A light rain had begun to fall out of a pewter grey sky, spattering dirt on the troops as they slowly made their way down the slippery trail toward the river. Each man had been ordered to pack sixty-rounds of ammunition and three-days rations, but few knew where they were bound. Most were dressed in rags, few had overcoats, many were shoeless. The sun was still a half-hour from setting, and already the treetops were beginning to slap and bend, a sure sign of foul weather on the wind.
It was Christmas Day, December 25, 1776, the western bank of the Delaware River. Among the tattered, freezing troops at McConkey’s Ferry late that afternoon was General George Washington, architect of a planned strike against three regiments of Hessian troops wintering across the ice-choked river at Trenton, New Jersey.
It is said that genius and madness are at times virtually indistinguishable and, considering the state of the American Revolution at the time, a fair observation when weighing Washington’s chances of success, even now, from the distance of 300 years.
Read Full Article »