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40 Insights into the Lives of Famous War Veterans

Khalid Elhassan July 13, 2019 26 min

20. George Washington saved the revolution by crossing the Delaware River

‘Washington Crossing the Delaware’, by Emanuel Leutze. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Washington Crossing the Delaware is perhaps the most iconic image of the American Revolution. As 1776 drew to a close, the Patriots’ bid for independence had not been going well. They had been outgeneralled, outfought, and soundly drubbed. Morale was low, so Washington planned a daring raid to score a quick victory and restore some confidence. From his base in Pennsylvania, he would cross the nearly frozen Delaware River, to suddenly descend upon and destroy Hessian forces on the opposite bank, in Trenton, New Jersey.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.