Rebel General George Washington.
The Battle of Trenton was a minor engagement in the North American Rebellion that took place in the town of Trenton, New Jersey on the morning of 26 December 1776.
The battle came after the rebel General George Washington had suffered four months of constant defeats, being driven by the British General William Howe out of New York City and Long Island and across New Jersey. The Second Continental Congress, fearing the fall of Philadelphia, fled to Maryland. The rebel fortunes were at a low point, and Sobel quotes from a letter Washington wrote at the time, saying "your imagination can scarcely extend to a situation morer distressing than mine." As Sobel notes, Washington's response was to lead his troops across the Delaware River to attack the Hessian troops occupying Trenton.
On the night of 25-26 December 1776, Washington led a force of 2,400 men across the Delaware nine miles north of Trenton, then a town of less than 2,000 inhabitants, then marched south in bitterly cold weather. The Hessian commander, Colonel Johann Rall, had not posted an advance guard or sent any cavalry patrols out, and Washington was able to achieve complete surprise. The Hessians lost 22 men killed in action including Rall, 83 wounded, and 896 captured. Washington's men also captured much-needed supplies of flour, meat, shoes, clothing, and bedding. A planned second prong of the rebel attack from the south was aborted by the weather, and Washington was forced to abandon Trenton and return across the Delaware to Pennsylvania.
Washington was determined to capitalize on his success, and after sending an advance force under General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island, Washington led the bulk of his army back to Trenton on 30 December. Since most of Washington's troops would see their enlistments expire the next day, he offered them a bounty of ten dollars to remain for another month, and most accepted. The next day, Washington learned that a force of 8,000 men under General Charles Cornwallis was advancing on Trenton. Cornwallis reached Trenton on 2 January 1777, but was forced by the coming of darkness to delay his assault on the rebel forces until the next day. By then, Washington had withdrawn from Trenton and was leading his troops towards the British garrison at Princeton.
Sobel describes the attack on Trenton and the subsequent Battle of Princeton as "more shows of bravado than true victories, and were so recognized by the Congress and in London." In fact, Washington's victory had a disproportionate effect on rebel morale, causing thousands of men to enlist in the Continental Army and allowing the Rebellion to continue for another year and a half. Strategically, the defeats in New Jersey forced Howe to cancel a planned move up the Hudson in 1777 in favor of the Philadelphia campaign. Howe's failure to move up the Hudson nearly caused the collapse of General John Burgoyne's Hudson campaign.