that is great, but you are not getting a tax break. if you tax everything and give no right off, then you can set the rates very low. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q and a. >> general george washington and his troops crossed the delaware river right here to begin their march to trenton. learn more about their harrowing experience that christmas night in 1776. >> these are the times that try men's souls. the summertime patriot will in this crisis shrank from his country, but he who stands now deserves the thanks of man and woman. thomas payne will write the american prices. it is published on december 19 in the pennsylvania journal.

washington has it read to the soldiers. the situation is dire due to the defeats washington has suffered. his recruitment is almost nonexistent. they need a victory. they need something positive going. washington is well aware, desperate for it. the victory at trenton, when they get it, will be a huge morale boost, confidence builder. the result will be recruitment. this is the site where general washington on christmas night, and the continental army, landed. boats would have been landed up and down the bank for some distance. the army crossed during the night. washington's army had about 4400 men, 18 cannons, 100 horses. washington was hoping to have everyone across by midnight.

it wasn't until about 4:00 the next morning on december 26, the army was across and ready to march to trenton. prelude to our story is the new york campaign in the summer and fall of 1776. the british landed an army on staten island shortly after the declaration of independence. there were a series of defeats for general washington, beginning with the battle of long island, followed by harlem heights, the capture in new york as well, and the defeats at fort washington and fort lee. fort lee was an abandoning of the fort, important supplies, and that began in late november the retreat through new jersey. ashington fell back through new jersey. because of the defeats, morale was sinking fast.

he was counting on the new jersey militia as well as pennsylvania militia to come forward and strengthen his army. they were not coming out and any significant numbers. he had to continue retreating through new jersey. halfway across the state, he orders the gathering of the boats along the delaware river. he sends men forward to the river to start confiscating all the boats. 70 miles north of philadelphia, everything that floats is being gathered by the army so the british will not have any boats left across the river. washington, when he arrives in trenton, the army will begin crossing the delaware river, that is the retreat c rossing. very important to save the army from the british pursuit. that is december 7 into december 8 wendy armie -- when the army crosses. the british will arrive minutes

after the last boat crosses. they will look for votes and boats and come up empty. that protects the american capital of philadelphia and gives washington valuable reading room. both sides are very well informed, through spies, of the other's positions. he has good information about trenton. he is desperate to get a victory going. he is also under the burden that comes with the first of the new year, january 1, nearly half of his soldier's enlistments are going to expire. he is going to lose about half of his army without fighting a battle by january 1. he is desperate to use the army before it dwindles away. he will cross here on christmas night, eight miles north of

trenton, to get the army across undetected. he waits until darkness. it is a very dark knight. there is ice in the river. there is ice freezing on the banks. they have to break it away so the boats can land. it is a long night. nor'easter0, a snowstorm kicks in. andzing rain, hail, snow, wind blowing like a hurricane. this was very miserable. it would continue into the next morning during the battle and would be an important factor during the battle because once the muskets get wet, you have a hard time getting a spark and fire. i think it was john greenwood, he got across earlier in the night and had a long wait. they were tearing down fence rails. the johnson ferry house on the hill back here probably suffered quite a bit of material damage to the army. they were tearing down fence

rails to build fires to keep warm during the snowstorm. greenwood writes that he spent the night in front of a bonfire. when his front was facing the fire, his back was freezing. when his back was facing the fire, his front was freezing. he spent the night spinning around in front of a fire trying to keep warm. colonel knox, in charge of the crossing, you could hear his booming voice during the night over the crash of the river. it would have been a noisy, chaotic situation locally with the bonfire and soldiers trying to keep warm. the initial troops that crossed were sent inland to set up a perimeter to capture anybody who happened to be out. the element of surprise is key. anybody who would be out would be brought into the line so they would not give warning of the

attack. the list of characters for the crossing, what if you well known wellers -- quite a few known officers. the first is colonel knox, in charge of the crossing. there were a lot of sailors. you have division commanders, general nathanael greene and general john sullivan. they are going to be leading to several marches to trenton. you have outstanding hamilton with the new york artillery. he will be an aide for washington later on in the war. you have a young, 18, lieutenant james monroe. you have quite a few of the founding fathers in the army at this point. once the army is across, they had to wait, the artillery took some time. it is about 4:00 in the morning

on december 26. the army has a nine mile march ahead of them. it is john greenwood who wrote about the march. he says we marched no faster than a 10-year-old could walk, and stopping frequently. there was a line of march, numerous halts and starts. it took about four hours to go the nine miles. there was a crossroads. the army divided into two columns. they had about a four mile march from there. washington accompanied general green's volunteered general sullivan came in a long river road. within minutes of each other, they encountered the guard posts on the edge of town and forced them into town. this is a pivotal moment of the revolution. the crossing of the delaware christmas night by the victory at trenton is the game saver, in

my view. to many, including washington, the british certainly, they felt the war was about over. they were ready to wrap this up. we needed a victory. trenton is a small battle. 900 men are captured. the morale effect is huge. by thelmost viewed population at the time as a miracle about. -- event. our cities to her staff recently traveled to -- cities tour staff recently traveled to trenton, new jersey, you can tour more about the cities by going to c-span.org. you're watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> president john f. kennedy was born 100 years ago on may 29,

1917. next, on american history tv, the national archives jose hosts a conversation with his nephew stephen kennedy smith and douglas brinkley. they speak of his conception of his american identity. this is just over one hour. >> when john f. kennedy was born on may 20 9, 1917, the second of nine children, the young 20th century was not that different from the late 19th century. automobiles, airplanes, and motion pictures were novelties and civil war veterans were meeting for reunions. the united states had just entered world war i. jack kennedy's lifetime saw some