The Battle of Trenton

The Monument celebrating Washington's routing of the Hessians at Trenton stands on a hill about six blocks northeast of the State Capitol building. It is prominently placed at the intersections of five major thoroughfares, and stands one hundred and fifty feet tall. It is so tall, in fact, that I had a hard time getting all of it in one picture. It was dedicated on October 19,1893 on the 112th anniversary of the British surrender at Yorktown, an event many historians believe would not have happened had Washington not won at Trenton.

Standing atop the tower is a sculpture of Washington with his hand outstretched towards the Delaware River, where on Christmas Night, 1777, he crossed to attack the Hessians encamped in and around Trenton. (see Washington's Crossing (New Jersey) and Washington's Crossing (Pennsylvania) for details about this crossing).

Washington placed his cannons at this spot to fire down upon the Hessians, preventing them from forming lines. To do this, he had to fight his way through an outpost at the intersection of Pennington Ave. and Calhoun Street. One of the officers in charge of the battery was Alexander Hamilton.

Most of the fighting was centered around Warren and State Streets. Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall was snapped out of a drunken sleep by the sound of gunfire. As he approached the area and tried to mobilize his troups, he realized that his only hope was to withdraw and regroup. Seconds after he started the retreat he was mortally wounded by Captain Frederick Frelinghuysen. The Hessians surrendered shortly thereafter.

The battle involved four thousand soldiers fighting mostly hand-to-hand through the neighborhoods, lasting no more than 90 minutes. It is estimated that no between one and two thousand Hessians were captured that night, with some 30 killed, while the Americans suffered no battle deaths.

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