A Hazardous River Crossing, a Hazardous March, and a Hazardous Attack
At first, the Patriots gathered on the Pennsylvania bank of the Delaware River were stunned at George Washington’s stab at comedy, and stood around looking at each other in shocked disbelief. Then somebody chuckled, and before long, contagious laughter rippled throughout the assembled force, as the comment about Henry Knox’s fat ass was spread and repeated. Washington’s unexpected humor lifted the Americans’ spirits, but they still had a rough crossing ahead of them. Once that was done, they then had to march for miles in terrible weather to reach their objective. Throughout, they had to hope that no alarm was raised, and that they would manage to achieve the surprise necessary to accomplish their mission: the destruction of a garrison of Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.
Detractors have often derided Washington as a mediocre and unimaginative general. Indeed, compared to the likes of other dashing military commanders from his life such as James Wolfe, Frederick the Great, Napoleon, or Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, Washington might not shine as brilliantly. However, few generals would have had the self-confidence to dare execute a plan as intricate as Washington’s attack on Trenton. The failure of any one of a number of moving parts could have doomed the entire enterprise – and with it, probably the entirety of the colonial bid for independence.