As the winter of 1776-1777 set in, the Patriot cause was near collapse.
The Continental Army had dwindled to 6,000 hungry, freezing, and dispirited men.
Thousands had deserted (left without permission), and on Dec. 31, 1776, the enlistments of most
of the remaining soldiers would expire.
General Howe's 20,000 men had the Patriots cornered.
How did General Washington respond?
Washington understood the severity of the situation.
In a letter to his brother he wrote, "I think the game is pretty near up."
If he could not save his army, he noted, the fight for liberty would fail.
The few remaining soldiers under his command were unlikely to reenlist in a shattered,
retreating army that could not feed (or pay) them.
Believing that the rebellion would soon end, General Howe left the task of keeping an eye
on Washington's army to the German Hessians - mercenaries who fought not out of loyalty,
but for pay.
As the Hessians pursued the Patriots, Washington managed to escape across the Delaware River
into Pennsylvania on December 7.
The British and the Hessians settled in, waiting for the river to freeze.
They were also quite confident that a brutal winter might destroy the American army first.
Washington knew that without a convincing victory, and very soon, his army would be
lost.
He decided to take a major risk and do something his army had never done before.
On Christmas night, 1776, they would go on the offensive and attack the Hessian soldiers
in Trenton.
As night fell on December 25, Washington loaded 2,400 men onto pontoon boats and rowed across
the ice-clogged Delaware River.
As the sun rose, his soldiers, many without shoes, marched through the snow toward Trenton.
The gamble entailed major risks.
If the Hessians were waiting for Washington's army, a Patriot defeat and surrender would
be all but certain.
Yet Washington was confident.
The Hessians, who had celebrated Christmas with festivities and drink, were fast asleep
when Washington's army rushed into the village.
Roused from their sleep, the mercenaries never stood a chance.
Washington's army captured over 900 enemy soldiers, while suffering only four wounded.
More importantly, the entire stockpile of food, weapons, blankets, and supplies fell
into American hands.
Befuddled, General Howe sent his most aggressive general, Charles Cornwallis, to take command
in New Jersey.
As the British pursued the Americans toward Princeton, Washington followed up his masterful
plan at Trenton with another.
On January 2, 1777, the Patriots left campfires burning and slipped through the darkness to
encircle the British troops near Princeton.
Before dawn the following morning, the Americans attacked, once again taking the enemy by surprise.
As the British fled, Washington declared, "It's a fine fox chase, my boys!"
The citizens of New Jersey couldn't believe their eyes.
Only a week before, most were certain they were witnessing the end of the new nation.
Now Washington's Patriots had cleared the British out of the colony entirely.
Most of Washington's men, emboldened by the victories at Trenton and Princeton, reenlisted
to fight another year.
The army-and the United States of America-was saved.