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Colonial America Was a Wild and Difficult Place to Be

Khalid Elhassan October 27, 2021 35 min

The seizure and destruction of tea in colonial Boston. Encyclopedia Britannica

Washington's colonial troops evacuating New York City under the cover of darkness — Washington’s colonial troops evacuating New York City under the cover of darkness. Pinterest

To Even Find Enough Men to Cross the Delaware Was Like Pulling Teeth

George Washington’s plan to attack Trenton was beset by problems from the start. He first had to find enough men to mount an attack. Beaten in New York, he had retreated across New Jersey and across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania. In the process, he lost precious supplies and many men due to straggling or desertion. He also lost contact with two of his army’s divisions, one commanded by General Horatio Gates in New York, the other by General Charles Lee in New Jersey. He ordered both to join him, but Gates was delayed by heavy snow, while Lee, who had a low opinion of Washington, dawdled and stayed put.

Eventually, 2000 of Lee’s men arrived on December 20^th without their commander – he had been captured by the British when he ventured beyond American lines for an assignation. Gates arrived later that day with 600 men. Another 1000 colonial militiamen from Philadelphia joined not long after. With those reinforcements, Washington finally had about 6000 men fit for duty. However, most of them had to be assigned to protect supplies and vital positions, and Washington was left with only 2400 available to carry out the attack.

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.