Regarding the Battle of Trenton, this article taken from the American Battlefield Trust is as follows: Christmas 1776 proved bleak for the fledging Continental Army and their commander, George Washington. Since the previous summer, they had been pummeled by the British under Lord William Howe at every turn. Driven across New Jersey and now huddled in a frozen encampment in Pennsylvania on the western banks of the Delaware River, Washington was desperate. His men were poorly clothed, in ill health, starving, and many of their enlistments were due to expire. In order to keep his band together and improve morale, Washington sought to take the initiative from Howe. He knew that across the Delaware River, encamped and housed in Trenton, New Jersey, was a garrison of German Hessians. He thought that attacking the Hessians at dawn on the day after Christmas was a gamble worth taking. If the Americans won, they would not only defeat a force of European troops, on their own terms, but they would also secure much-needed supplies and provisions. His plan was audacious. He would move his 2,400 man-force, including horse and eighteen cannons, across the ice-choked Delaware River, divide and strike in three columns from the north at sunrise on December 26. The task of ferrying everything across the Delaware River fell on General John Glover and his rugged band of Massachusetts fishermen. After revealing his plan at a council of war, Washington ordered as many boats as possible be located and ferried to his position ten miles above Trenton. The freezing soldiers of the Continental Army were given meager provisions for three days and were not told the objective, only that the password was, “Victory or Death.” The moon was full on Christmas night. As men and material loaded into the transports, Henry Knox, Washington’s Chief of Artillery recalled in a letter to his wife, “Floating ice in the river made the labor almost incredible.” The river’s strong and swift current complicated matters, as did a nasty nor’easter which began pelting everyone with snow, freezing rain and sleet, accompanied by a steady and stiff wind. By 2:00 am, Washington’s troops were across. “Perseverance,” wrote Knox, “accomplished what first seemed impossible." On the outskirts of Trenton, Washington divided his army into three columns. General John Sullivan's command would approach Trenton along the River Road on the west edge of the town. To the center and the left Washington left those columns under the command of General Nathaniel Greene, who would enter the town by its two principal road arteries.  It was to be a coordinated attack. Delays in the crossing meant that it was daylight by the time they reached Trenton, but Washington did still achieve the surprise he sought. The storm that had delayed the crossing had provided a modicum of cover. The Hessian outposts on the edge of town were quickly overrun, and on cue the main body of troops from all sides rushed pell-mell into Trenton. Recalling the assault, one American officer said, “I never could conceive that one spirit should so universally animate both officers and men to rush forward into action.” Knox’s guns sprang into action too, covering the length of the streets and permitting no avenue of escape for the stunned Hessians who poured out of their barracks to repel the invaders. Close quarters, hand-to-hand fighting raged in the narrow streets of a town now fully awake. Knox wrote, “there succeeded a scene of war of which I had often conceived but never saw before.” It was as if the pent-up rage of the Continental Army had been unleashed by the furies of war. For two hours the battle raged with the Americans never relenting. The Hessians pulled back in as orderly a fashion as they could through the streets of Trenton only to be surrounded by the Americans in a peach orchard on the outskirts.  Hessian commander Col. Johann Rall attempted to rally his men, but it was of no use. They were demoralized and frightened. An American soldier felled Rall with one shot, mortally wounding him. The remaining Hessians threw down their weapons and pleaded for mercy. The Hessians lost 22 men killed in the fight with another 86 receiving wounds and close to 900 were taken prisoner.  The Americans also seized much-needed supplies, including additional cannons and 1,200 muskets. The Americans suffered only five casualties, all only wounded. Among them was eighteen-year-old James Monroe, future President of the United States, who suffered a severe wound in the shoulder. It was a stunning victory that proved a vital boost to the American cause when it desperately needed it.

 

General George Washington’s Continental Army at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778 was a major turning point in the war for independence. While conditions were notoriously cold and harsh and provisions were in short supply thanks to the Continental Congress; it was at the winter camp where George Washington proved his mettle and, with the help of former Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben, transformed a battered Continental Army into a unified, world-class fighting force capable of beating the British.

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General George Washington and his weary troops arrived at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania six days before Christmas in 1777. The men were hungry and tired after a string of losing battles that had resulted in the British capture of the patriot capital, Philadelphia, earlier in the fall. The defeats had led some members of the Continental Congress to want to replace Washington, believing he was incompetent. In fact, it was the members of congress who were incompetent which was manifested in their failure to supply the army adequately.

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The Valley Forge winter camp site was approximately 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia—about a day’s march from the British-occupied American capital. Most of the land had previously been cleared for agriculture, leaving an open, rolling landscape. Washington picked the spot because it was close enough to keep an eye on British troops sheltering in Philadelphia, yet far enough away to prevent a surprise attack on his own Continental Army.

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Life at Valley Forge:

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The winter of 1777-1778 was exceptionally cold. Furthermore, many soldiers lacked proper clothing and food. Some were even shoeless. As Washington described in a December 23, 1777, letter to Henry Laurens, “...we have . . .no less than 2,898 Men now in Camp unfit for duty because they are bare foot and otherwise naked…”

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Military Training at Valley Forge

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Despite the harsh conditions, Valley Forge is sometimes called the birthplace of the American army because, by June of 1778, the weary troops emerged with a rejuvenated spirit and confidence as a well-trained fighting force.

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Much of the credit goes to former Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben. At the time, the Prussian Army was widely regarded as one of the best in Europe, and von Steuben had a sharp military mind.

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Von Steuben arrived in Valley Forge on February 23, 1778. General George Washington, impressed by his acumen, soon appointed von Steuben temporary inspector general. In his role, von Steuben set standards for camp layout, sanitation, and conduct. For instance, he demanded that latrines be placed, facing downhill, on the opposite side of camp as the kitchens.

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More importantly, he became the Continental Army’s chief drillmaster. Von Steuben, who spoke little English, ran the troops through a gamut of intense Prussian-style drills. He taught them to efficiently load, fire and reload weapons, charge with bayonets and march in compact columns of four instead of miles-long single file lines.

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Von Steuben helped to prepare a manual called “Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States,” also called the “Blue Book,” which remained the official training manual of the Army for decades.

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The British soon tested the Continental Army’s newfound discipline at the Battle of Monmouth, which took place in central New Jersey on June 28, 1778. While many historians consider the Battle of Monmouth a tactical draw, the Continental Army fought for the first time as a cohesive unit, showing a new level of confidence, according to the American Battlefield Trust. The Americans used artillery to hold off British troops and even launched bayonet counterattacks—skills they had sharpened while drilling under von Steuben at Valley Forge.

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Skipping over several years of campaigning, on October 19, 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army of some 8,000 men to General George Washington at Yorktown.

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On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America's national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort M'Henry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812.

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If a people desire freedom and are willing to fight to the death for it, they will be either free or dead.