Battle Of Trenton And The American Revolutionary War

In August 1781, General George Washington, who was camped in New York, learned that Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis' army of nearly 9,000 soldiers was encamped near Yorktown, VA (Lengel,

The soldier’s time to serve would be up in just ten days, the British continued to win battles, all hope of winning the war was fading and everyone was ready to put down their weapons and surrender to Great Britain. However, George Washington was not settling with anything less than trying their best. He kept that little flicker of hope that was still left, alive. The Continental Congress did not see much hope in the war either and turned the responsibility of the war to General George Washington. Washington received a message from Congress saying,

Few, when writing about the American Revolution, list the Battle of Monmouth among the significant battles. It was hardly a bloody battle, with only about seven-hundred total casualties. It was not a decisive battle, it was not a battle in which we gained or lost a key position, and it was not a battle in which we point to as an example of how to conduct an engagement. In fact, it was not a battle in which one can say that the Revolutionaries truly won. Yet, with all this, it was probably the battle that turned the tide of the Revolutionary War. "Beneath a blazing sun at Monmouth Courthouse, it was shown to the rest of the Continental Army that the training of

George Washington’s tactics and skills when it came to the Continental army and war were very helpful in the many battles that he led. In Trenton, Washington planned a sneak attack on the British, in which they had to cross the Delaware River on. Because of Washington’s quick thinking and great army skills allowed the Continental Army to succeed in surrounding all the Hessians in Trenton in an orchard, leaving them with

The Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Saratoga were both victories for the American Continental Army. Yes, both victories were significant, but for different reasons. I believe that the Battle of Trenton is the battle that more significantly improved the Patriot’s morale and helped turn the tide in their favor. The Battle of Saratoga was also a major American victory but that battle is more known as the turning point in the Revolutionary War.

The battle of the red bank(October/22/1777) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War in which a Hessian force was sent to take Fort Mercer on the left bank (or New Jersey side) of the Delaware River just south of Philadelphia, but was decisively defeated by a far inferior force of Colonial defenders

September 5th, 1781, a French Naval Fleet inhabited the lower Chesapeake Bay, which was a major advantage to the continental army. The siege of Yorktown, was the last major battle against the British army under General Cornwallis, resulting in the inevitable surrender and American independence. There was a great deal of coordination prior to the actual engagement consequently leading to this outcome. The total number of soldiers consisted of 17,600 American and French soldiers, under the command of General George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette, Comte de Rochambeau, and Rear Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse lead a French Naval Fleet. 8,300 British forces were commanded by General Charles Earl Cornwallis with 7,000 additional forces sent from General Sir Henry Clinton in New York. Unfortunately for the British, the reinforcements arrived too late. According to General Cornwallis, the British failed their mission as a result of lack of reinforcements from Clinton. Middleton stated (2013), “However, it is wrong to blame Clinton alone for Yorktown” (p.387). Various factors led to the defeat of both British Generals. The lack of communications and insubordination of authority caused their defeat. This was the truth for the battle of Yorktown. At the time of the American Revolution, both American rebels and the British practiced a variety of methods for keeping written communications secret. Both sides had a networks of spies who passed on information right under

In the summer of 1781, General George Washington and his army were encamped in the Hudson Highlands. This is where they could monitory the activities of Lieutenant General Henry Clinton and the British army in New York City.

The British won a wonderful and Costly war in the fall of 1777. To provide some background to this event we have to go to

In the early year of 1776, one of the most significant historical events happened during the American Revolutionary war. During the Battle of Trenton, George Washington had decided to make a surprise attack against the Hessian forces. Washington had made this a secret attack against the Hessian Troops while leading his troops across the frosty Delaware River in the early morning of December 26. Other planned events or attacks were called off or were incomplete; but that did not stop the General from surprising Rall’s troops in defeating them in Trenton.

In the fall of 1776 the British Empire stood on the edge of victory, Britain’s New York campaign left the Continental Army in disarray and on the edge of extinction. The 1777 campaign, though not fully realized by the British crown, represented the best and last chance to suppress the American Rebellion before the rebellion transformed into a world war and went beyond the British ability to win. Unfortunately for the British, their senior commanders in the New World, Sir William Howe and John Burgoyne, viewed the war through a flawed operational lens and saw the American struggle for independence as an opportunity to enhance their standing and future in the British Empirical system. British American Secretary Lord Germain, himself

British strategy in 1777 involved separating New England, where the rebellion had the most popular support, from the other colonies. General John Burgoyne’s army planned to march south from Canada and meet Howe’s forces on the Hudson River. Burgoyne’s men dealt a devastating loss to the Americans in July by retaking Fort Ticonderoga, while Howe decided to move his troops southward to confront Washington’s army near the Chesapeake Bay. The British defeated the Americans at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, in September and entered Philadelphia. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown in early October before withdrawing near Valley Forge in

Lafayette was the Commander of an American force consisting of nearly 3,200 Soldiers. Lafayette also reported all movements of the British Army to General Washington. By August 1781, the British Army had established itself in Yorktown, Virginia to begin construction of the port. Shortly after, Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse who was the Commander of the French West Indie Fleet would be given the option of attacking New York City, or attacking Yorktown. He chooses to attack Yorktown. Upon hearing this, Washington realized the time for decisive action was upon him. He moved his Continental Army, which was already reinforced by over 5,000 French Soldiers, to Yorktown.

At the outset of the campaign his forces suffered defeat in nearly every engagement. By late December 1776 Washington faced an operational crisis, he needed a victory before the conscriptions ran out in his small army. He planned the crossing of the Delaware River and the attack on the Hessian garrison in Trenton with an understanding of the risks involved. Failure would likely result in the loss of his army and the inability to raise a new one. He decided that a surprise attack on the Hessians could provide the victory needed to retain his force and increase the support for the cause within the populous.

After George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River, he led the main body of the continental army against Hessian soldiers garrisoned at Trenton. His army was disintegrating, or weakened, after a series of defeats around New