It was late on Christmas Day, 1776 when George Washington and the cold, weary band of patriots under his command, prepared to cross the Delaware River just north of Trenton, New Jersey. The plan – to attack the Hessian army, posted by the British to hold that town – was a perilous one.
 
 
Freezing in the dark of night, snow swirling around them ~

…(t)he men stood stoically on the river banks, waiting their turn to cross. The sleet mixed with snow pelted their faces, dripped under their collars. Some had covered the firelocks on their muskets with rags, attempting to keep them dry for the battle. Others, having no rags – or no foresight – watched miserably as their muskets became useless burdens.
 
Ice floated down the river, smashing against the boats and threatening to dump the passengers in the river. Hour after long hour passed, rows of weary men shifting in place as they waited on both sides of the freezing water.

Source: The Real George Washington – National Center for Constitutional Studies

 
It was 3 a.m. on December 26th before all the troops made it to the eastern shore of the Delaware. Still under assault by the wind and snow, they began the nine-mile march south ~
 

One officer scribbled in his journal “It is fearfully cold and raw and a snowstorm settling in. The wind… beats in the faces of the men. It will be a terrible night for the soldiers who have no shoes.”
 
Jagged ice on the road cut through worn-out shoes and threadbare stockings. The next day, Major James Wilkinson, coming behind, could follow their route by the blood-stains in the snow.

Source: The Real George Washington – National Center for Constitutional Studies

 
At approximately 8:00 a.m., the Continental Army reached the outskirts of Trenton and descended on the unsuspecting Hessian force guarding the city ~

Trenton’s 1,400 Hessian defenders were still groggy from the previous evening’s Christmas festivities and had underestimated the Patriot threat after months of decisive British victories throughout New York. The troops of the Continental Army quickly overwhelmed the German defenses, and by 9:30 a.m.Trenton was completely surrounded.
 
Although several hundred Hessians escaped, nearly 1,000 were captured at the cost of only four American lives.

Source: History.com

 
It was a turning point in the early days of the Revolution. A much-needed victory that helped sustain not only the troops’ morale and fortitude, but also the critically-important support of the American people.
 

Since 1952, Washington’s historic crossing has been re-enacted on the same site from which those brave men made their way across the Delaware in 1776.
 
 
Inclement weather has occasionally forced participants in the re-enactment to cross via a bridge; a luxury not available to Washington and his stalwart troops.
 

 
If you want to know why our blessed country – bequeathed to us by such courageous patriots – is doomed to fade into the history books sometime within the current century, here’s what contemporary young American men are being encouraged to do (by the commander-in-chief, no less 😯 ) on Christmas Day in 2013…