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Trenton
Tuesday, December 24, 1776
Dearest Father,
We wait. In times like these, right before a battle where tension is everywhere all one can do is sit and think of his family. It is Christmas Eve and all I can think of is how much I miss you and the others. I know right now you are probably already warm in your bed. Tomorrow, mother and Sarah will prepare the Christmas feast and you will toast the brave men fighting for the Cause. I can see it clearly in my mind’s eye as if I were there right now.
Father, I must tell you, support for the Cause is failing. Men’s enlistments end December thirty-first, and few men intend to stay on. I, myself, am reluctant to stay on. Rations are sparse; most do not have shoes and the bitter cold is taking its toll. As we marched through New Jersey, most people were hostile to us. It is hard to get more clothing and shoes. Some men have slaughtered livestock and wrapped the hides around their bare feet. It is a terrible sight to see. It breaks my heart. I heard one soldier saying to another that it was a lost cause. I am afraid it will be if something miraculous does not happen soon.
I cannot say much for our plans of attack, for I do not know myself. I do know though that Washington is determined to take Trenton from the Hessians. I can only pray it will be successful and give the men the inspiration they need; that I need.
I miss my home in New York and I often wonder how I got so far from home. Before I joined the Continentals I had never ventured far from our home. Yet now I find myself fighting for freedom, depleted of rest and good food. Sometimes it seems easier to just give up and return home.
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine read to us from his pamphlet. Washington hoped his essay would inspire us. It has, for the most part. It does indeed try my soul. Each day I am away from my family, it continues to try my soul. I see Washington in his deep blue cloak riding straight-backed on his horse, seemingly an immaculate figure. I can only imagine what is going on in his mind concerning the war. His face belies nothing of any worries he may possess; he seems stoic at best.
I must conclude my letter for now and rest for a short while. Give my love to Mother and Sarah. They are in my prayers each day. I hope to return home soon.
Your loving son,
William Baines
I folded up the letter and placed it inside my haversack. I was sitting at a modest fire beside some of my fellow soldiers. John Wheats lay sleeping with a ragged and bloodstained blanket wrapped around him. Thomas Black stared into the fire with a pensive look on his face. I figured he was worried about his wife who was carrying their first child. He had talked about going back to her after his enlistment expired. Then there was Samuel Owens, whom we called Sam, a young kid who looked terrified. He had been one of the few we had managed to recruit from one of the small New Jersey towns we had passed through. He was about sixteen and did not even looked like he shaved yet. He too stared into the fire but his bright blue eyes were wide as if he were looking at something horrible.
I was not much older than him at eighteen, but I had grown up a lot within the past few months. He would learn to do the same. War did that to a man; forced him to grow up faster and leave his childhood behind. Father had been proud of me when I enlisted, himself having fought in the French and Indian Wars. My mother and sister, Sarah, had cried and tried to convince me not to go. But I had to go; I was so passionate about the Cause in the beginning. Yet now after a string of humiliations, my passion wavered and even though I hated to admit my belief in the Cause was dwindling. Yet somewhere inside me a little light of hope still burned. Perhaps it was not over yet.
“What are you thinking of, Baines?” Thomas asked.
“The Cause, my family.”
He nodded. “It seems to be on everyone’s mind tonight. December thirty-first is only a week away. But much can change in a week.”
I nodded, agreeing. Thomas cast a glance at Sam. “What are you thinking of, Owens?”
He seemed to be pulled out of his trance. He looked at Thomas, “My family. They are probably asleep right now.”
Thomas nodded. “I wonder how my Molly is coming along.”
“Since there is not much to do right now, mayhap you could pose a letter to her. Although I do not know when you will be able to mail it. I myself have just finished a letter to my father. I have not heard from him in awhile, but mail is slow these days. Letters are few and far between.”
He nodded distractedly, again staring into the fire. I looked at Sam. “You should get some sleep. We need all the rest we can get.”
“It’s so cold though.” He responded, his breath visible in the cold air.
“We endure what we must. You shall get used to this.” I had nothing to offer him. Instead I pulled my wool cloak tighter around me and tried to find a comfortable position while leaning back on my haversack. There were few sounds around the camp as I drifted to sleep.
