How Washington Engineered Attack on Trenton

These are the times that try men's souls, wrote Thomas Paine in American Crisis on December 19, 1776. Paine's immortal words perfectly sum up the state of the Revolution at the end of 1776. The crisis was simple; George Washington's army had been beaten and driven from Long Island, New York was in British hands, and many of his troop's enlistments would expire at the end of the year. After a long retreat across New Jersey, the only thing holding the British at bay was winter, and the Delaware River. The Revolution tottered on the brink of failure.