VALLEY FORGE
As we enjoy the holiday season, whether it is Chanukah or Christmas, one has to wonder how many Americans give any thought to the victory of the Revolutionary Army over the Hessians on December 26, 1776.....yes, December 26th, not Christmas Day as many of us were taught in school. Actually, I wonder how many kids in school today are taught how important this battle was to the success of the War of Independence.
Lets spend a few minutes and revisit this event........
The war had been going badly for the Americans. Since the British captured New York City in the summer, the American army had lost every battle and finally had crossed the Delaware near Philadelphia. What a disaster it had been. Not only the defeats, but the Hessians had been brutal with any wounded or prisoners taken. Actually the saying, Take no prisoners" could well apply here.
At Valley Forge Washington's army was down to around 7,000 men,but many of them were not fit for duty. Most were without proper clothing and food was scarce. Civilians who cheered and showered them with food and gifts as they marched to defend New York City now avoided them. In fact thousands of Americans had renounced the Revolution and renewed their pledge of allegiance to King George III. As for the army, desertions were occurring every day and most of the enlistments would expire at the end of the month.
The Continental Congress was moving from Philadelphia to Baltimore and there was now talk that Washington was not up to the job. Washington and his council of Generals recognized that something desperate had to be done. They arrived at a plan to seize the initiative, concentrate forces, strike hard and withdraw quickly. The password for this attack was "Victory or Death".
So around midnight on December 25th, in the middle of a howling storm, Washington led his troops across the Delaware River to strike at the Hessians camped in Trenton. Unknown to Washington, because of the weather, two of his generals had called off their troops from participating in the battle plan to attack Trenton from different directions.
Incidentally, the British in Brunswick (twenty-five miles from Trenton) had received certain intelligence that the Americans planned to attack Trenton. They conveyed this to the Commander of the Hessians on Christmas Day, but he concluded that with the weather this bad, nothing would happen for the present.
Around 8:00 AM on December 26th the American army of 2,400 men attacked. The Hessians were routed. More than 900 were killed, wounded, or captured. The remainder of the Hessians had escaped to Brunswick because the planned encirclement of Trenton was not possible due to the aborting of the attack by two generals. The entire battle lasted 45 minutes.
Washington allowed the Hessians officers to retain their swords and instructed his men to treat the wounded and prisoners fairly.
It is reputed that when the Hessian officer, who succeeded the Commanding Officer who was fatally wounded, thanked Washington for the mercy shown his troops, Washington replied something like, "We do not fight for glory. We fight for our liberty, our freedom as free men." This was said to a Hessian officer who was present when his troops committed atrocities in the fighting around New York City.
The American army then retired across the Delaware River before the British could arrive from Brunswick.
This battle did not win the war,but it turned the tide of opinion, both in America and Europe.....especially Britain and France.
Just days before this battle Thomas Paine published his paper The American Crisis which starts out, "These are the times that try men's souls..."
Question: Would there be an America as we know it today if George Washington had not pulled off this miraculous victory?
