Battle of Trenton

This article is about the Battle of Trenton which took place on December 26, 1776. For the Battle of Trenton which took place on January 2, 1777, see Second Battle of Trenton.

Battle of Trenton Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) Oil on canvas by Emanuel Leutze Date December 26, 1776 Location Trenton, New Jersey Result American victory Belligerents Continental Army a Hessian Brigade Commanders and leaders George Washington Johann Rall† Strength 2,400 18 guns 1,400 6 guns Casualties and losses 2 dead, On the march 2 wounded 23 dead, 92 wounded, 913 captured

The Battle of Trenton was a battle which took place on December 26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War after Washington's crossing of the Delaware River. General George Washington led the main Continental Army across the river to surprise and virtually eliminate the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. This overwhelming victory helped to preserve the Continental Army and set the stage for the Battle of Princeton the following week.

Background

Trenton was occupied by three regiments of Hessian soldiers commanded by Colonel Johann Rall for a total of about 1,400 men. Washington's force of about 2,400 attacked in two columns: Major General Nathanael Greene's division from the north, and Major General John Sullivan's division from the west. A third division never made it across the river because of the weather but was supposed to attack from the south.

The American victory was aided by John Honeyman, a spy enlisted by Washington, who gathered intelligence in Trenton and misled the Hessian defenders. He was responsible for estimating the strength of the Hessian defenders and for convincing them that the Americans were confused and in no condition to attack. Also, the weather made crossing of the Delaware next to impossible, further enhancing the element of surprise. The Hessians sent out a patrol every night to check for nearby enemy forces, but they were not sent out that night because of the storm.

Battle

Delayed by a snowstorm which began at 23:00 on Christmas Day, the American troops were unable to reach the east bank of the Delaware River until 3:00 a.m. on December 26. With the storm still raging, fighting began around 08:00 and was over by 09:00.

Trenton had two main streets, King (now Warren) Street and Queen (now Broad) Street. Rall had been ordered to build a redoubt at the head of these two streets (where the battle monument stands today) by his superior, Count Carl von Donop, whose own brigade was stationed in Bordentown. Von Donop was not in Bordentown. He had marched south to Mount Holly on the 22nd to deal with the South Jersey Rising, and clashed with the New Jersey militia there on the 23rd. An officer of the Hessian engineers, Captain Pauli, was sent to Trenton with those orders but was sent back by Rall, without building the redoubt. When Rall was warned that the Patriots might attack, he replied, "Let them come. We need no trenches. We will go at them with the bayonet." (In a side note: It is also theorized that Rall completely ignored the warning. It is theorized that he was playing cards when the letter of warning arrived and that he simply slipped it into his jacket pocket and forgot about it. The letter then was later found on his body after he was killed in the battle of Trenton.)

A small guard post was set up by the Hessians in Pennington about nine miles (14 km) north of Trenton, east of Washington's route to the city. When the squad guarding this post saw the large American force on the march, Lieutenant Wiederhold, in command of this Pennington picket, made an organized retreat. Once in Trenton the picket began to receive support from other Hessian guard companies on the outskirts of the town. Another guard company nearer to the Delaware River rushed east to their aid, leaving open the River Road into Trenton. General John Sullivan, leading the southern American column entered Trenton by this route and made hard for the only crossing over the Assunpink Creek, which was the only way out of Trenton to the south, in hopes of cutting off the Hessian escape.

When the 35 Hessian Jägers under the command of Lieutenant Grothausen who were stationed at the barracks on the northern edge of the town saw the vanguard of Sullivan's forces charging into Trenton, they ran over the Assunpink bridge and left Trenton. Slowly, various companies of the three defending regiments formed and entered the battle. Lieutenant Biel, Rall's brigade adjutant, finally awoke his commander, who found that the rebels had taken the "V" of the major streets of the town where earlier that month Pauli would have constructed the redoubt. The northern American column quickly took this position, and with their cannons denied the Hessians a chance to form in the streets, while the remaining men in the column, and the other column near the river, moved to surround the Hessians.

Rall led his men and the men of the Lossberg regiment, under Lt Col. Scheffer, out of the town and attempted to reorganize and retake the town. The Americans, by this time, occupied the majority of the buildings and, from cover, fired into the ranks of the Rall regiment. The regiment broke and routed back through the ranks of the Lossberg regiment, causing more chaos. The two regiments were surrounded in an orchard south of the town, and from the smoke came the drums and standards playing the parley. Rall could be seen slumped over in his saddle; he was mortally wounded.

At the Assunpink Creek, the Knyphausen regiment, under Lt Col. von Dechow, became cut off from the bridge and was surrounded. The regiment surrendered just minutes before the rest of the brigade. The American forces had suffered only a handful of wounded, although two men died of hypothermia on the march and more the next night, while the Hessians suffered 114 casualties with at least 23 dead, as well as 918 captured. Rall was mortally wounded and died the same day. All four Hessian colonels in Trenton were killed in the battle. The Lossberg regiment was effectively removed from the British forces. Parts of the Knyphausen regiment escaped to the south, but Sullivan captured some 200 men along with the regiment's cannons and supplies.

The British didn't consider this defeat significant; and in referring to it said "how tiresome", while the American soldiers considered this battle the turning point in the Revolutionary War. It boosted the Patriot's morale and they were able to capture British guns and ammunition, of which they had a shortage.

George Washington and the Battle of Trenton

By noon, Washington's force had moved to recross the Delaware back into Pennsylvania, taking their prisoners and captured supplies with them. This battle gave the Continental Congress a new confidence because it proved Colonial forces could, under favourable conditions, defeat regulars. It also increased the re-enlistments in the Continental Army forces. The Colonials had now proved themselves against a European army and the fear the Hessians inspired earlier that year in New York was broken. As Captain Johann Ewald [of the Jägers], who was with von Donop in Mt Holly at the time of the attack, said of the Colonists later, "We must now give them the honor of fortifications".

Only two Colonials were wounded, both during the Colonists rush to capture Hessian artillery before they could be used in the battle. These wounded were officers: Captain William Washington (the General's cousin), who was badly wounded in both hands, and young Lieutenant James Monroe, the future President of the United States. Monroe was carried from the field bleeding badly after he was struck in the left shoulder by a musket ball, which severed an artery. Doctor John Riker clamped the artery, keeping him from bleeding to death.

The hours before the battle served as the inspiration for the famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. The image in the painting, in which Washington stands majestic in his boat as it is crossing the Delaware River, is more symbolic than historically accurate, since the waters of the river were icy and treacherous, and the flag Monroe holds was not created until six months after the battle. The crossing also occurred before dawn. Many have doubted that Washington stood, but many scholars believe they all stood, albeit in a different type of boat. Nonetheless, the image has become an icon of American history.

References

• Fisher, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. Oxford University Press USA, 2004, 576 pages. ISBN 0195170342
• Ketchum, Richard. The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. Owl Books, 1999, 448 pages. ISBN 0805060987
• Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle. Oxford University Press USA, 2007, 679 pages. ISBN 0195181212
• Stryker, William S. The Battles of Trenton and Princeton. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, 1898, 514 pages. 2001 Edition: Old Barracks Association, Trenton, NJ (609) 396-1776

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