If General George Washington had not led American troops across the Delaware River on Christmas, 1776, and defeated Hessian troops in Trenton, American secession from the British Empire probably would have failed, and the United States would not have become an independent nation when and how it did.
I recently finished reading Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer, which tells the story of that victory— how it was achieved, what came after and why it mattered.
By describing events in fine-grained detail, drawing in letter, diaries and reminiscences of many individuals on both sides, he drew a vivid picture of what it was like to fight in that era, and also showed how differently the two sides viewed the war.
Fischer’s history begins with the British driving the Continental Army out of New York City in the summer of 1776, and then winning victory after victory until they occupied all of New jersey. He ends with the turning of the tide in a way that showed how Americans would win ultimate victory.
In grade school, I was taught to think of the British redcoats as fools, who marched in formation while Virginia and Pennsylvania riflemen picked them off from behind trees and stone walls.
The fact was that the British troops who occupied New York City in the summer of 1776 were veterans of regiments who, a short time before, had won battles in every continent in the Seven Years War against the French Empire. They were backed up by the British fleet , which commanded not only the high seas, but the waters around Manhattan island.
They out-fought and out-maneuvered the inexperienced American troops, driving Washington’s troops out of New York and south through New Jersey.
By Christmas, the British and their Hessian allies had every reason to think they had all but won. Washington’s desperate plan to attack across the Delaware River involved coordinated crossings at three different locations. Two of the crossings failed. Washington failed to make his crossing on schedule or as planned, but he pressed on to the attack anyway.
He pressed on and won. As a schoolboy, I also was taught that he caught the Hessian garrison hung over from a drunken Christmas Eve party the night before. Not so! The Hessians were tough and well-disciplined troops who put up a brave fight, but were defeated in the end.
Fischer gives a powerful account of what it was like fight in those days, marching and pushing wagons through knee-deep mud and freezing rain, and fighting on despite hunger, exhaustion and lack of adequate shoes or clothing. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to march through mud that was literally knee-deep or worse.