By Capt Joseph R. John, December 21, 2022
 

December 25, 1776 – Washington Crosses the Delaware

American Patriots repeatedly demonstrated their desire to be free from the foreign domination by Great Britain by sacrificing all to establish the Republic for the “Cause,” and they fought for the “Freedoms” outlined in The Bill of Rights.  

After a series of defeats that resulted in thousands of the 30,000 soldiers in the Continental Army deserting the “Cause”; General George Washington referred to the battle for freedom from Great Britain as the “Cause” in his personal notes.  With such heavy desertions, the Continental Army stood on the verge of losing the Revolutionary War.  

General Washington pleaded with his soldiers not to leave, however they were not being paid, needed shoes to protect themselves from the snow and ice, lacked warm uniforms, and food was in short supply.  The General’s pleas to his troops not to depart were ignored.  Only 2,500 do or die Patriots in the Continental Army remained loyal to General Washington.  

On Christmas Day, General Washington wore his full-dress uniform because he did not expect to survive the engagement.  Prior to departing to engage the 1,400 Hessian German soldiers in Trenton, New Jersey, General George Washington called for the reading of the following from Thomas Paine for the 2,500 members of the Continental Army:

“These are the times that try men’s souls:  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country, but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”  

                                                                         -- Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, December 19, 1776--  

On Christmas Day, a very heavy rain and sleet storm hit the area.  General Washington led the 2,500 Continental soldiers across the frozen Delaware River.  The crossing should have taken two hours, but it took nine hours instead because of heavy winds and sleet.  The soldiers assembled on the foreign bank of the Delaware River, and General Washington led the Continental soldiers to Trenton.  Many soldiers did not have shoes and they left a bloody trail.   The heavy storm was a blessing in disguise since it covered the advance of the Continental troops on their way to Trenton.  

At 8:00 AM on December 26th, the 2,500 Continental soldiers arrived in Trenton, and General Washington launched a surprise attack on the Hessian soldier’s garrison.  The Hessian Colonel in charge was not ready for the attack, he lost his life in the battle, and the engagement led to a decisive victory for the Continental Army.  Many of the Continental soldiers had witnessed the Hessian soldiers viciously kill and behead their comrades in an engagement in New York, but showed grace toward the Hessians who surrendered. 

The victory in Trenton changed the course of the war.  The thousands of Continental soldiers who had melted away to be with their families on Christmas, returned to rejoin the Continental Army and supported General George Washington until the British Army was defeated at Yorktown.

Today there are “Sunshine Patriots” elected to Congress who are doing little to prevent another foreign power, Communist China, from dominating America’s trade relations, from having a heavy influence on America’s foreign policy, from dominating America’s media, and from working to overthrow the US Constitutional Republic, in order to turn the nation into a Socialist State.  

At the same time, former members of Congress are being well paid to lobby for Communist China, and the occupant of the Oval Office consistently fails to oppose Communist China’s aggressiveness toward the United States because of his family’s corrupt business and financial relationship with Communist China.

Copyright by Capt Joseph R. John.  All Rights Reserved.  The material can only be posted on another Web site or distributed on the Internet by giving full credit to the author.  It may not be published, broadcast, or rewritten without the permission from the author.