BATTLES OF TRENTON & PRINCETON.   Term Paper ID:26688 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines two battles of Revolutionary War to understand successful strategy & actions of General George Washington.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines two battles of Revolutionary War to understand successful strategy & actions of General George Washington. Paper Introduction: It is sometimes difficult, as we near the 225th anniversary of our country’s independence, to recall how very unlikely that independence seemed during the early battles of the American Revolution. This paper examines two of those battles – Trenton and Princeton – to understand how the strategy and actions of George Washington helped ensure victory in these battles and, as a result, in the war as a whole. Before describing the battles more completely, a brief overview of the two battles is useful for placing them within the context of the war. The forces of General George Washington defeated Hessian troops, German mercenaries allied with the British, in the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. One week later British forces under General Charles Cornwallis advanced along the Delaw Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. It had been a real offensive, not a counterattack like the Hollow Way, and had been won largely by the bayonet, a weapon that the Americans were not supposed to understand - or even possess. New York: American Heritage. Washington personally led the fighting around and between1 houses in Trenton, being wounded in the battle that was fought inweather so bad that the muskets were nearly unusable. 166). However, while he did manage to makethe crossing, he could not land his artillery and he was too late to givethe main attack against Trenton any real assistance (Boatner, 1966, p.1112). Trenton and Princeton produced far-reaching results.... As things turned against the Hessians, Rall ordered a withdrawalduring which he was killed. [but] the success was heartening enough as it was. One week later British forces under General CharlesCornwallis advanced along the Delaware River to attack Washington's troops.To thwart British plans, Washington's army on the night of January 2, 1777,moved quickly and quietly around the enemy, leaving the American campfiresburning. News of the Trenton victory ran through the army and the country like a bolt of electricity. Joseph Moulderprevented the British from scoring a complete rout and Washington alongwith several others rallied the American soldiers. They might have been able to continue theraid on Brunswick, which might have considerably shortened the war, butthey were too tired to do so. The landing was tohave finished by midnight, but the poor weather slowed the operation downso that the last man did not land util 3 a.m. Both sides then formed battle lines and each brought two fieldguns into play. However, even while the weather worked against them, other elementsfavored the Americans, even although loyalists had forewarned the Hessianswith details of the time and place of the attack. Rall was sleeping off his drink and his men were entirely unpreparedfor the attack when it occurred at 8 a.m. Arms and Independence: The military character of the American Revolution. Having heard the fight start at Princeton, Cornwallis rushedreinforcements from Trenton, but the last of the American troops werealready leaving the college town. (1984). Stopping 3 yards from theenemy, he reined his horse and gave the order to fire. His arrogance and underestimation of the American troops led histo disregard orders to construct fortifications and to send out scoutingparties. The next morning Washington advanced toward Princeton, where,joined by reinforcements, he defeated a British regiment that was marchingto join Cornwallis. 894). Washington was personally in charge of the effort to take Trenton andhe had at his command about 2,4 veterans and 18 cannon. Although Rall was a veteran leader with an outstandingreputation, he was also a drunkard, not as intelligent as he should havebeen, and he looked down on the American leaders and army as countrybumpkins. 169). Butthese battles in many ways had to be won by the Americans so that peoplecould begin to create a new national identity that had at its core a senseof military might and the competence and courage of a commander in chieflike George Washington. Washington was again favored with a combination of good strategy,brave soldiers and simple luck at the battle of Princeton a few days later.Leaving 4 men around burning campfires to simulate the presence of theentire army, the rest of Washington's command started marching at 1 a.m. 1113-1114). Ports and farms were more willing to release supplies to commissary officers (Lancaster, 1985, p. Washington's plan for Princeton was simple: 25 menunder Hugh Mercer were to destroy Stony Brook Bridge, sealing the Post Roadagainst reinforcement from Trenton and cutting off escape from Princeton.The Americans began to follow this strategy, were fired on by troops behinda fence to their left, then changed fronts and drove the British from thisposition. They didnot in any way expect such a large and organized attack. In exulting, men and soldiers forgot that the triumph could have been far greater ... Washington led theAmericans against an unflinching British line. He planned tocross the Delaware river at McKonkey's Ferry (now called Washington'sCrossing) nine miles above Trenton and surprise the village from the north.General Ewing was to cross the Delaware at Trenton Ferry with 1, militiamembers and prevent a retreat by the British but he failed to do so.Colonel Cadwalader was to lead 2, men across the river and attack thegarrison at Bordentown as a diversion. The river crossing was began in the afternoon of Dec. The forces of General George Washington defeated Hessian troops,German mercenaries allied with the British, in the Battle of Trenton onDecember 26, 1776. These two battlesdemonstrated to them that their military leaders were capable and theirsoldiers well enough trained and armed that they had a reasonable