who promptly dissolved the Virginia legislature. The Virginia representatives, seeing in the governor's actions more proof of the Crown's corruption, reconvened at a tavern down the street and called for a continental congress to coordinate the colonies' response to Britain's aggression. Washington supported the resolution wholeheartedly and was chosen as a congressional delegate.
Whatever Washington saw at that congress must have convinced him that war was imminent. The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia and disbanded about a month later, having made plans for a Second Congress the following May.
Washington had been right: by the time the Second Congress met, war was already a reality. British regulars and Massachusetts militia fought the first engagements of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775. After convening a few weeks later Congress asked Washington to chair committees on military affairs and preparedness. When British general Thomas Gage declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion, Congress decided to raise an army, and Washington was the obvious choice to lead it.
On 15 June, at the instigation of John Adams, Washington was named commander in chief of the forces of the United Colonies. Two weeks later, he was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working to turn the local militias into the Continental army.
Washington's first military priority was creating an efficient and well-trained army. This was even more difficult than it sounds. At the time, most colonial statesmen were in the grip of the "myth of the militia," which was a blind faith that untrained citizens organized into voluntary militias fighting to defend their own communities were more effective than a regular standing army. The myth of the militia was fed by an early victory against the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill and remained strong well through the end of the eighteenth century.
Washington didn't buy it. The best success he'd achieved in his own career had been with his professionally staffed and trained Virginia Regiment, and he'd seen militias break and run under enemy fire too often to put much faith in them. If he was going to fight the professional British army, he needed a professional army of his own.
In order to get one, he had to convince the Congress and colonists to get over their militia fetish. He spent his first years as commander by persuading doubtful recruits and lobbying to extend the duration of enlistments. He tried to standardize militia training and reassure locals that a standing army would not oppress them. Thanks to the large number of immigrants, Washington was finally able to gather the power to staff his army. But that didn't mean it could fight. It took several years of drilling, organizing, and preparing before his army was very credible.
Once he had his army, Washington had to find a way to use it to win the war. His own preference was for a decisive confrontation—a big victory that would demoralize the British and assure American independence. Unfortunately, the British were better at those kinds of direct fights than the colonists were. The British had naval support and well-trained veterans who could be counted on under fire. Washington tried a couple of direct confrontations at the beginning of the war, but only sheer luck saved his army from total extermination. Eventually, he came to realize that the way to win the war was not to lose it.
Since the British would defeat the Continental army in a head-on fight, Washington needed to avoid any direct confrontation. Taking a page from the Roman general Fabius marching his army up and down the eastern seaboard, fighting only small battles he knew he could win. Washington reasoned that, since the army was far from home, it would have a hard time rebuilding as the war dragged on. If the Continental army could weaken the British a little every day, it would shift the balance of forces and might scrape out a victory in the end.
Washington's strategy worked. In 1777, surprise victories by his northern army at Saratoga convinced the French to join the war on the colonists' side. By the end of the decade, Washington's army was in top form, the British were becoming ragged, and Washington was ready to hazard a more decisive encounter. In 1781, he learned that General Cornwallis had encamped his British troops in Yorktown, Washington saw his opportunity. With the help of the French fleet, Washington's Continental army trapped Cornwallis's army. Their surrender on October 19, 1781 effectively marked the end of the war, although the formal peace treaty wouldn't be signed for another two years. When the Treaty of Paris was finally signed on September 3, 1783, it merely recognized what had long been clear to the soldiers on the ground: Washington had won American independence.
For many colonists, military occupation was a step too far. Thomas Jefferson introduced a resolution calling for Virginia to stand in solidarity with Boston. His proposal infuriated the royal governor, who promptly dissolved the Virginia legislature. The Virginia representatives, seeing in the governor's actions more proof of the Crown's corruption, reconvened at a tavern down the street and called for a continental congress to coordinate the colonies' response to Britain's aggression. Washington supported the resolution wholeheartedly and was chosen as a congressional delegate.
Whatever Washington saw at that congress must have convinced him that war was imminent. The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia and disbanded about a month later, having made plans for a Second Congress the following May.
