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Battles That Changed the Outcome of the American Revolution Essay example

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Battles that Changed the Outcome The Americans started out as a bunch of uncivilized colonies, but after the revolutionary war, they become a strong country that beat Britain for freedom. On Christmas night General George Washington makes a bold decision to cross the Delaware and ambushed the Hessians. Although risky, Washington brought new life to his rag tag army. General Burgoyne decides that in order to win this war, he needs to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. Burgoyne’s plan sounded like a good idea to the British, but this action could be argued to be the reason why Britain did not win this war. Nearing the end of the war, the British were scarce on man and supplies. Washington took his army and his French …show more content…

Getting across the Delaware was slow due to bad conditions. Temperature were constantly changing, which makes at different times rain and other times sleet. Washington knew that a strong boat would be needed to travel through ice. That is why General Washington chooses the Durbam boat. Durbam boats were the boats used to cross the Delaware River (Washington’s Crossing Historic Park). It was Ideal for transporting goods, which made it good to bring troops and supplies across the Delaware. Ice chunks and storms delayed the army. Having completed the crossing around 3:00 AM, they began their march south towards Trenton. Both columns approached the outskirts of Trenton shortly before 8:00 AM on December 26. Getting across the Delaware was only half the battle; the other part was physically fighting the Hessians. The Hessians, men hired by British to fight, were under complete surprise from the attack on Christmas by Washington. Commander John Rall ignored hints that showed that they might be under attack. Americans fought from behind trees and in houses, while cannons and other weapons took down two major streets in the town. The Battle of Trenton lasted about 40 minutes; thirty Hessians are killed including commander Rall, one thousand were taken as prisoners, while only four Americans were wounded. The American Army were down in the war, and this victory at Trenton brought confidence, new life for the Americans, and the Congress

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