Land of the Brave

Battle of Trenton

Major General Nathanael Greene

Major General Nathanael Greene

Battle of Trenton

Battle of Trenton Definition: The Battle of Trenton was a military conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in North America during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The year and date that the Battle of Trenton took place on Thursday, December 26, 1776.

The battlefield in which the British and American Forces fought during the Battle of Trenton was located in Trenton, New Jersey. The Battle of Trenton ended in victory for the American colonists. 

Overview and Summary of the Battle of Trenton
The Fall of Fort Washington on the end of Manhattan Island was a crushing blow for the Americans and destroyed all hope of holding anything near New York. General George Washington sent one part of his army to secure the Highlands of the Hudson. With the other part of the army he moved across New Jersey to the southern side of the Delaware River. The Battle of Trenton took place on Christmas night, Thursday, December 26, 1776 in New Jersey. General George Washington crossed the Delaware with a division of his army. It was a treacherous crossing, a violent snowstorm was raging and the Delaware river was full of ice. But George Washington and the determined soldiers crossed the river. The weather changed and the storm turned to freezing sleet and rain but on the soldiers marched on to their destination which was the Hessian garrison at Trenton. The American forces under George Washington and Nathanael Greene surprised the German Hessians holding the roads leading inland from the town of Trenton.

John Stark and a few American soldiers, including James Monroe, held the bridge leading over the Assanpink* to the next British post. A few horsemen escaped before John Stark could prevent them, but all of the fleeing German Hessian foot soldiers were killed or captured. Nearly 1000 Hessian prisoners were marched through Philadelphia. It was a significant victory for the Americans and a crushing defeat for the Hessian army. Washington was about to lead another American victory at the Battle of Princeton.

*Assunpink Creek is a 22 mile tributary of the Delaware River in western New Jersey in the United States

 
The Importance and Significance of the Battle of Trenton
Significance of the Battle of Trenton: The significance of the conflict was that the Hessian army was crushed in Washington's raid across the Delaware River and the Americans were invigorated by the easy defeat of the British Hessian forces.

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