Gentleman’s Magazine – March 1777

“No single day in history was more decisive for the creation of the United States than Christmas 1776. On that night a ragged army of 2,400 colonials crossed the ice-choked Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey in the teeth of a nor’easter that lashed their boats and bodies with sleet and snow. After marching all night, they attacked and defeated a garrison of 1,500 Hessian soldiers at Trenton. A week later the Americans withstood a fierce British counterattack in Trenton and then stole away overnight to march fifteen miles by back roads to Princeton, where they defeated British reinforcements rushing to Trenton. These victories saved the American Revolution from collapse. Without them there would have been no United States, at least as we know it.” -Washington’s Crossing by David Hackett Fischer (2006). The March 1777 issue of the Gentleman’s Magazine (London), published General George Washington’s letter to the Continental Congress about his crossing the Delaware and victory at Trenton.