Washington had been right: by the time the Second Congress met, war was already a reality. British regulars and Massachusetts militia fought the first engagements of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775. After convening a few weeks later Congress asked Washington to chair committees on military affairs and preparedness. When British general Thomas Gage declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion, Congress decided to raise an army, and Washington was the obvious choice to lead it.
On 15 June, at the instigation of John Adams, Washington was named commander in chief of the forces of the United Colonies. Two weeks later, he was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working to turn the local militias into the Continental army.
Washington's first military priority was creating an efficient and well-trained army. This was even more difficult than it sounds. At the time, most colonial statesmen were in the grip of the "myth of the militia," which was a blind faith that untrained citizens organized into voluntary militias fighting to defend their own communities were more effective than a regular standing army. The myth of the militia was fed by an early victory against the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill and remained strong well through the end of the eighteenth century.
Washington didn't buy it. The best success he'd achieved in his own career had been with his professionally staffed and trained Virginia Regiment, and he'd seen militias break and run under enemy fire too often to put much faith in them. If he was going to fight the professional British army, he needed a professional army of his own.
In order to get one, he had to convince the Congress and colonists to get over their militia fetish. He spent his first years as commander by persuading doubtful recruits and lobbying to extend the duration of enlistments. He tried to standardize militia training and reassure locals that a standing army would not oppress them. Thanks to the large number of immigrants, Washington was finally able to gather the power to staff his army. But that didn't mean it could fight. It took several years of drilling, organizing, and preparing before his army was very credible.
Once he had his army, Washington had to find a way to use it to win the war. His own preference was for a decisive confrontation—a big victory that would demoralize the British and assure American independence. Unfortunately, the British were better at those kinds of direct fights than the colonists were. The British had naval support and well-trained veterans who could be counted on under fire. Washington tried a couple of direct confrontations at the beginning of the war, but only sheer luck saved his army from total extermination. Eventually, he came to realize that the way to win the war was not to lose it.
Since the British would defeat the Continental army in a head-on fight, Washington needed to avoid any direct confrontation. Taking a page from the Roman general Fabius marching his army up and down the eastern seaboard, fighting only small battles he knew he could win. Washington reasoned that, since the army was far from home, it would have a hard time rebuilding as the war dragged on. If the Continental army could weaken the British a little every day, it would shift the balance of forces and might scrape out a victory in the end.
Washington's strategy worked. In 1777, surprise victories by his northern army at Saratoga convinced the French to join the war on the colonists' side. By the end of the decade, Washington's army was in top form, the British were becoming ragged, and Washington was ready to hazard a more decisive encounter. In 1781, he learned that General Cornwallis had encamped his British troops in Yorktown, Washington saw his opportunity. With the help of the French fleet, Washington's Continental army trapped Cornwallis's army. Their surrender on October 19, 1781 effectively marked the end of the war, although the formal peace treaty wouldn't be signed for another two years. When the Treaty of Paris was finally signed on September 3, 1783, it merely recognized what had long been clear to the soldiers on the ground: Washington had won American independence.
Battles
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
Date
Wednesday, April 19, 1775
Weather
55-65`F, winds calm
Location
Lexington and Concord Massachusetts
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were actually the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. About 700 British Army soldiers, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were ordered to capture and destroy military supplies that were snugly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Dr. Joseph Warren alerted the colonists of this. The Patriot colonists had received news weeks before the journey which warned of an impending British search, and had moved much, but not all, of the supplies to safety. They had also received details about British plans on the night before the battle, and information was rapidly supplied to the militia.
The first shots were fired just as the sun was coming up at Lexington. The militia were outnumbered and fell back. Other British colonists, hours later at the North Bridge in Concord, fought and defeated 3 companies of the king's troops. The outnumbered soldiers of the British Army fell back from the Minutemen after a pitched battle in open territory.
More Minutemen arrived soon thereafter and put heavy damage on the British regulars as they marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Hugh, Earl Percy. A combined force of fewer than 1,700 men marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a careful withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown.
