Go on Green

The light changes to green and the cars start to go.

Life is full of green lights. We must continue to progress. Always be ready when the light changes.

A secret of success is for a person to be ready for opportunities when they come.

Have a good day!
Love,
Dad


It was a discouraged and ill-equipped Continental Army in December 1776 that stood along the banks of the Delaware River...

The year had not gone well for Washington as he suffered many defeats and loses of troops and supplies. The morale of the army was low and the men were looking forward to the end of their service on December 31. Washington knew that the fight for Independence would soon be lost if circumstances did not improve.

As they approached the Delaware River in Trenton, New Jersey, Washington ordered all available watercraft to be gathered. They forged a plan to cross the Delaware on the eve of Christmas day and to attack the British and Hussein armies by surprise. As December 25 approached, the morale improved somewhat by the arrival of some reinforcements and the publication of Thomas Paine's "The American Crisis."

The armies were to cross the Delaware by midnight and make the nine mile track to attack the enemy before daybreak. The projected crossing of 2400 troops, 18 cannons, baggage, and 50-75 horses was hampered by a winter storm full of sleet and freezing rain. The pelted army was forced to cross the Delaware in large ice flows and flood-like conditions, which resulted in a time-costly endeavor. All of Washington's troops were on the New Jersey side of the river by 4 am, without some much needed artillery and other support troops.

Washington led his battered troops along the nine mile hike to Trenton, losing their cover of darkness along the way. At 6 am, Washington divided his troops for a two-prong attack, which occurred flawlessly. The Hessians fell to the Continental Army losing 900 of their troops, while the Patriots lost only four troops. The surprise attack was a success and was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. It invigorated and encouraged the troops to new heights, as well as that of the Congress and Revolutionaries all across the great land. It was this turn of events that caused British General Cornwallis to concede at the end of the War that "Washington won his highest laurels along the banks of the Delaware."