so much of trenton's historic come has great historic buildings. i like to see more and more redevelopment of those great historic buildings. that's what i'd like to see happen. >> this has been great, i think we have seen a lot of trenton, i really appreciate you showing us down to -- around today. >> absolutely. >> general george washington and his troops crossed the delaware right here to begin their march to trenton. coming up, learn more about that harrowing experience on christmas night in 1776. mr. craigshead: 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 love and thanks of man and woman. thomas payne will write "the american crisis." it is published on december 19 in "the pennsylvania journal."

washington has it read to the soldiers to try to bolster morale. 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. it will encourage men to come forward to join the army. this is the site where general washington on christmas night, and the continental army, landed. the boats would have been landed up and down the banks for some distance. the army crossed during the night. washington's army had about 2400 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. the 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, white plains, the capture in new york as well, and the defeats at fort washington and fort lee. really, fort lee was an abandoning of the fort and important supplies, and that began in late november the retreat through new jersey. washington fell back through new

jersey. he was hoping to defend new jersey, but 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 turning out in 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. for 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 crossing, as i like to phrase it. very important to save the army from the british pursuit. that is december 7 into december 8, when the army crosses. the last boats are crossing, they arrive in trenton. that protects the american capital of philadelphia and gives washington valuable breathing 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 night. 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. to add extra drama, during the night at around 11:00, a nor'easter snowstorm kicks in. freezing rain, hail, snow, and wind blowing like a hurricane. this was a classic nor'easter that 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, one of the soldiers wrote that you could hear his booming voice during the night over the crash of the ice and 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, there are quite a few well-known officers. the first is colonel knox, in charge of the crossing. colonel john glover, his men were manning the boats. there were a lot of sailors. you have division commanders, general nathanael greene and general john sullivan.

they are going to be leading two separate marches to trenton. you also have alexander 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. he would become the fifth president of the united states.

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 to get across.

it is about 4:00 in the morning on december 26. the army has a nine mile march ahead of them. i think 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 column, which came in along the northeast side of town. 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, followed by the

victory act trenton, is the game saver, in my view. to many, including washington, the british certainly, they felt the war was practically over. they were ready to wrap this up. we needed a victory. trenton is a small battle. 900 hessians are captured. but the morale effect is huge. it is almost viewed by the population at the time as a miracle event. >> american history tv is looking at the revolutionary war in new jersey. coming up, we retrace the steps of soldiers who fought in the battle of trenton. mr. siegel: the battle of trenton is exceptionally significant in the time of 1776 because the american revolution was on the edge of being extinguished.