The British failed to keep the secrecy and speed required to create a successful strike into hostile territory, yet they did destroy some weapons and supplies. Most British regulars returned to Boston. The occupation of surrounding areas by the Massachusetts Militia that evening marked the beginning of the Siege of Boston.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his Concord Hymn described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard 'round the world".
Date
Wednesday, April 19, 1775
Weather
55-65`F, winds calm
Location
Lexington and Concord Massachusetts
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were actually the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. About 700 British Army soldiers, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were ordered to capture and destroy military supplies that were snugly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Dr. Joseph Warren alerted the colonists of this. The Patriot colonists had received news weeks before the journey which warned of an impending British search, and had moved much, but not all, of the supplies to safety. They had also received details about British plans on the night before the battle, and information was rapidly supplied to the militia.
The first shots were fired just as the sun was coming up at Lexington. The militia were outnumbered and fell back. Other British colonists, hours later at the North Bridge in Concord, fought and defeated 3 companies of the king's troops. The outnumbered soldiers of the British Army fell back from the Minutemen after a pitched battle in open territory.
More Minutemen arrived soon thereafter and put heavy damage on the British regulars as they marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Hugh, Earl Percy. A combined force of fewer than 1,700 men marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a careful withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown.
The British failed to keep the secrecy and speed required to create a successful strike into hostile territory, yet they did destroy some weapons and supplies. Most British regulars returned to Boston. The occupation of surrounding areas by the Massachusetts Militia that evening marked the beginning of the Siege of Boston.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his Concord Hymn described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard 'round the world".
Battle of Princeton
The British General Howe orders Cornwallis to Princeton to gather all
available troops for a counter attack. January 2nd Cornwallis marches on Trenton with about 6000 men, leaving 3 regiments of the 4th Brigade at Princeton as rear-guard, under Colonel. Maw-hood. At Maidenhead (now Lawrence-ville) the British on Jan 2nd meet with American units who begin a fighting withdrawal, ambushing and delaying the British. It is 4 P.M. when the British finally get to Trenton, to find Washington entrenched but out numbered
and outclassed. Washington has but five thousand-two hundred men, many unreliable militia. Washington has moved his troops to on the south side of the Assunpink Creek, a sturdy position, and repels several attempts of the British to take the bridge. Night fell finally. Since his troops are tired, Cornwallis decides to wait to attack until morning, when he can "bag the fox" as he says. His officers want to attack now, scared of Washington's known ability to retreat and escape.
During the night, Washington leaves a few men to keep the campfires burning, make entrenchment noises, and keep up appearances, while the rest of the army moves around the British forces toward Princeton, where they can attack the rear of the British forces and maybe even capture the seventy thousand pound sterling war treasury of Howe, New Brunswick. Washington orders silence and the orders are given in whispers. Taking back roads the Americans move to the south around the British and swing towards Princeton. Main roads at this time are poor tracks-some of these back roads are little more than trails which had already become unused as the area was settled and the troops stumble along them in the dark all night. Luckily a freeze has set in with nightfall and the roads are frozen and usable for both men and cannon.
At dawn, Colonel. Maw-hood has begun to follow in the wake of Cornwallis to Trenton, with his 17th Foot of the 4th Brigade followed by the 55th, and the 40th regiment ordered to remain in Princeton. Now the Americans under General Mercer who had been sent to guard the left flank and the 17th under Maw-hood discover each other at the same time, and move to attack. The 55th moves back into Princeton. Mercer and Maw-hood each believe they have encountered a patrol. Maw-hood has about 276 men, and Mercer 120 with 200 following. Both race to the high ground now called Mercer heights. Mercer is surprised to run into Maw-hood's men deployed in line. Captain Willie Leslie of the 17th, and nephew of General Alexander Leslie, is killed in the first fire. After exchanging fires, Maw-hood's group charges with the bayonet. Only 20 or so of Mercers men have muskets and bayonets, most being slow reloading riflemen whose guns can not use bayonets. Mercer is badly wounded and his troops fall back, but Cadwalader's 600 men of the Pennsylvania militia arrive. They fire and then start to fall back, even though they greatly outnumber the 17th. (Maw-hood and the 17th regiment put up an amazing defense, still remembered and honored in Great Britain.
