9. The victory at Trenton saved the Continental Army
Earl Cornwallis had energetically pursued George Washington across New Jersey in the fall of 1776. After seeing his defeated enemy enter Pennsylvania had returned to New York, where he planned to depart for leave in England. After learning of Trenton Sir William Howe ordered Cornwallis back in the field, his leave canceled. Meanwhile, Washington saw an opportunity to use the plunder from Trenton to create further havoc among the garrisons in New Jersey. But he still needed an Army. New Year’s Day loomed as the day when most of his command’s enlistments would come to an end. On December 30, Washington again mustered his forces and asked them to extend their enlistments for another month. He promised a ten-dollar bonus for any man who agreed to stay. Washington had long experience as a military recruiter, dating to his days in the Virginia militia two decades earlier.
Gradually, under his cajoling and no doubt heartened when other men of their units stepped forward, most of the men agreed to stay. That same day Washington moved the army back to Trenton. Two days later, on New Year’s Day 1777, Washington received a sum of money from Congress, and the troops received some of what they were owed. The supplies captured from the Hessians made life in the encampments more bearable, shattered footwear was replaced, and the troops were well supplied with gunpowder and lead. By then Washington’s spies had informed him that Cornwallis was back in New Jersey, in command of about 6,000 veteran troops, with orders to destroy the Continental Army. The American Revolution was still very much alive. But it still badly needed another audacious move by George Washington if it was to survive.