Two Early Battles of the American Revolution

It is sometimes difficult, as we near the 225th anniversary of our country's independence, to recall how very unlikely that independence seemed during the early battles of the American Revolution. This paper examines two of those battles - Trenton and Princeton - to understand how the strategy and actions of George Washington helped ensure victory in these battles and, as a result, in the war as a whole.

Before describing the battles more completely, a brief overview of the two battles is useful for placing them within the context of the war.

The forces of General George Washington defeated Hessian troops, German mercenaries allied with the British, in the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. One week later British forces under General Charles Cornwallis advanced along the Delaware River to attack Washington's troops. To thwart British plans, Washington's army on the night of January 2, 1777, moved quickly and quietly around the enemy, leaving the American campfires burning. The next morning Washington advanced toward Princeton, where, joined by reinforcements, he defeated a British regiment that was marching to join Cornwallis. Because he was outmaneuvered by Washington, Cornwallis withdrew the British forces to New Brunswick, New Jersey, and thus was prevented from entering Philadelphia and Washington and his men spent the rest of the winter in Morristown, New Jersey. The British defeat at Trenton and Princeton helped raise American morale; without such victories it is h

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.m. December 26, 1776. Even though the 1,200 Hessians at the garrison turned out rapidly, their formations were quickly broken by the combination of direct artillery fire and flanking fire. Washington personally led the fighting around and between 100 houses in Trenton, being wounded in the battle that was fought in weather so bad that the muskets were nearly unusable. As things turned against the Hessians, Rall ordered a withdrawal during which he was killed. The Germans surrendered about an hour after the fighting had begun. They had lost 106 soldiers to death or injury with 918 taken prisoner and 300 to 500 missing. The Americans had four wounded, and some reports say that four Americans died (two from freezing during the withdrawal); other reports record that no American of the 2400 that crossed the Delaware was killed (Boatner, 1966, p. 1115). The importance of the victory at Trenton was immediately perceived. News of the Trenton victory ran through the army and the country like a bolt of electricity. It had been a real offensive, not a counterattack like the Hollow Way, and had been won largely by the bayonet, a weapon that the Americans were not supposed to understand - or even possess. In exulting, men and soldiers forgot

Category: History - T