Washington and his officers rally them, and more troops come and Washington himself leads them towards the British. Washington is only 30 yards from the British lines when he orders his men to fire. Both sides do fire, and Washington disappears in the smoke. When the smoke clears Washington is unharmed but Maw-hood's soldiers have broken. Washington orders a charge. The British troops retreat, some scattering into the woods, others turning for Cornwallis or New Brunswick. Washington also leads the search party, calling "Its a fine fox hunt, boys!"
In Princeton, the 40th and 55th regiments prepared to make a defense of the town. General Sullivan had his wing of the army moving to sweep into town from the other end, and the British sent out a platoon to outflank them. Sullivan in turn sent out 2 regiments to counter this flanking maneuver, forcing the British back. Now Sullivan's men met an equal number of British deployed behind a dike in the area of Frog hollow. Sullivan had his cannon brought up, which sent shot into the dike and drove the British into the area of Nassau hall, the main college building at the time.
The British took shelter in and around Nassau Hall in Princeton. The Americans brought up cannon, and took two shots at the building. The first bounced off, but the second entered the main room where the troops were holding, and allegedly decapitated a picture of King George the 2nd on the wall. The British in Nassau Hall surrendered.
When the British Dragoons make a stand to defend the fleeing troops, Washington called off all pursuit. Cornwallis could move on his rear soon, and he had to keep the army together. Placing a militia unit to destroy the bridge over the Stony Brook, and gathering what supplies could be quickly loaded, he ordered the troops to march to Kingston. Here it was decided that even though New Brunswick and the British treasury were a few miles away, and lightly guarded, the exhausted troops could do no more. The American army moved north along the Millstone river to Somerset Court House, now Millstone, where he had to rest his troops.
Back at Trenton, Cornwallis, on the 3rd , at dawn had found that the Americans are gone and at first it was believed they have marched to Bordentown, but soon reports of fighting at Princeton are received. Cornwallis marches on Princeton, and his vanguard arrives as the bridge over the creek is broken up. The militia makes a short stand, forcing the British to stop and form for battle. Washington and the troops are able to get away, and Cornwallis rests his troops for a few hours, then marches to defend Brunswick, following after Washington.
At Kingston, Cornwallis heads for Brunswick and arrives at 6 am and deploys to defend the town. Washington is a few miles away at Somerset Court House (now Millstone), but his troops are exhausted, some have hardly eaten, and Cornwallis position was not known, except that he was close. Any attack is not considered possible.
On the 4th, after deciding not to attack New Brunswick, Washington continued north, and later that day they arrived in Pluckemin. Protected now by the Watchung Mountains to his east, and with Morris-town units behind him, Washington was now safe. He would soon move the army into winter quarters at Morris-town.
Captain Leslie of the 17th, whose body was placed in a baggage wagon which was then captured, is buried with full military honors in the Pluckemin churchyard. He had known Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia when the doctor studied medicine in Edinburgh. After the war the doctor put a marker on the grave in respect of the family.
The British, who lost 86 killed and wounded at Princeton and two hundred captured, were now ordered by Howe to abandon NJ, except for a line from Perth Amboy to New Brunswick. Washington, who had about 40 killed and wounded at Princeton, had now driven the British from most of New Jersey, in what is called the Ten Crucial Days., from Dec. 25th to Jan. 3rd.
More importantly, the Revolution now had a chance, morale was improved, and the people once again believed they could stand and face the enemy troops. The British outrages in the invasion of NJ had turned many previously on the fence to the side of the rebels, paper money was acceptable once more and the rebel government and army found support again. Washington had learned to fight not the main British army, but its outposts, forcing the British to give up any effort to control the hinterlands of America. The French government, encouraged by the British defeats, released supplies to the American war effort. In England, the royal government started losing support for the war. The Crisis was past, even if severe hardship and fighting were yet ahead, in a long and bitter struggle for freedom and independence.
