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.

Washington crossing the Delaware River is a famous event in American history that took place during the American Revolutionary War. George Washington, then the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, led a surprise attack against Hessian forces (German soldiers hired by the British) stationed in Trenton, New Jersey.

Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851


Early in the morning on Christmas, General Washington advised his troops to have food and supplies for three days of travel, and was concerned the British were planning to cross the Delaware River once it had completely frozen over. The weather was getting worse as well, turning from drizzle to rain to sleet and snow, based on a soldier's account of the day. 

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 attack on the Hessian forces was a surprise, and the Americans were able to quickly overwhelm the enemy. The victory at Trenton was a turning point in the war, and it helped to bolster morale among the American troops and civilians. It also proved to be a tactical victory, as it allowed Washington to regain control of New Jersey and boosted recruitment for the Continental Army.

The cold weather was indicative of the period known as the "Little Ice Age" of the late 18th century.

Thanks as always for reading!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hillcrest Amusement Park - A Picnic Grove Turned Logistics Park

Image
Hillcrest Park , in what was unincorporated Lemont, IL was a small picnic grove with a few small amusement park rides, similar to many other tiny parks that operated early in the 20th century. By the time it stopped operating in 2003, it was one of the few remaining relics of a bygone era of amusements. It was far smaller than even Kiddieland , its nearest theme park equivalent, which also closed down early in the 21st century. Despite its very  small size at less than 60 acres in size (and most of that was just picnic grounds), it actually housed a roller coaster recognized as an ACE (American Coaster Enthusiasts) Coaster Classic . The requirements for this distinction can be found in the link. The park operated from 1952 to 2003, and was most famous for its Little Dipper wooden coaster (which is now at Little Amerricka in Marshall, WI ). But it also had a small railroad running within it as well. Paul Drabek noted the Little Dipper, railroad, and a carousel among the amusement rides
Read more

The Lake Tahoe Railway

Image
The Lake Tahoe Railway connected Tahoe City and Lake Tahoe with the Central Pacific Railroad at Truckee, CA, about 14 miles north. The tracks ended on the west side of the lake in Tahoe City. ( Right of way ) LTR 1 at Truckee, CA. Image: Pacific Coast Narrow Gauge Operations began in 1875 as a narrow gauge railway, with the line reaching its full extent by 1900, and was used to transport logs and other materials from the forests surrounding Lake Tahoe to the Southern Pacific's main line.  Image: Truckee-Donner Historical Society Southern Pacific began leasing the line in 1925, and converted it to standard gauge a year later. Under SP ownership, the line was known as the Lake Tahoe Branch. Section of Railroad Track near Lake Tahoe, c.1910. Image via Pacific Coast Narrow Gauge . Becoming the owners outright in 1933, SP would abandon the line ten years later. Today, train tracks extend into Lake Tahoe, however these were likely used for boat launches into the lake, and were not pa
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2023

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i
Read more