In the Time of the Revolution by Alan Axelrod

Author:Alan Axelrod
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 2019-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

BATTLE

The Hessian sentry was alert. “Der Feind! Heraus! Heraus!” (“The enemy! Get up! Get up!”) was the cry that greeted the approach of Washington’s assault force. The Hessian commander, Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall, valiantly rallied his men, making himself instantly conspicuous in the process—and suffering the consequences accordingly. He slumped to the ground, mortally wounded, a musket ball having torn into his chest.

The early loss of their commander intensified the chaos created by the surprise attack on a force still sleeping off the boozy festivities of Christmas night. Some reports say the fight went on for two hours. Others put it at no more than a half-hour. Either way, at the end of it, 106 of the twelve hundred Hessians engaged lay dead or wounded. The rest were prisoners of war. Most historians believe that Washington suffered no more than four wounded, but some reports record two Americans killed in action and two frozen to death.

Washington was eager to press the counteroffensive further with immediate attacks on Princeton and New Brunswick. The failure of his other commanders to cross the river, however, forced him to re-cross the Delaware back to Pennsylvania. No matter. An army the enemy considered beaten had just defeated some of Europe’s best soldiers. The revolution lived on.

General Washington inspects Hessian colors captured at the Battle of Trenton (December 26, 1776). The lithograph, published in 1914, is from a painting by Percy Moran. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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