12-22 🇺🇸 Juan O Savin
The ones who were left in Winter 1776 were kids.
15, 16, 17 years old.
A lot don't have shoes.
People are discouraged.
Troops sneaking away & going home.
The Brits are laughing in their warm huts.
In this moment, Washington has a bold plan.
With 4 days till Christmas
he tells his Generals his plan:
To cross the Delaware under cover of darkness
with all 2,000 Troops in one night
in a handful of boats — 'Durham' Boats.
It’s sleeting. Below freezing every night.
Everything is icing over.
The Delaware has chunks of ice floating down it.
The enemy has spies.
Very risky. Very perilous.
At a certain point though
Washington wanted his Troops all on one side.
Do you know what the password is?
Are you one of us?
The password was 'Victory or Death'
VICTORY OR DEATH!
WE’RE ALL IN.
Either we win this battle today or we die trying
but we’re not backin' down.
Virtually no one got injured in the entire attack.
Talk about the Divine Protection 🕊️

Kat, the Battle of Trenton was so PIVOTAL in America's fight to exist as a New Nation.

General Washington KNEW in December of 1776 they had to obtain a decisive VICTORY or it was literally Game Over.

General William S. Stryker, authoring the definitive history of the Battle, wrote:

"On December 18, the commander-in-chief wrote to his brother: 'If every nerve is not strained to recruit the new army with all possible expedition, I think the game is pretty nearly up...'"

Retreating to the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, American Patriots WISELY took every boat & raft with them, preventing the British from crossing, UNLESS the river froze. The British Command even refused suggestions by Tories to build boats, a big mistake for them,
and A HAND OF GOD BLESSING for America.

Before leaving on tonight's date, 249 years ago, copies of Thomas Paine's "THE AMERICAN CRISIS" were handed out to Washington's Troops to motivate them to give it their all.

Historical sources:
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