We spent much of the day huddled around the fires as long as we could. Everything was packed up. We were just waiting to be able to cross the Delaware.
The sun had set and it was already a little into the night before the first boats went across. The night was clear as we all waited at the bank of the Delaware for our turn to go across.
My turn came around midnight. The water was icy and we were fortunate the river did not freeze solid. The pieces of ice pushed against the wooden boats making the ride less than smooth. Hail whirled around us. Nobody said much; the air was filled with anticipation. This could be our big chance. We could prove to the British that the Americans were made of sterner stuff. Yet, no one was saying what would happen if we happened to fail.
It was not until three in the morning on December twenty-sixth that all the soldiers were on this side of the Delaware. There were rumors that two soldiers had frozen to death while waiting on the other side. As to who they were, no one seemed to know.
We marched on to Birmingham to have a quick meal. It was satisfactory but I counted my blessings. As we began to march on, some soldiers had fallen asleep in the snow. I noticed that Sam was one of them. I went to wake him up. He woke with a start and looked more terrified then before.
“Are we going into battle?” He asked.
“Soon, Sam.” I told him, “Soon.” I was not sure if it were possible for a face to look as scared as his did.
The troops were divided and I went off with John Sullivan to the right and marched on to Trenton. The others went with Nathanael Greene to the left. I heard later that Greene’s men had met up with some American soldiers who could have possibly alerted Colonel Rall and the Hessians to our presence.
The march was slow and the path was icy. Most men slipped on the ice. Snow came down hard on us and it seemed as if we would never make it to Trenton. I pulled my cloak even tighter around me but it seemed to do no good. I was the coldest I had ever been. I had lived in northern New York where we had some pretty cold winters. But nothing could compare to this. My feet were peeking through my shoes and I could scarcely feel my toes. I wondered how my feet were able to keep walking. Yet I was lucky as I looked at others whose feet were naked and bloody, while they left trails of blood in the snow. The only thought I had in my head was that this would all be over soon. During the halts, some would sit down on tree stumps while others would fall asleep in the snow. We had to shake those awake though lest they freeze and die.
Yet, as we neared Trenton a certain excitement had been coursing through my veins and I knew I was not the only one feeling it.
Trenton was in our sights and as we approached from one side, Nathanael Greene’s men approached from the other. Confused Hessians tried to line up their troops and harness their horses. They managed to fire some shots using their cannons but soon they were killed or wounded and we had taken control of the cannons.
We pushed farther into the southern section of the town, driving our bayonets into the Hessians. There was a fury in it that seemed to come over all of us in the moment. I saw red and there was only one thing I wanted to do with that bayonet. I heard some men yelling “these are the times that try men’s souls!” I joined in yelling as loud as I could as I chased a fleeing Hessian cornering him against a fence. I went to stab him with my bayonet when another one from my right went into his side instead. The man screamed and I turned to see Thomas Black standing there. He smirked at me and nodded before running off to find another Hessian.
We charged down King Street, determined to take Rall’s headquarters. The storm raged on and everything was complete chaos. I felt no cold now though, only my heart beating faster and the blooding coursing through my veins. Soon all three of the Hessian regiments had surrendered. It also became known that the Colonel Rall was dying.
There were only four wounded after the battle compared to the thirty that must have died on the Hessian side.
Everyone was joyous. I met up with Sam later and he was all smiles. After getting through his first battle, I knew he would be all right. Thomas Black was talking about renewing his enlistment after a brief visit to his wife. As for myself, today’s battle had shown me what I needed to do. And that was what I had intended to do in the first place.
Later that night I sat in a kind family’s home in Trenton in front of a warm fire with a cup of hot cider in my hands. I composed another letter to my father telling him of our success and how it rejuvenated our army. I destroyed the other letter I had previously written to him. It had been one filled with doubts about this young nation. All those doubts had disappeared today. It was a glorious day and I was sure now that the Cause would succeed.
As Thomas Paine had written, “Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated.” I knew better now that there would be more losses and devastations for our Cause. It was guaranteed. Yet it seemed history had been changed this day, for the better. But the future of our nation could wait for now. For now I would sleep comfortably for the first time in many months and be content in the knowledge that we had won an important battle and had indeed shown the British that we were made of sterner stuff.
