The Battle of Trenton

Battles Important People Important Places Historical Viewpoints Historical Events Historic Documents Timeline Recommended Readings Message Board Chat Home	Date: December 26, 1776 Location: Trenton, New Jersey Weather: ~20`F, cloudy, winds calm American Casualties: 5 British Casualties: 107 American Leaders: Washington/ Sullivan/ Greene British Leaders: Colonel Johann Rall
		The Battle of Trenton

Overview:
    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.
    It was a critical time for George Washington.  He had just been soundly defeated in New York and morale was very low.  His writings to the Continental Congress tell us so.  Although there was not much to be gained through a victory here in a territorial sense, it was one of the many crucial moments in the American Revolution.  This victory was essential to give the soldiers hope that a group of rag-tag soldiers could indeed be victorious in their struggle for independence.

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 unread, 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."

Recommended readings: (Click on link to purchase)

Title: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton || Author: William S. Stryker || ISBN: ??? || Released: 1898

This is the definitive work dealing with Revolutionary events in Trenton and vicinity. General Stryker was a painstaking and scholarly author who devoted his spare time for twenty-seven years to preparation for his great task and rewrote his manuscript five times. Professor William Starr Myers, of Princeton University, editing the same author’s posthumous work, The Battle of Monmouth, has borne testimony that he found Stryker as an historian “accurate, sound, judicial and scholarly.” Sir George Otto Trevelyan, Baronet, in his authoritative work, The American Revolution, says of Stryker’s commentary on Trenton and Princeton: “A better book on the subject could not be compiled.” Living on the scene of the memorable engagements here, General Stryker from childhood was steeped in local Revolutionary lore. He gathered much of his knowledge almost first-hand from the families of survivors. Quite inevitably, therefore, the author of the present chapter has found it necessary and desirable to lean heavily upon Stryker’s immortal account of the Battles of Trenton as both a factual and an interpretative guide

Title: The Day is Ours! || Author: William M. Dwyer || ISBN: 0-813-52608-6 || Released: October 1998

Dwyer gives more than just a history of the Trenton-Princeton campaign. He has painstakingly researched the written comments of the participants in the struggle from Generals Washington and Cornwallis to the lowest Privates and civilians. He lets you know what those who were actually there thought about what was going on in their own words. He also explains how the surprise victories for the little Continental army could easily have misfired. There were many chance events that favored the Continentals that could have gone the other way. My criticisms are that it could have used more maps and he goes into more detail about the lives of certain individuals more than seemed necessary

Notes:
Here is an eyewitness account of the Battle of Trenton written by an officer on Washington's Staff:

New Town PA, December 22, 1776
    Things have been going against us since last August, when we were forced to give up Long Island, losing 3000 men and a great amount of supplies. In October we were forced to evacuate New York and cross the Hudson into New Jersey. We reached Trenton Dec. 2. It was prudent forethought on the part of General Washington to send General [William] Maxwell ahead to secure all the boats on the Delaware River and have them at Trenton upon our arrival. If it had not been done we should have been in a bad fix with [British Army Lieutenant-General Charles] Cornwallis at our heels. As it was the Hessians under Count [Carl von] Donop and Colonel [Johann] Rall arrived in that village in season to fire a few shots at the last boat. According to last accounts General [William] Howe [the British Commander-in-Chief] and General Cornwallis have gone to New York leaving General [Sir James] Grant with a few hundred English troops at Princeton, Colonel Rall with 1500 Hessians at Trenton and Count Donop with 2000 at Bordentown, ten miles down the river from Trenton.
    Washington's headquarters are here in this little village of New Town, back from the river northwest of Trenton. General [Nathaniel] Greene and General [John] Sullivan, with their divisions, numbering 2500 men and sixteen cannon, are ten miles up stream at McConkey's Ferry. A portion of the boats are there. General [James] Ewing, with 2000 men, is on this side of the river a little below Trenton, and General [John] Cadwallader and General [Israel] Putnam are at Bristol, ten miles further down, with as many more.
    I rode along the river yesterday morning and could see the Hessians in Trenton. It is a pretty village, containing about 130 houses and a Presbyterian meeting-house. A stone bridge spans the Assunpink creek on the road leading to Bordentown. There are apple orchards and gardens. Rall has his own regiment and Knyphausen a few dragoons and fifty riflemen. The Hessians call them Yagers. He has six cannon. Knyphausen has two of them, two stand in front of Rall's headquarters, and two up by the Pennington road. A scout just in says that General Howe has issued a proclamation, offering pardon to everybody in New Jersey who will lay down their arms and take the oath of allegiance. He says that Howe and Cornwallis are well satisfied with what they have accomplished. Cornwallis is going to England to tell the King that the rebellion is about over. Howe is going to have a good time in New York attending dinner parties. For what I see I am quite certain Washington intends to make some movement soon. He keeps his own counsel, but is very much determined.

Dec. 23 -- Orders have been issued to cook rations for three days. Washington has just given the counter sign, "Victory or Death." He has written a letter to General Caldwallader at Bristol, which he has entrusted to me to copy. He intends to cross the river, make a ten-mile march to Trenton, and attack Rall just before daybreak. Ewing is to cross and seize the bridge crossing the Assunpink. Putnam and Cadwallader are to cross and make a feint of attacking Donop so that he can not hasten to Rall's assistance.

