Description
In the dark days of December 1776, before the Battle of Trenton, the password in George Washington’s army was, aptly, “victory or death.” In New York, the British had beaten Washington and pursued his soldiers into Pennsylvania. A desperate Washington lost everything as his army enlistment terms were about to expire. On Christmas Eve, his army crossed the ice-choked Delaware River and marched through the sleet and snow. Washington’s horse started to slide high on an icy hill, where his soldiers could see him. He caught the horse’s mane, pulling its head upright, and moved his weight back in the saddle, allowing the animal to recover its footing in a brilliant equestrian feat. The Hessians were shocked when Washington’s army arrived in Trenton, not because they were asleep from their Christmas celebration, as legend has it, but because in such weather they could not conceive of an attack.
The triumph allowed Washington to continue fighting.
