Tomorrow is Christmas. I hope you have a merry one, but for those who do not, I offer you a ray of hope.
We are a nation born from a pivotal battle fought on Christmas — the Battle of Trenton (25-26 December 1776).
I believe the Battle of Trenton (there were actually two) was the pivotal battle of the American Revolution.
If our attack had been repulsed, we would not exist.
The Brits had kicked the Continentals butts from Long Island, across New York, across New Jersey until General Washington and the Continentals sought protection on the west side of the Delaware River.
We were in a dark moment and the Revolution was about to be crushed. General Washington hadn’t won a single battle in the war thus far. The Brits and their Hessian mercenaries had prevailed every single time we joined battle with them. It was a dark moment.
So, what did General George NMI Washington decide to do?
General George Washington decided to plan and execute an audacious night river crossing, but he also decided to make it a double envelopment — two attack elements crossing a river at night to assault the Hessians in Trenton on Christmas.
Any soldier knows how difficult river crossings are with trained, seasoned troops. As a combat engineer, I crossed divisions over the Imjin River in Korea and the Rhine River in Germany. This is serious soldiering.
It took a daring level of audacity for a commander to plan and execute a night time, double envelopment, river crossing hauling his artillery to attack an enemy unit he had never been able to stay on a battlefield with. Balls.
One more thing — there was a bloody blizzard raging!
When you finish off Christmas and you are in that zone, feeling that glow remember that battle because the United States of America may only exist today because General George Washington pulled it off even after losing his southern crossing force.
If your dobber is down, if you are feeling the pain of COVID, know this — we are a nation born of success in the face of long odds. Soldier on.
Here is a writeup of the battle:
God bless you. God bless America. God bless George Washington. We will prevail.