Dec. 24 -- A scout just in says that the Hessians have a picket on the Pennington road half a mile out from Trenton, and another at [Brigadier-General of the New Jersey militia Philemon] Dickenson's house, on the river road.

Dec. 25 -- Christmas morning. 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 to-night. They will be sleepy tomorrow morning. Washington will set the tune for them about daybreak. The rations are cooked. New flints and ammunition have been distributed. Colonel [John] Glover's fishermen from Marblehead, Mass., are to manage the boats just as they did in the retreat from Long Island.

Christmas, 6 p.m. -- The regiments have had their evening parade, but instead of returning to their quarters are marching toward the ferry. It is fearfully cold and raw and a snow-storm is setting in. The wind is northeast and beats in the faces of the men. It will be a terrible night for the soldiers who have no shoes. Some of them have tied old rags around their feet; others are barefoot, but I have not heard a man complain. They are ready to suffer any hardship and die rather than give up their liberty. I have just copied the order for marching. Both divisions are to go from the ferry to Bear Tavern, two miles. They will separate there; Washington will accompany Greene's division with a part of the artillery down the Pennington Road; Sullivan and the rest of the artillery will take the river road.

Dec. 26, 3 a.m. -- I am writing in the ferry house. The troops are all over, and the boats have gone back for the artillery. We are three hours behind the set time. Glover's men have had a hard time to force the boats through the floating ice with the snow drifting in their faces. I never had seen Washington so determined as he is now. He stands on the bank of the river, wrapped in his cloak, superintending the landing of his troops. He is calm and collected, but very determined. The storm is changing to sleet, and cuts like a knife. The last cannon is being landed, and we are ready to mount our horses.

Dec. 26, Noon -- It was nearly 4 o'clock, when we started. The two divisions divided at Bear Tavern.  At Birmingham, three and a half miles south of the tavern, a man came with a message from General Sullivan that the storm was wetting the muskets and rendering them unfit for service. "Tell General Sullivan," said Washington, "to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton.  "It was broad daylight when we came to a house where a man was chopping wood. He was very much surprised when he saw us. "Can you tell me where the Hessian picket is?" Washington asked. The man hesitated, but I said, "You need not be frightened, it is General Washington who asks the question." His face brightened and he pointed toward the house of Mr. Howell.
    It was just 8 o'clock. Looking down the road I saw a Hessian running out from the house. He yelled in Dutch [German] and swung his arms. Three or four others came out with their guns. Two of them fired at us, but the bullets whistled over our heads. Some of General [Adam] Stephen's men rushed forward and captured two. The other took to their heels, running toward Mr. [Alexander] Calhoun's house, where the picket guard was stationed, about twenty men under Captain Altenbrockum. They came running out of the house. The Captain flourished his sword and tried to form his men. Some of them fired at us, others ran toward the village. The next moment we heard drums beat and a bugle sound, and then from the west came the boom of a cannon. General Washington's face lighted up instantly, for he knew that it was one of Sullivan's guns. We could see a great commotion down toward the meeting-house, men running here and there, officers swinging their swords, artillerymen harnessing their horses. Captain [Thomas] Forrest unlimbered his guns. Washington gave the order to advance, and rushed on the junction of King and Queen streets. Forrest wheeled six of his cannon into position to sweep both streets. The riflemen under Colonel [Edward] Hand and [Charles] Scott's and [Robert] Lawson's battalions went upon the run through the fields on the left just ready to open fire with two of their cannon when Captain [William] Washington and Lieutenant [James] Monroe with their men rushed forward and captured them. We saw Rall come riding up the street from his headquarters, which were at Stacy Potts' house. We could hear him shouting in Dutch, "My brave soldiers, advance." His men were frightened and confused, for our men were firing upon them from fences and houses and they were falling fast. Instead of advancing they ran into an apple orchard. The officers tried to rally them, but our men kept advancing and picking off the officers. It was not long before Rall tumbled from his horse and his soldiers threw down their guns and gave themselves up as prisoners.
    While this was taking place on the Pennington road, Colonel John Stark, from New Hampshire, in the advance on the river road was driving Knyphausen's men pell mell through the town. Sullivan sent a portion of his troops under [Brigadier-General Arthur] St. Clair to seize the bridge and cut off the retreat of the Hessians toward Bordentown. Sullivan's men shot the artillery horses and captured two cannon attached to Knyphausen's regiment.

Dec.26, 3 p.m. -- . . . We have taken nearly 1000 prisoners, six cannon, more than 1000 muskets, twelve drums, and four colors. About forty Hessians were killed or wounded. Our loss is only two killed and three wounded. . . .I have just been with General Washington and Greene to see Rall. He will not live through the night. He asked that his men might be kindly treated. Washington promised that he would see they were well cared for.

Dec. 27. 1776. -- Here we are back in our camp with the prisoners and trophies. Washington is keeping his promise; the soldiers are in the New Town Meeting-house and other buildings. He has just given directions for tomorrow's dinner. All the captured Hessian officers are to dine with him. He bears the Hessians no malice, but says they have been sold by their Grand Duke to King George and sent to America, when if they could have their own way they would be peaceably living in their own country.

It is a glorious victory. It will rejoice the hearts of our friends everywhere and give new life to our hitherto waning fortunes. Washington has baffled the enemy in his retreat from New York. He has pounced upon the Hessians like an eagle upon a hen and is safe once more on this side of the river. If he does nothing more he will live in history as a great military commander.