With enlistments expiring and his army on the edge of collapse, Washington plans a bold gamble. He will take the army, cross the Delaware River and attack the post at Trenton, N.J. held by about 1400 Hessian soldiers with 6 guns under Colonel Rall.
On the night of December 25th, 1776 Washington strikes.
The attack suffers a few hitches. A force which was to help surround the Hessian garrison fails to cross the river. Washington's force of 2400 men and 18 guns, which planned to march under cover of darkness, is forced to advance in daylight because of delays in crossing the ice-choked river. Nevertheless, he presses on.
Outside Trenton, Washington divides his army in two. His plan remains to surround the Hessians inside the city where they are quartered. However, now General Nathanael Greene's division will attack on the left while General John Sullivan's division will strike from the right. The two American divisions will then hopefully link up and encircle the Hessians.
The attack surprises the Hessian garrison.
The Hessians form up to face General Greene's division, mostly unaware that Sullivan's force is surrounding them until too late. The American artillery under Henry Knox performs wonderfully. While some Hessians escape, the encirclement is successfully completed. Colonel Rall is mortally wounded in the battle, but before dying, orders his men to surrender.
Washington orders a tally of American casualties and Hessian forces.
The Hessians have had 22 men killed, 83 wounded and from 800 to 900 men captured along with the loss of their 6 cannon.
The Americans have lost only 2 men on the march and 5 men wounded in the battle.
Washington has won an incredible victory.
The British Army across America is stunned while the American cause is inspirited.
Washington retires with his army and the Hessian prisoners back across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
In the next several days, he again recrosses the Delaware with the army and moves into Trenton. Here he confronts the British Army, gathered from their various posts across New Jersey advancing on him.
After a short battle known as Second Trenton, Washington sidesteps them with a night march and gets behind their army at Princeton. Here he fights part of the British Army and again defeats the enemy.
He then takes his exhausted troops to the mountain stronghold of Morristown, New Jersey.
The British Army, fearful of being beaten piecemeal or "defeated in detail", withdraws from its many posts and towns across NJ and instead concentrates into one large camp between New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. Here they spend a miserable winter, cold, cramped and continually harassed by American skirmishers. Letters sent home from British officers question if the Americans will ever be subdued.
In the course of ten days, Washington has saved the Revolution.
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