Washington Crosses The Delaware

On Christmas night in 1776, General George Washington led American patriots across the Delaware River to attack the Hessian mercenary garrison at Trenton, New Jersey; a force which was fighting for the British.

You’ve likely seen Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, painted in 1851, aspirational to be sure, but modern artist Mort Kunstler created a much more likely depiction of events in his 2011 painting entitled, Washington’s Crossing.

It was an audacious plan; take a force of 5400, including artillery, conduct a nighttime river crossing in a storm, and with the ultimate element of surprise, attack a sleeping enemy. A force of 2400 Continental troops made the crossing, but 3,000 troops and the artillery so crucial to the plan remained stranded on the wrong side of the Delaware. Regardless, Washington pressed the attack, striking out toward his prey and at 8:00 AM met the enemy. Fortune favors the bold; the defenders were still groggy from their Weinachtsfest, with many slumbering soundly in bed.

Miraculously, only three Americans were killed, while over 1000 Hessians were captured with 22 killed and 98 wounded. Unfortunately, without his additional force, Washington was forced to withdraw. But the psychological victory stoked faith in the revolution.

I can only think of one better Christmas story than George Washington crossing the Delaware in the middle of a stormy night in order to kill German mercenaries.

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on Thursday, December 25th, 2025 at 14:00 and is filed under Morale.
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