1776: Death, or Victory
Feb 1, 2010 6:19:47 GMT -5
Post by avordvet on Feb 1, 2010 6:19:47 GMT -5
1776: Death, or Victory
By Jim O'Neill Sunday, January 31, 2010
“Posterity (to all future generations) you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” —John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) Sixth President of the United States
“The [Revolutionary] war was a longer, far more arduous, and more painful struggle than later generations would understand or sufficiently appreciate.” —David McCullough
The scene by the Delaware river was illuminated by flickering wood fires started by the men; a few lanterns, and a scattering of storm-tossed torch-light.
George Washington sat on his horse, with his back turned to the wind and sleet. It was 3:00 a.m. the morning after Christmas, 1776. He and his ragged band of soldiers had just crossed the Delaware river into New Jersey from Pennsylvania. They were gathering for an assault on German mercenaries—the Hessians—hired by Great Britain to help stamp out the revolt in their American colonies. The Hessians were stationed about ten snow-covered miles away, in Trenton, New Jersey.
The crossing of the Delaware had been more difficult than anticipated, and Washington and his force were now three hours behind schedule. They were one tine of a planned three pronged attack on Trenton, and Washington knew that his force would no longer be able to meet up with the other two forces on time. He had to decide quickly, whether or not to go ahead with the attack..
If they pushed ahead, Washington and his men would be facing the Hessians alone. Unknown to them, the other American commanders had called off their attacks, due to the extremely bad weather.
The Nor’easter that blew in late Christmas Day, had increased in fury until it was perilous, simply to stand outside for any length of time. Freezing to death was a very real possibility, and indeed two colonial soldiers died from the cold that night. How many suffered from frost-bite will never be known.
John Greenwood, a sixteen-year-old fife player from Boston, later recalled, “...it rained, hailed, snowed, and froze, and at the same time blew a perfect hurricane…” Greenwood stood by a fire to warm himself, but found that he had to keep changing which side faced the fire—“...by turning myself round and round I kept myself from perishing.”
By all reasonable signs, the war was over and the Americans had lost...
canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/19543
By Jim O'Neill Sunday, January 31, 2010
“Posterity (to all future generations) you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” —John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) Sixth President of the United States
“The [Revolutionary] war was a longer, far more arduous, and more painful struggle than later generations would understand or sufficiently appreciate.” —David McCullough
The scene by the Delaware river was illuminated by flickering wood fires started by the men; a few lanterns, and a scattering of storm-tossed torch-light.
George Washington sat on his horse, with his back turned to the wind and sleet. It was 3:00 a.m. the morning after Christmas, 1776. He and his ragged band of soldiers had just crossed the Delaware river into New Jersey from Pennsylvania. They were gathering for an assault on German mercenaries—the Hessians—hired by Great Britain to help stamp out the revolt in their American colonies. The Hessians were stationed about ten snow-covered miles away, in Trenton, New Jersey.
The crossing of the Delaware had been more difficult than anticipated, and Washington and his force were now three hours behind schedule. They were one tine of a planned three pronged attack on Trenton, and Washington knew that his force would no longer be able to meet up with the other two forces on time. He had to decide quickly, whether or not to go ahead with the attack..
If they pushed ahead, Washington and his men would be facing the Hessians alone. Unknown to them, the other American commanders had called off their attacks, due to the extremely bad weather.
The Nor’easter that blew in late Christmas Day, had increased in fury until it was perilous, simply to stand outside for any length of time. Freezing to death was a very real possibility, and indeed two colonial soldiers died from the cold that night. How many suffered from frost-bite will never be known.
John Greenwood, a sixteen-year-old fife player from Boston, later recalled, “...it rained, hailed, snowed, and froze, and at the same time blew a perfect hurricane…” Greenwood stood by a fire to warm himself, but found that he had to keep changing which side faced the fire—“...by turning myself round and round I kept myself from perishing.”
By all reasonable signs, the war was over and the Americans had lost...
canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/19543