The Attack
On December 26, 1776, at 7:45 a.m., Lieutenant Andreas Wiederhold saw General Stephen and his corps advancing toward his post on Pennington road. Despite the fact that the Americans began to fire on the picket, Lieutenant Wiederhold waited until they got closer before volleying. Stephen and his men successfully charged at the picket and succeeded in pushing the Hessians back into town. At the same time, General Sullivan and his advance began their attack on the picket on river road, and they also succeeded in forcing the Hessians to retreat into town.
The sounds of the attack could be heard in the heart of the town. Amidst the Hessian troops scrambling to arm themselves and get in position, Rall had to be woken up by Lieutenant …show more content…
The Hessians retreated, many trying the bridge, but they were fended off by Stirling and his troops. They tried to cross through the deep waters of the Assunpink, but were met by St. Clair and his troops on the other side. After realizing there was no way of escape, the Knyphausen regiment surrendered. By nine thirty, the battle was over. In the one to two hours of fighting, there were twenty-two Hessians killed, eighty to ninety wounded, and over nine hundred taken prisoner. The Americans left Colonel Rall, along with other wounded and some captured men, at Trenton; British troops found Rall’s body two days after the battle with the note from Wall still in his pocket. The American casualties were much smaller: two dead from exposure and two (Captain William Washington and future president Lieutenant James Monroe) wounded.
Principles of …show more content…
The Americans had suffered several massive defeats prior the Battle of Trenton. They had lost New York, and suffered defeat at both Fort Washington and Fort Lee. The reason General Washington was in Delaware was because British General Cornwallis had chased him through New Jersey and had his army waiting on the other side. No one expected an attack from the tired, wounded, and disease-infected army. None of the Continentals even knew where their destination was to prevent knowledge of the attack from reaching the Hessians on the other side. As a result the British army commanders in New Jersey took few to no