The Christmas Night Crossing

December 25-26, 1776

After a series of defeats in New York in 1776, General George Washington’s Continental Army retreated across the Jerseys and, on December 8th, escaped across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. The British, unable to find boats, could not pursue Washington further so went into winter quarters, leaving a chain of outposts throughout New Jersey. The Trenton outpost consisted of three regiments of German soldiers, known as Hessians.

In desperate need of a victory, Washington decided to cross the Delaware River on Christmas Night to launch a surprise attack on Trenton. It had been expected that the 2,400 men, 100 or so horses and 18 cannons, might be ferried over by midnight and the army reach Trenton before daybreak. The river had been clear of ice on the 24th, but before noon on the 25th, was full of floating cakes of ice, however not very thick. As night fell, the army of 2,400 men began to cross the ice-filled river. A full moon would be shrouded by dense clouds so that the night would be extremely dark and by midnight a strong storm had developed, hurling sleet, hail and snow at the rebel army. According to John Greenwood:

We had to wait for the rest and so began to pull down the fences and make fires to warm ourselves, for the storm was increasing rapidly. After a while it rained, hailed, snowed, and froze, and at the same time blew a perfect hurricane.

For almost ten hours, boats moved continuously back and forth across the river, ferrying men, horses and cannon to the Jersey side. The entire crossing would be under the direction of Colonel Henry Knox. One soldier remembered that Knox’s voice was heard above the crash of the ice which filled the river. According to Knox: 

…the army… passed the river on Christmas night, with almost infinite difficulty…. The floating ice in the river made the labor almost incredible. However perseverance accomplished what at first seemed impossible…. The night was cold and stormy; it hailed with great violence….

It was nearly 4 AM before the entire army was assembled and ready for the nine mile march to Trenton. The ordeal of the crossing had taken much longer than expected and Washington feared the element of surprise was now lost, it would be after daybreak before the army would reach Trenton.

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The Battle of Trenton