George Washington Crosses the icy Delaware River

By

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

11 Of The Most Amazing Abandoned Railroad Bridges Still Standing Today

By
Image
With the hundreds of thousands of miles of abandoned railroad corridors in the world, it's no surprise that some of the most amazing infrastructure humanity has ever built was eventually abandoned, or re-purposed. And indeed, many bridges, trestles and viaducts have been lost to history, such as the Brushy Creek Viaduct in Alabama. But there are also many which still stand today which serve as reminders of bygone days, the folly of man, or the power of Mother Nature, or some combination thereof. Here are 11 such bridges. 11) Goat Canyon Trestle, Jacumba Hot Springs, CA (32.729167, -116.183333) Image: CoachellaValley.com Goat Canyon Trestle is the largest standing (for now) wooden trestle in the United States, and in spots is 200 feet off the ground, and 750 feet long. Built in the 1930's, it's actually a lot younger than it looks, since by the 1930's, steel had all but replaced wood as the preferred construction material for bridges. It was made out of woo
Read more

The Forgotten Railways of Chicago: The Chicago Great Western Railway

By
Image
View from Goldmine Rd, west of Pearl City, IL, along the abandoned CGW right-of-way. Other than a small Canadian National Railway operation near DuPage Airport, a few industrial customers for Union Pacific between Tyler Rd and Kautz Rd in St. Charles, and a small operation serving the power plant in Byron, the entirety of the 147 mile former Chicago Great Western Railway line between Forest Park and Galena Jct is abandoned, making it the longest abandonment from Chicago by far. The line extended from Chicago, on trackage which now leads to the Union Pacific Global 1 yard, and then followed a line immediately north of where the current Forest Park CTA station is today, paralleling the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Interurban Railroad, which itself is abandoned. But before we see what the line looks like today, let's examine Chicago Great Western's history. CGW Westbound at Elmhurst, IL. 1962 Image: Roger Puta The Chicago Great Western was one of the last Class
Read more

Abandoned Railroad Rights-of-Way Map: Year Two

By
Image
On March 29th, 2016, I would begin the journey to map the abandoned railroad network. This blog is going to give you a little history of the project, and where it is now, and where I would like it to go. Before I say anything else, thank you for your support. This project would be nowhere near where it is right now without your help, information, and enthusiasm. I've had the great pleasure of being able to talk to many of you about abandoned railroad lines, many of which I wouldn't have been able to find myself. So thank you! BACKGROUND: Before this project began, I would hardly be described as a railfan. I mean, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy trains, however my background is in the traffic industry. Aside from that, I loved learning the history of our road network, and how roads got their numbers and why they traveled in the direction they did. Both the US Route Network and the Interstate Highway System are highly fascinating, to me at least. I honestly found the
Read more