available troops for a counter attack. January 2nd Cornwallis marches on Trenton with about 6000 men, leaving 3 regiments of the 4th Brigade at Princeton as rear-guard, under Colonel. Maw-hood. At Maidenhead (now Lawrence-ville) the British on Jan 2nd meet with American units who begin a fighting withdrawal, ambushing and delaying the British. It is 4 P.M. when the British finally get to Trenton, to find Washington entrenched but out numbered
and outclassed. Washington has but five thousand-two hundred men, many unreliable militia. Washington has moved his troops to on the south side of the Assunpink Creek, a sturdy position, and repels several attempts of the British to take the bridge. Night fell finally. Since his troops are tired, Cornwallis decides to wait to attack until morning, when he can "bag the fox" as he says. His officers want to attack now, scared of Washington's known ability to retreat and escape.
During the night, Washington leaves a few men to keep the campfires burning, make entrenchment noises, and keep up appearances, while the rest of the army moves around the British forces toward Princeton, where they can attack the rear of the British forces and maybe even capture the seventy thousand pound sterling war treasury of Howe, New Brunswick. Washington orders silence and the orders are given in whispers. Taking back roads the Americans move to the south around the British and swing towards Princeton. Main roads at this time are poor tracks-some of these back roads are little more than trails which had already become unused as the area was settled and the troops stumble along them in the dark all night. Luckily a freeze has set in with nightfall and the roads are frozen and usable for both men and cannon.
At dawn, Colonel. Maw-hood has begun to follow in the wake of Cornwallis to Trenton, with his 17th Foot of the 4th Brigade followed by the 55th, and the 40th regiment ordered to remain in Princeton. Now the Americans under General Mercer who had been sent to guard the left flank and the 17th under Maw-hood discover each other at the same time, and move to attack. The 55th moves back into Princeton. Mercer and Maw-hood each believe they have encountered a patrol. Maw-hood has about 276 men, and Mercer 120 with 200 following. Both race to the high ground now called Mercer heights. Mercer is surprised to run into Maw-hood's men deployed in line. Captain Willie Leslie of the 17th, and nephew of General Alexander Leslie, is killed in the first fire. After exchanging fires, Maw-hood's group charges with the bayonet. Only 20 or so of Mercers men have muskets and bayonets, most being slow reloading riflemen whose guns can not use bayonets. Mercer is badly wounded and his troops fall back, but Cadwalader's 600 men of the Pennsylvania militia arrive. They fire and then start to fall back, even though they greatly outnumber the 17th. (Maw-hood and the 17th regiment put up an amazing defense, still remembered and honored in Great Britain.
Washington and his officers rally them, and more troops come and Washington himself leads them towards the British. Washington is only 30 yards from the British lines when he orders his men to fire. Both sides do fire, and Washington disappears in the smoke. When the smoke clears Washington is unharmed but Maw-hood's soldiers have broken. Washington orders a charge. The British troops retreat, some scattering into the woods, others turning for Cornwallis or New Brunswick. Washington also leads the search party, calling "Its a fine fox hunt, boys!"
In Princeton, the 40th and 55th regiments prepared to make a defense of the town. General Sullivan had his wing of the army moving to sweep into town from the other end, and the British sent out a platoon to outflank them. Sullivan in turn sent out 2 regiments to counter this flanking maneuver, forcing the British back. Now Sullivan's men met an equal number of British deployed behind a dike in the area of Frog hollow. Sullivan had his cannon brought up, which sent shot into the dike and drove the British into the area of Nassau hall, the main college building at the time.
The British took shelter in and around Nassau Hall in Princeton. The Americans brought up cannon, and took two shots at the building. The first bounced off, but the second entered the main room where the troops were holding, and allegedly decapitated a picture of King George the 2nd on the wall. The British in Nassau Hall surrendered.
When the British Dragoons make a stand to defend the fleeing troops, Washington called off all pursuit. Cornwallis could move on his rear soon, and he had to keep the army together. Placing a militia unit to destroy the bridge over the Stony Brook, and gathering what supplies could be quickly loaded, he ordered the troops to march to Kingston. Here it was decided that even though New Brunswick and the British treasury were a few miles away, and lightly guarded, the exhausted troops could do no more. The American army moved north along the Millstone river to Somerset Court House, now Millstone, where he had to rest his troops.
