Battle of Trenton

Battle of Trenton
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze
Date December 26, 1776 Location Trenton, New Jersey Result Decisive American victory
Belligerents
Continental Army	a Hessian Brigade
Commanders and leaders
George Washington	Johann Rall†
Strength
2,400	1,400
Casualties and losses
5 dead 2 wounded	23 dead, 92 wounded 913 captured

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.

The Battle of Trenton was a battle which took place on December 25, 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 garrisoned 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 common assertion that the Hessians were inebriated or otherwise unprepared for battle from Christmastime celebrations is likely untrue. Instead, the American victory was mainly because of the gathering of intelligence and the spreading of misinformation by John Honeyman, a spy enlisted by Washington. He was responsible for assessing the strength of the Hessian defenders and for convincing them that the Americans were demoralized and in no condition to attack. Additionally, the weather, though proving somewhat of an obstacle for the crossing of the Delaware, served to make the surprise of the attack complete. Normally, the Hessians sent out a patrol to check for nearby enemy forces, but they were not sent out that night because of the storm. The final factor that seems to have been most responsible for the completeness of their defeat was the defending troops' perception that the Americans would not stand up to a concerted attack.

Battle

The American troops left camp at 2:00 p.m. on Christmas Day. The river crossing was to be completed by midnight, but the storm which began at 11:00 p.m. delayed this completion until 3:00 a.m. The predawn attack was therefore delayed because of the weather, and the fighting began around 8:00 a.m., with the storm still raging. By 9:00 a.m., the Patriots had won.

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 in Bordentown. 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."

A small guard post was set up by the Hessians in Pennington about nine miles north of Trenton, along 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 roughly 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 forced charging into Trenton, they ran over the Assunpink bridge and left Trenton. Slowly, various companies of the three defending regiments formed and entered 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 cannon 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 stifling into the ranks of the Rall regiment. This regiment broke and routed back through the ranks of the Lossberg regiment causing more chaos. The two regiments became 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 913 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.

Aftermath

File:Battle of Trenton Monument.jpg

The Battle of Trenton Monument in Trenton, NJ

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 American forces could defeat regulars. It also increased the re-enlistments in the Continental Army forces. The Americans had now proved themselves against a disciplined 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 Americans later, "We must now give them the honor of fortifications".

While only two Americans were wounded, both of the injuries occurred during the Americans' rush to capture Hessian artillery, to prevent the guns from being used. 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

• Fischer, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History). Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-517034-2

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story of New Jersey|Trenton]]