Commentary: On Christmas night 1776, Washington prepared for battle

In this day and age, we take so much for granted. We fail to realize that winning the American Revolutionary War to create a “new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” was a fragile proposition in 1776.

The Christmas season is a great time to remember and reflect upon a small but important victory that came when Washington crossed the Delaware River with a small group of dedicated men who suffered terribly for a great cause. This event is celebrated on the 25 cent coin for the state of New Jersey: a replica of the famous painting of “Washington Crossing the Delaware.”

Independence from Great Britain, the largest and strongest nation in the world, was thought to be an impossible feat. And it nearly was.

Washington and his civilian militia were an untrained and rag-tag group. Washington had suffered defeat after defeat since the summer of 1776, when a determined and courageous group of men signed the Declaration of Independence.

“We give our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor,” they stated on the document that would be their death sentence if they should ever be caught.

These upstarts in the colonies were willing to confront the king with their demands for an equal say in their governance. Remember, in this age, kings were the ultimate authority and their word was law.

Washington was the leader of the Continental Army, which consisted of the citizen soldier. These men were farmers and businessmen who joined the fight whenever they had a break in their work that would allow them to participate for a few months at a time.

Washington was facing the expiration of these enlistments at the end of December. The army had been shrinking, due to the harsh winter weather and to the poor morale because of military defeats.

Washington desperately needed a victory to rally the troops and the people to the dream of independence from Britain. Few people today realize that only about a third of the population backed the revolutionary cause. One-third of the population considered themselves to be Englishmen and were loyal to the crown.

Many of these were businessmen who found it more profitable to sell supplies to the British troops for a good profit instead of to Washington and his starving troops for payment with the worthless Continental Dollar. Fully a third of the population didn’t care; they didn’t want to take sides or get involved in any of this.

Then Thomas Paine wrote his inflammatory pamphlet, “The American Crisis,” in which he said, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Now the people were stirred with visions of possibility for a new kind of government and a new way of life.

The winter was cold and harsh. Many of Washington’s men had only thin clothing and no shoes. Many had to resort to wrapping their feet in rags which left a bloody trail on the snowy, frozen ground. Food was in short supply. The suffering of his men was acute.

Washington knew these wonderful men would leave the camp to return to their comfortable homes when their enlistment ended. Once they were gone, he may never be able to recruit more men for the cause again.

Washington was desperate for a victory. So he devised a plan to cross the Delaware River with his troops, silently, in the middle of the night that Christmas in 1776 so he could execute a surprise attack on the morning of Dec. 26 on the Hessians’ mercenary soldiers, hired by the king, who were quartered in Trenton, N.J.

The Hessians were totally taken by surprise. Normally, soldiers in those years had a reprieve in the winter so they could rest and resupply, and so they could avoid fighting in harsh winter conditions. Washington’s plan had worked, and the colonists enjoyed a rousing victory.

Washington’s victory saved the revolutionary cause. People became more hopeful and inspired to support this new idea of a government ruled by the people.

True, they had ruled themselves as colonists, but it was still under the supervision of the king and Parliament. Now the people realized a new future was possible for them.

Newport Beach resident SHERRY MARRON has a doctorate in American studies. She has taught at the University of Connecticut and Orange Coast College.