Another Christmas Story

It's December 1776, just a few months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and General Washington is discouraged. He started out with over 20,000 eager volunteers and is now down to just 2500 soldiers who do not have bronchitis, pneumonia, dysentery, syphilis, jaundice, or swollen bellies from hepatitis and still able to fight. Most of his “soldiers” are 19 year-old boys who came off the farms, their enlistments would be up on January 1,st and they will leave. They have lost almost every battle and have been constantly running and hiding like animals from the British.

General Washington meets secretly with his top aides at a stone house near the Delaware River in Bucks County , PA where outside, his men are freezing in their tents. Freezing rain drenches their clothes which freeze hard to their bodies. Many do not have shoes or coats as Congress refuses to send them supplies or food. Their toes freeze and turn to gangrene.

Washington makes a fateful decision; one that would either end this “revolution” in a few days and send him and all the other “rebels” to England to be hanged for treason or keep the struggle going for a while longer. He knows that after January 1st he will lose all of his men at the end of their enlistments and why would anyone re-enlist when you are always losing battles? He decides to take his entire army over the almost frozen Delaware River and attack a group of German soldiers called Hessians who were hired by the British. It's an insane plan but it's all or nothing now.

If he does not surprise the Hessians, they will most certainly annihilate his small army so he decides to cross the river on Christmas night. He figures the Hessians may be groggy from the Christmas day celebrating and if he gets to their encampment in Trenton , NJ before daylight, he can take the whole lot of them.

The crossing of the Delaware is a mess. Everyone is in confusion and the boats loaded with men, horses, and canon are taking too long to cross. Washington is burning mad because he knows that if they attack after dawn, their chances of surprise are slight. He drinks 6 tankards of milk and rum at McConkey's Ferry tavern where they are crossing and wishes everyone a “Merry Christmas.” Old man McConkey, the proprietor, gives everyone free drinks but warns them about chunks of ice in the river and the strong currents. Washington is soaked to the skin but refuses to change into dry clothes as others recommend. He then comes out of McConkey's and climbs into one of the boats. He jokes with Henry Knox telling him to “move your fat ass over and try not to sink the boat.” Even the shivering, wet soldiers have to laugh and the laughter spreads to the other boats. It can't be too bad if the General is still joking around.

They all finally make it to the other side of the river but freezing rain and snow are pelting their faces like little pieces of glass and the road to Trenton is full of half-frozen mud almost a foot thick. They can barely move the horses and canon through the muck. On top of that, they won't get to Trenton until after dawn now so the Hessians may be up and ready for them. They agree that this may have been a stupid idea but Washington insists that they move ahead no matter what. It's “victory or death.”

The men are exhausted from the crossing but have to immediately start the march to Trenton . One soldier sits down to rest and freezes to death on the spot. Thomas Paine had just written a week before: “These are the times that try men's souls” and that helps to keep their spirits up.

Unknown to Washington , the Hessians know there would be some kind of attack but a small band of rebels had already shot at some of them the day before so they thought that was the only attack coming. These rebels are a joke. A second warning came to their Colonel but he just put the note in his pocket without reading it. Bad decision. He could have ended the revolution had he just read that note. Destiny? They found the note in his pocket after he died that day in the battle.

As you know, Washington captured the Hessians the day after Christmas. He then told his soldiers that they would now have to row BACK across the river with all their gear, 1,000 Hessians prisoners, horses, canons, and all the Hessian supplies. Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox, and the other officers are shocked. They were lucky to make it over once! Old George must be nuts! Washington knows that British reinforcements were on the way and they would be captured if they didn't get back over that icy river to safety in Pennsylvania .

They make it back over the Delaware River and the men are heartened from the victory so re-enlistments keep the revolution going.

McConkey's Ferry, the tavern where Washington and his officers downed their rum and set off across the icy river is still there. You can stand in the same room and look out to the river where they crossed. It is an exhilarating experience to be in the place where our nation was preserved and almost lost had it not been for one man's tenacity and vision; George Washington. Merry Christmas!

E-Mail Chuck at: cwells@wellsinsagency.com

Chuck's hilarious new book (great gift for only $18), “What Middle-Aged Men Want From Women,” is now available at Wise Guy's Book Shop(Downtown Williamson), Brad & Dads (Main Street, Palmyra), Borders (Eastview), Lift Bridge Books (Brockport), www.amazon.com , or www.cbrucewells.com