chance ofboth survival and victory. Because he was outmaneuvered by Washington, Cornwalliswithdrew the British forces to New Brunswick, New Jersey, and thus wasprevented from entering Philadelphia and Washington and his men spent therest of the winter in Morristown, New Jersey. The frozen ground actually helped Washington, for muddy roads wouldhave made the march longer and more difficult, but the march was still anightmare for the exhausted and ill-fed veterans as well as for theinexperienced if somewhat better-fed militia members and a considerablenumber of these were routed when a rumor spread through their ranks thatthey were surrounded by Hessians. and Albert, P. On Christmas night, 1776, he got drunk and had to be carried tobed (Boatner, 1966, p. The British defeat at Trentonand Princeton helped raise American morale; without such victories it ishard to know if the American army and its leader would have been able toface the privations of that long Morristown winter. The British losses were about 28 killed, 58 wounded and 187missing. The Germans surrendered about an hour after thefighting had begun. The importance of the victory at Trenton was immediately perceived. The Americans were driven back, but Capt. 98). Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Charlottesville: United States Capitol Historical Society.Lancaster, B. The Battles of Trenton and Princeton were important and probably evenessential victories for the Americans, not so much in what theyaccomplished militarily, for these two towns could have remained held bythe British until later in the war without compromising American goals. the column had crossedStony Brook, two miles from Princeton (Boatner, 1966, p. The American peoplemight have believed before these battles in the cause of freedom, but theydid not know that they had the means to achieve it. In other parts of the country, men on recruiting duty found it a little easier to fill up their quotas. (1985). Continental currency was not so hard to put into circulation. It is sometimes difficult, as we near the 225th anniversary of ourcountry's independence, to recall how very unlikely that independenceseemed during the early battles of the American Revolution. The battle of Princeton proved to Americans - both soldiers andcivilians - that Americans could fight, something that had not been whollybelieved in before (Hoffman and Albert, 1984, p. The American Revolution. (1966). This paperexamines two of those battles - Trenton and Princeton - to understand howthe strategy and actions of George Washington helped ensure victory inthese battles and, as a result, in the war as a whole. 891). However, the Hessians andRall believed that the attack would be a small hit-and-ran patrol, the kindof offensive that they had become used to - and indifferent to. Every precaution was taken to ensure secrecy, includingthe fact that only the generals knew where the army was heading and thewheels of the gun carriages were wrapped with rags to muffle their sound onthe frozen ground. And perhaps just as importantly, these battlesshowed the fallibility of the British, who would no longer be perceived asomnipotent representatives of a lawful king, but as foreigners who couldnot get their footing in this land that was determined to be independent. 1115). ReferencesBoatner, M.M. onJanuary 3, 1777. New York: David McKay Company.Hoffman, R. The heavy Loyalist core that has existed before had softened, if, indeed, it had not entirely melted away. 25 andWashington and his troops succeeded despite swift currents, floating ice,bitter cold and a storm of wind, hail, rain and show - conditions thatprevented the other troops from assisting Washington. The two sides probably did not number more than 7 soldiersaltogether, about half of whom probably were actually involved in thefighting. But the commander in chief was never to have a veteran army (Lancaster, 1985, p. Even thoughthe 1,2 Hessians at the garrison turned out rapidly, their formationswere quickly broken by the combination of direct artillery fire andflanking fire. Princeton had been left with about 1,2 British troops under Lt.Colonel Charles Mawhood as a rear guard when Cornwallis marched for Trentonon New Year's Day. and the ragged, exhaustedsoldiers were not ready to start marching until 4 a.m., ensuring that theycould not arrive before daybreak and so would lose the element of surprise.This knowledge was deeply disheartening to the soldiers, who were alreadynone too sanguine. The Battles of Trenton and Princeton were won by the Americans througha combination of good luck and good planning.Washington selected Trenton as a target because of its isolation, but thegreater weakness of the site was probably its leader, the Hessian colonelJohann Rall. However, by 3 a.m. It would be broad day before the attack could be launched, and that might make all the difference between victory and defeat, a defeat that might develop into a catastrophe fatal to the American cause (Boatner, 1966, pp. The British returnedthe volley, but then turned and fled. They had lost 1 6 soldiers to death or injury with 918taken prisoner and 3 to 5 missing. The Americans had four wounded, andsome reports say that four Americans died (two from freezing during thewithdrawal); other reports record that no American of the 24 that crossedthe Delaware was killed (Boatner, 1966, p. Thus Washington and his men were very much on their own. December 26, 1776. The Americans had 4 killed or wounded (Boatner, 1966, p. 1112). Had Washington been able to keep his Trenton men as a nucleus about which to build an army for the rest of the war, he would have presented a formidable threat to the British, at least on land. Before describing the battles more completely, a brief overview of thetwo battles is useful for placing them within the context of the war. Back atTrenton, Cornwallis slept, unaware that his prey had escaped and on thePrinceton-Trenton Road General Leslie, with 1,2 British soldiers, wasentirely unaware that Washington's forces had passed within an hour's marchof them. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.