It was December; cold and harsh. The Continental Army outside and risking frostbite walking through snow. Their spirits low after several defeats, the soldiers needed motivation. The British soldiers have been following the Continental Army all the way to New Jersey. Commander-in-chief George Washington had a plan though. He was going to cross the Delaware River and surprise the Hessians. The problem was, the army was suffering under terrible conditions. There were many ice storms and the Delaware River was full of several mini glaciers. This was the colonists last hope of winning the war. This, was The Battle of Trenton.
Since August 1776, William Howe(the British general) and the British had been driving the Continental army south of New York. On November 16th, the British took control of Fort Washington, and took 2,000 Americans prisoner. Then, the Americans fled to New Jersey and the British pursued them. After this, Washington led his army across the Delaware River while the army did not have a lot of food, ammunition, and supplies. Washington felt that in order to have a chance in the war, the troops would have to win a major battle soon because they had lost many significant defeats, but had not had any significant victories.
He realized that if they were to win the war, the troops would need some kind of motivation. Washington also decided that surprising the Hessians would be the only way for the Continental army to win the battle. On Christmas morning, 1776, the Continental soldiers woke up in their camps to find out that the ground was frozen and covered in snow. Throughout the day, weather conditions and temperatures got worse. Washington did not tell his soldiers anything about what they were going to be doing, he only told the soldiers they would be on a mission.
Washington’s plan was that he would have 2,400 soldiers transported across the Delaware River at night to surprise the Hessians in the morning. This did not work out quite as planned though. Many of the soldiers were late to arrive at the river, and a severe winter storm made it even worse. The troops that were rowing could not even see the opposite shore. Finally, even though they were running three hours behind, Washington decided it was too late to retreat and followed through with his plan. The troops slowly made their way across the Delaware without any suspicion.
When they docked, they started their march to Trenton. The soldiers’ spirits were already low, so Washington encouraged his men that they can take Trenton. But, in effect to Washington not telling the troops much about anything, the soldiers did not know that there were more American soldiers that would join them on their march to Trenton. When they met the men they were frightened, not knowing if the soldiers were on their side or not, but then they sprang with confidence when they realized the troops were American troops.
When the Americans arrived at the Hessians camp, the Hessians realized that they had no chance and began to withdraw their troops. They tried to flank Washington’s men while Colonial troops hid to catch any unfortunate Hessians trying to escape. Rall, the Hessians’ colonel, then turned his attention to get weapons the colonists took control over, but the weapons did not work. After this, the Hessians tried to flee, but the Americans were there and fired upon the Hessians. During this firing, Rall was mortally wounded.
After the Hessians saw their colonel shot, they scattered and had to surrender after Washington’s troops joined the attack with Sullivan’s troops. Some Hessians tried to sneak weapons out of town and escape, but Americans found them and made them surrender too. 918 Hessians were captured and all four colonels were killed. Thus, The Battle of Trenton was an American Victory. After the victory, Washington the Continental Army quickly withdrew. This victory at The Battle of Trenton was a huge factor in the war though. It was a turning point, and a big one for the Continental Army.
The victory put life into the American soldiers and renewed confidence in their commander, George Washington. Washington proved to the soldiers that he could unite them and make them fight effectively. This new life was needed because of the multiple defeats that the Americans experienced before. If the Americans had not won the battle, many of the soldiers would not have continued to fight. This was not all though. The Americans still needed to get provisions and supplies for future battles. Although this wasn’t the last battle of the American Revolution, the Continental Army was now ready to win the war.
The colonists(Continental Army) overcame many difficulties in winning The Battle of Trenton. Although it was very gelid, the Continental Army kept on fighting, and because of this, defeated the Hessians quickly. Only two American soldiers died, and this was because of being frozen to death. This fact shows how dominant the American soldiers were by surprising the Hessians. In effect to winning the battle so quickly, The Battle of Trenton was a turning point in The American Revolution. The total dominance of the Americans gave lots of motivation necessary for the Continental Army to win the war.
If the colonists wouldn’t have had this motivation, the British could have easily won the war because the Continental army would not have any motivation, making them give up and not fight. This did not happen though because of excellent strategy and planning by Commander-and-Chief George Washington. The Battle of Trenton was major because of George Washington too. The American victory at The Battle of Trenton helped renew the soldiers’ faith in their leader, George Washington. As a result of being a motivational battle and George Washington proving he can lead the Continental Army, The Battle of Trenton was a oint in the American Revolution.