Back at Trenton, Cornwallis, on the 3rd , at dawn had found that the Americans are gone and at first it was believed they have marched to Bordentown, but soon reports of fighting at Princeton are received. Cornwallis marches on Princeton, and his vanguard arrives as the bridge over the creek is broken up. The militia makes a short stand, forcing the British to stop and form for battle. Washington and the troops are able to get away, and Cornwallis rests his troops for a few hours, then marches to defend Brunswick, following after Washington.
At Kingston, Cornwallis heads for Brunswick and arrives at 6 am and deploys to defend the town. Washington is a few miles away at Somerset Court House (now Millstone), but his troops are exhausted, some have hardly eaten, and Cornwallis position was not known, except that he was close. Any attack is not considered possible.
On the 4th, after deciding not to attack New Brunswick, Washington continued north, and later that day they arrived in Pluckemin. Protected now by the Watchung Mountains to his east, and with Morris-town units behind him, Washington was now safe. He would soon move the army into winter quarters at Morris-town.
Captain Leslie of the 17th, whose body was placed in a baggage wagon which was then captured, is buried with full military honors in the Pluckemin churchyard. He had known Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia when the doctor studied medicine in Edinburgh. After the war the doctor put a marker on the grave in respect of the family.
The British, who lost 86 killed and wounded at Princeton and two hundred captured, were now ordered by Howe to abandon NJ, except for a line from Perth Amboy to New Brunswick. Washington, who had about 40 killed and wounded at Princeton, had now driven the British from most of New Jersey, in what is called the Ten Crucial Days., from Dec. 25th to Jan. 3rd.
More importantly, the Revolution now had a chance, morale was improved, and the people once again believed they could stand and face the enemy troops. The British outrages in the invasion of NJ had turned many previously on the fence to the side of the rebels, paper money was acceptable once more and the rebel government and army found support again. Washington had learned to fight not the main British army, but its outposts, forcing the British to give up any effort to control the hinterlands of America. The French government, encouraged by the British defeats, released supplies to the American war effort. In England, the royal government started losing support for the war. The Crisis was past, even if severe hardship and fighting were yet ahead, in a long and bitter struggle for freedom and independence.
Battle of Trenton
Date
Thursday, December 26, 1776
Weather
~20`F, cloudy, winds calm
Location
Trenton, New Jersey
As soon as Fort Lee was abandoned, Washington began to withdraw his army across New Jersey toward Philadelphia. About 5,000 Americans left Hackensack on November 21, 1776, and retired without casualties 100 miles to safety behind the Delaware River on December 7. But the troops suffered a want of clothing and a sense of defeat which quickly translated into high sickness and desertion rates. It was a demoralized army that unraveled in retreat. Even their stoic commander despaired over "a noble cause lost," and wrote to his brother, "I
think the game is pretty near up synopsis. At about eight o'clock on the morning of December 26, 1776, American troops surprised a Hessian picket guard, stationed in houses along the Pennington road about a half mile outside Trenton. Despite a disorganized show of resistance, the Germans were quickly captured or dispersed. Almost simultaneously, General Sullivan's troops approached the town of Trenton, announcing their arrival by the boom of artillery. As the confused Hessian garrison rushed about in a great commotion, Washington advanced his troops to the junction of King and Queen Streets, where Captain Forrest placed six cannon in a commanding position, his line of fire sweeping down both thoroughfares. Several battalions rushed across the field to take control of the Princeton road, preventing escape by that route. Contingents from General Sullivan's division drove General Wilhelm von Knyphausen's troops through the town and seized the bridge on the Bordentown road. Just as the Hessian artillerists prepared to fire two cannons, they were rushed and captured by troops led by Captain William Washington and Lieutenant James Monroe. Colonel Rall, roused from a heavy sleep, appeared upon his horse, trying to rally his troops. Instead, the Hessians fled into an orchard where Rall, shot from his horse, tumbled to the ground.
