George Washington Crosses the icy Delaware River
On the night of Christmas Day, 1776, George Washington began crossing the Delaware River to attack Trenton, New Jersey, creating the iconic scene immortalized in an 1851 painting.
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Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851 |
The greatest hazard Washington faced was ice chunks in the river, making it extremely difficult to navigate across, meaning all of the Army did not move across the water until 3am on the 26th. Over the next two days, Washington and his men would make the trip two more times. The crossing would result in the Battle of Trenton, which was a small but significant battle in the Revolutionary War.
The cold weather was indicative of the period known as the "Little Ice Age" of the late 18th century.
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