30. Washington Crossing of the Delaware Traditional Cache

The Crossing of the Delaware River Christmas Night, 1776

1776 was a tumultuous year for the Americans. While July 4 had seen the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the second half of the year saw a series of defeats in New York for General George Washington and his army. Then, on the night of November 19-20, British and Hessian troops under the command of General Cornwallis crossed the Hudson River from New York City to invade New Jersey, causing the American troops to abandon their encampment at Fort Lee and begin a twelve-day retreat across New Jersey. On December 2 the retreating American troops arrived in Trenton, where they spent five days moving all the troops and supplies across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.

Washington ordered the collection and confiscation of all of the boats for miles up and down the river, which prevented the British forces from following them into Pennsylvania. Unable to pursue the American troops across the river, British troops took up winter quarters in various locations in New Jersey, including Princeton and New Brunswick. A garrison of Hessian troops was left to occupy Trenton. (Hessians were German mercenary soldiers who had been hired by the British to fight on their side in the Revolutionary War.

Although the river offered George Washington and his army temporary safety, this was a desperate time for them, what Thomas Paine would describe as "These are the times that try men's souls." The soldiers were demoralized from the defeats and retreats of the previous months. The army's size had diminished greatly over the previous half year. To make matters worse, the enlistments of many of the men were due to expire at the end of the year, which would cause the loss of much of the rest of the army. The country's faith in the army, and in Washington as its commander-in-chief, was at an all time low. Under these circumstances, General Washington decided to attempt an extremely bold and risky move - to cross the Delaware River back into New Jersey to make a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton.

The plan was to cross the river on Christmas night, and then march nine miles to Trenton and make the attack before the sunrise, to maintain the element of surprise. However, a very bad winter storm began that night, and it took almost ten hours to move all of the men, horses and cannon across the river in boats. American General Henry Knox described the difficulties of the crossing: "The floating ice in the river made the labor almost incredible. However, perseverance accomplished what at first seemed impossible."

It took until almost 4 a.m. for everyone to make it across the river, hours behind the plan's schedule, and the army still had the nine-mile march to Trenton ahead of them. The weather made the march to Trenton a difficult one, and they did not reach Trenton to attack until 8 a.m., well after sunrise. However, Washington's luck had held out, and they still surprised the Hessians and were victorious at what is known as the first Battle of Trenton. Washington's army marched back and then recrossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania with about 900 Hessian prisoners.

The victory at the first Battle of Trenton boosted the sagging morale of the army and the country. Faith in Washington's leadership revived. With a renewed confidence, Washington's army would make another crossing into New Jersey several days later, resulting in the second Battle of Trenton, and then another important victory at Princeton. They would then take up quarters in Morristown for the rest of the winter. These events which occurred in New Jersey during this time changed the course of the war, and ultimately the course of history.

This cache is one of "The American Revolution Geo~Trail" caches throughout New Jersey. These special geocaches are hidden at historic locations which have a connection to important New Jersey's American Revolutionary War history. To participate in the optional Geo-Trail, after you find the geocache, locate the secret code and record it into your passport which you will print from the Geo~Trail website. Information at njpatriots.org

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