Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American cause looked finished. Washington's army had been driven out of New York, chased across New Jersey, and pushed back over the Delaware into Pennsylvania. Shoes were scarce, enlistments were expiring, and morale was collapsing. In mid-December the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia for Baltimore to avoid capture if the British pushed on the city.
Washington understood that one more retreat could end the Revolution quietly. So he planned an attack that sounded insane on paper. On Christmas night 1776 he ordered a crossing of the ice-choked Delaware, in a nor'easter, with the challenge and countersign "Victory or Death."
The river was dangerous, parts of the plan failed, and not every unit got across. Even so, Washington marched roughly 2,400 men to Trenton and struck the Hessian garrison at dawn on December 26. The fight was short and decisive. The Hessians lost about 22 killed, 83 wounded, and roughly 800 to 900 captured. Two Americans died from exposure and a handful were wounded. A cause most people believed was dying had a pulse again. Afterward Washington held prisoners who included wives and children traveling with the Hessian camp, and he had to decide what kind of army the Revolution was going to be.
This week those events sit 249 years behind us. Luke and I spent a day at the Washington Crossing parks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, walking the ground where the gamble began. It was bitter cold, though nowhere near as cold as that night.
Read the full essay on Substack: https://heroespath.substack.com/p/when-george-washington-bet-the-revolution