St. Mary's Cathedral and its rectory, standing at the end of Warren Street, mark the former sites of the Green Tree Tavern, where Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall ate Christmas dinner, and of his headquarters at Stacy Potts' dwelling, where he died of his wounds. While playing cards at the residence of Abraham Hunt, a Tory farmer passed him a note of warning. It was found, crumpled but nread, in his waist coat pocket the following morning. He was buried in an unmarked grave within the bounds of the graveyard of the First Presbyterian Church on State Street. Five Hessian officers and six enlisted soldiers were killed; another eighty of the enemy were wounded. Nine hundred and eighteen prisoners, six brass cannons, forty horses, one thousand stands of arms and fifteen colors were captured. The Continental army had four men wounded in the fight. Neshanic Creek, a tributary of the South Branch of the Raritan, drains the easterly part of a wide valley at the eastern foot of Sourland Mountain. Where this valley passes the Delaware River between Titusville and Trenton, the river's trench is shallow and consequently, the banks of the Delaware in this neighborhood, "although steep, are never vertical, as in the case where the bluffs are higher." Capitalizing upon the natural advantages of the site, McKonkey's Ferry operated here during the Revolution and it was here, despite the impediment of ice floes, that Washington crossed his troops and artillery on Christmas night, 1776, for the surprise attack against three Hessian regiments and a troop of British Light-Horse quartered in Trenton. McKonkey's Ferry was situated where Jacob's Creek, rising by several branches on Smith's Mountain to the north of Pennington, pours into the Delaware River.
After the abandonment of Fort Lee in the face of a British invasion on November 20, 1776, the Continental troops under command of General Washington had retreated across the Jerseys to the edge of Pennsylvania, passing over the Delaware River on December 8th. In an audacious maneuver, designed to reverse the fortunes of war and restore American morale, Washington determined to attack the three Hessian battalions stationed at Trenton, a force of about 1,200 soldiers under command of Commandant Colonel Johann Rall. The boldness of Washington's plan of attack lay partly in its timing: the Continental troops would approach Trenton in the wee hours of December 26th. Colonel John Fitzgerald, one of Washington's aides, noted how the Hessians were vulnerable on one particular account: "They make a great deal of Christmas in Germany, and no doubt the Hessians will drink a great deal of beer and have a dance tonight."
At six o'clock on Christmas evening, the troops marched toward McKonkey's Ferry, nine miles north of Trenton. Many of the ill-clad soldiers wrapped rags around their feet; others were shoeless. Boats collected at this strategic crossing were manned by Colonel John Glover's Fourteenth Regiment of Continental Line, a unit largely composed of fishermen from Marblehead, Massachusetts. The passage of 2,700 American soldiers commenced at twilight, but was impeded by snow fall that turned to sleet and by heavy ice floes in the river. Washington, wrapped in his cloak, watched silently from the shore. The artillery finally landed on the Jersey bank of the Delaware at about three o'clock in the morning of December 26, 1776, and the march got underway an hour later. Two miles beyond the landing, at Bear's Tavern, Washington separated his
army into two columns: General Greene a division of about 1,200 men and ten fieldpieces, accompanied by General Washington, down the Pennington Road while General Sullivan's division of about 1,500 men marched down the River Road. Informed along the march by courier that the storm was making muskets unfit for firing, Washington responded: "Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton."
Thursday, December 26, 1776
Weather
~20`F, cloudy, winds calm
Location
Trenton, New Jersey
As soon as Fort Lee was abandoned, Washington began to withdraw his army across New Jersey toward Philadelphia. About 5,000 Americans left Hackensack on November 21, 1776, and retired without casualties 100 miles to safety behind the Delaware River on December 7. But the troops suffered a want of clothing and a sense of defeat which quickly translated into high sickness and desertion rates. It was a demoralized army that unraveled in retreat. Even their stoic commander despaired over "a noble cause lost," and wrote to his brother, "I
think the game is pretty near up synopsis. At about eight o'clock on the morning of December 26, 1776, American troops surprised a Hessian picket guard, stationed in houses along the Pennington road about a half mile outside Trenton. Despite a disorganized show of resistance, the Germans were quickly captured or dispersed. Almost simultaneously, General Sullivan's troops approached the town of Trenton, announcing their arrival by the boom of artillery. As the confused Hessian garrison rushed about in a great commotion, Washington advanced his troops to the junction of King and Queen Streets, where Captain Forrest placed six cannon in a commanding position, his line of fire sweeping down both thoroughfares. Several battalions rushed across the field to take control of the Princeton road, preventing escape by that route. Contingents from General Sullivan's division drove General Wilhelm von Knyphausen's troops through the town and seized the bridge on the Bordentown road. Just as the Hessian artillerists prepared to fire two cannons, they were rushed and captured by troops led by Captain William Washington and Lieutenant James Monroe. Colonel Rall, roused from a heavy sleep, appeared upon his horse, trying to rally his troops. Instead, the Hessians fled into an orchard where Rall, shot from his horse, tumbled to the ground.
