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The First Christmas Present to America - 1776 - The Revolution is saved at Trenton Ernest R. Bower | December 25, 2003 | Ernest R. Bower In the gloom of this holy Christmas night, a cold sleet fell. It was not a night for man nor beast but yet here they were. Huddled upon the banks of this frigid river, 2000 men contemplated their bleak fate. The past few months had gone very, very badly. Their hopes had been crushed time and again. The noble experiment in Liberty which had begun with such promise, had by this time deteriorated to...

<p>Through a spy, the British were tipped off that George Washington would be making his famous Christmas night crossing of the Delaware, but the information went unheeded, according to newly reviewed papers of the British commander.</p> <p>The papers from the archive of Gen. James Grant were found in the tower of his Ballindalloch Castle, northwest of Aberdeen, Scotland.</p>

The battles of TRENTON and PRINCETON are connected, and part of a campaign against the British forces in NJ, during the American Revolution during the 1776-1777 winter. Here is a general account of that campaign. In the fall of 1776, Washington was in desperate straits, having been defeated in Long Island, and having to retreat from New York City, which being surrounded by water, was found to be indefensible from the British with their naval mobility and larger force. Fort Washington on Manhattan Island was captured by the Hessians (mercenary troops from Germany employed by the British), and Fort Lee,...

"General Washington and his troops had been defeated in September, driven from Brooklyn to Manhattan, from Manhattan to New York City, around the Palisades, across New Jersey. They declined from 30,000 troops in September to 2500 Effectives on Christmas Day. Of the 2500, one-third did not have boots. They were wearing burlap bags wrapped around their feet, as they marched; they left a trail of blood. General Washington knew that if he didn't win a victory soon, the entire army would disappear. And so he had to do something desperate. He proposed to cross an icy river, at night, in...

America's First ChristmasHow we reversed our fortunes in the Revolutionary War Gen. George Washington’s army retreated from New York in ignominy in November 1776. As it moved through New Jersey, Lt. James Monroe, the future president, stood by the road and counted the troops: 3,000 left from an original force of 30,000. In December 1776, the future of America hung on the fate of a bedraggled army barely a step ahead of annihilation. The Americans confronted about two-thirds of the strength of the British army, and half of its navy, not to mention thousands of German mercenaries. Ron Chernow recounts...