In the winter of 1776, it looked like the battle for independence was doomed. The British army had chased Washington out of New York. To salvage victory from defeat, the American general had one last play to make. He would attack his enemy on Christmas night. The password was “victory or death.” Historian Mark Maloy tells the desperate and inspiring tale.

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Transcript:
Trenton: The Night Washington Crossed the Delaware
Presented by Mark Maloy

In spring 1776, the British sent a massive armada of 400 ships, carrying 32,000 men across the Atlantic. Led by General William Howe, a seasoned veteran of the French and Indian War, it was one of the largest invasion forces in the history of the world up until that time.

Its purpose was straightforward: quash the American rebellion once and for all. It almost did.

That August, Howe thoroughly trounced George Washington and his fledgling Continental Army, driving them entirely out of New York City.

It was a humiliating defeat.

When it was over, Washington’s army of 20,000 was reduced to 5,000 from death, disease, and desertion.

“The game,” as Washington admitted to his brother in a letter, was “pretty near up.”

What to do now? Whatever it was, it would have to be something bold, something that would reignite the patriot cause, prove once again that the Americans could stand up to the British.

Was such an option even available?

Washington thought so. He had identified a chink in the British armor: an isolated garrison of 1,400 Hessian soldiers — German mercenaries hired by the British — encamped at Trenton, New Jersey.

Here was Washington’s plan: cross the Delaware River on Christmas night and surprise the Hessians in their beds, presumably where they’d be recovering from a night of revelry. Washington would attack from the north, supported by two smaller forces, led by General James Ewing and Colonel John Cadwalader coming from the south to seal off any escape.

The password for the attack perfectly encapsulated the stakes: “Victory or Death.”

As the world sang yuletide carols, Washington led his 2,400 men and artillery across an ice-choked Delaware River. This is the scene immortalized in perhaps the most famous painting in American history by Emanuel Leutze.

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