St. Mary's Cathedral and its rectory, standing at the end of Warren Street, mark the former sites of the Green Tree Tavern, where Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall ate Christmas dinner, and of his headquarters at Stacy Potts' dwelling, where he died of his wounds. While playing cards at the residence of Abraham Hunt, a Tory farmer passed him a note of warning. It was found, crumpled but nread, in his waist coat pocket the following morning. He was buried in an unmarked grave within the bounds of the graveyard of the First Presbyterian Church on State Street. Five Hessian officers and six enlisted soldiers were killed; another eighty of the enemy were wounded. Nine hundred and eighteen prisoners, six brass cannons, forty horses, one thousand stands of arms and fifteen colors were captured. The Continental army had four men wounded in the fight. Neshanic Creek, a tributary of the South Branch of the Raritan, drains the easterly part of a wide valley at the eastern foot of Sourland Mountain. Where this valley passes the Delaware River between Titusville and Trenton, the river's trench is shallow and consequently, the banks of the Delaware in this neighborhood, "although steep, are never vertical, as in the case where the bluffs are higher." Capitalizing upon the natural advantages of the site, McKonkey's Ferry operated here during the Revolution and it was here, despite the impediment of ice floes, that Washington crossed his troops and artillery on Christmas night, 1776, for the surprise attack against three Hessian regiments and a troop of British Light-Horse quartered in Trenton. McKonkey's Ferry was situated where Jacob's Creek, rising by several branches on Smith's Mountain to the north of Pennington, pours into the Delaware River.
After the abandonment of Fort Lee in the face of a British invasion on November 20, 1776, the Continental troops under command of General Washington had retreated across the Jerseys to the edge of Pennsylvania, passing over the Delaware River on December 8th. In an audacious maneuver, designed to reverse the fortunes of war and restore American morale, Washington determined to attack the three Hessian battalions stationed at Trenton, a force of about 1,200 soldiers under command of Commandant Colonel Johann Rall. The boldness of Washington's plan of attack lay partly in its timing: the Continental troops would approach Trenton in the wee hours of December 26th. Colonel John Fitzgerald, one of Washington's aides, noted how the Hessians were vulnerable on one particular account: "They make a great deal of Christmas in Germany, and no doubt the Hessians will drink a great deal of beer and have a dance tonight."
At six o'clock on Christmas evening, the troops marched toward McKonkey's Ferry, nine miles north of Trenton. Many of the ill-clad soldiers wrapped rags around their feet; others were shoeless. Boats collected at this strategic crossing were manned by Colonel John Glover's Fourteenth Regiment of Continental Line, a unit largely composed of fishermen from Marblehead, Massachusetts. The passage of 2,700 American soldiers commenced at twilight, but was impeded by snow fall that turned to sleet and by heavy ice floes in the river. Washington, wrapped in his cloak, watched silently from the shore. The artillery finally landed on the Jersey bank of the Delaware at about three o'clock in the morning of December 26, 1776, and the march got underway an hour later. Two miles beyond the landing, at Bear's Tavern, Washington separated his
army into two columns: General Greene a division of about 1,200 men and ten fieldpieces, accompanied by General Washington, down the Pennington Road while General Sullivan's division of about 1,500 men marched down the River Road. Informed along the march by courier that the storm was making muskets unfit for firing, Washington responded: "Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton."