Episode 36 Washington Crossing the Delaware

The transcription is a conversation between two friends discussing their holiday plans and the historical event of Washington crossing the Delaware during the Revolutionary War. They provide some background information about George Washington and the American colonies before diving into the details of the revolution. The conversation touches on the economic relationship between the colonies and Great Britain and the triangular trade route involving the slave trade. Welcome to Ill-Equipped History, where two best friends tell you a story from history, and we're doing our best. We're trying. I'm Morgan, joined by my absolutely lovely co-host, Emily. Hi. Hey. How was your holiday? TDD. Yes. No. This will air after Christmas, and we have not yet celebrated Christmas, so. Okay, listen. It's going to be a wild ride on the Brady side, because on the 22nd, we're having Cousins Christmas. So that's my dad's siblings' kids, just us cousins. So there will be like six of us there, maybe kids, I don't know yet. That's always a good time. And then the next day is my uncle on my mom's side's Christmas, and we're going to go hang out with him and his kids up in, like, Knoxville. So that's over an hour away, and that's the next day. So then the next day is Christmas Eve, which we will be spending with my mom and her side of the family. My parents. I made it sound like my parents are divorced. They're not. It's my parents' side of the family. And then the next day, we'll spend the morning by ourselves with us, and then go to Nick's side after that. And then the 26th, I have a birthday cake to make for someone's 21st birthday, because I overdo it sometimes. You know what? It's okay. Yeah. Thanks. Good luck. Thank you. I will be drinking. So what are your plans, Morgan? So Kyle is going home. He usually goes home for Christmas to see his family, because they all live in South Carolina, and he only sees them, like, once or twice a year. He got to see them more this year because there was a wedding with some family friends. And I think it's easier because we're not married yet. Yeah. But I don't think we've spent a single Christmas together yet. We've been dating for four years, because I stay with my family, and then he goes to see his family. And, like, I've come down, like, after Christmas to spend time with him, and he's come after Christmas to spend, like, New Year's with me. But that's just kind of what we do. But my grandparents are coming in, and my sister that lives in Scotland is coming in with her boyfriend. So it'll be really good to see them. And I'm just going to hang out with family. I may come down to see you. I'll try to fit it into my schedule. Please do. After the 26th or the 26th. Yeah, it's fine. That hones it down for you at all. Yeah, I was like, I'm not going to interfere with your crazy Christmas schedule. I mean, listen, you can come. You know, you just get toted around with the rest of us. Yeah. So it's fine. It's like a third kid. I honestly, that's not very far off. I'm just like, okay, where are we going now, Mom? Mom and Dad. Even though I'm older than you. I know. But you're younger than Nick, so it counts. It's like a weird stepmom situation. You say that as if he's old enough to be my father. He's not. No, he's not. He's like six years older than us. Well, he's four and a half years older than me. Oh, okay. He just turned 35. Oh, okay, gotcha. I don't know how old your husband is. I just now learned. It's okay. Yeah. 13 years later. Yeah, it's fine. Yeah, so those are my plans. And I'm really excited to see my family. We all get together and just have a good time. I love your family. I love your family. And I love my family. I love all of our families. Yeah. Well, we hope that everyone had a good time with their family. Or your chosen family. Or if you had it in solitude, I hope it was peaceful and restful and wonderful. Regardless of how you did it. Yes. So, yeah. All right, let's get into our skit for today. Yeah. It's Christmas Day, 1776. Two of General Washington's men are huddled around a campfire trying to stay warm. Oh, I feel like I can't feel my hands anymore. What I would give to be home, your wife making dinner, and my young'uns running around my feet in front of my fireplace. You said it. It's Christmas, for crying out loud. Thankfully, we'll only have a few more days of this misery. Aye. Why are we still here at this wretched river? Don't they know a nor'easter is about to blow in? I can feel it in my bones. The sergeant comes up to the men. On your feet now. New commands from the general. We're crossing this river at nightfall. What? Nightfall? William said a nor'easter is blowing in. We can't cross tonight. We can and we will. General's orders. We're going to surprise those damn Hessians and finally earn a victory. The two men stand and watch the sergeant walk away, barking orders at other soldiers. It's about time we won a victory. Doesn't matter now. This revolution is failing. And we only have a week until we can go back home. If we make it that long. I'm not looking forward to crossing this river in this weather. But orders are orders. Let's see what we can get together. The soldiers spend the rest of daylight gathering supplies and making sure they're ready for their brutal crossing. In a few short hours, they and 2,400 men will make American history. So, Emily, do you know what we're talking about today? If I had to take a gander, I would say that it's probably Washington crossing the Delaware. It is. Good job. You have comprehension skills. Yay. For a minimum. High five. So, yes. Okay. We are going to talk about Washington crossing the Delaware during the Revolutionary War. This takes place on Christmas Day, but it is not a Christmas story. And I'm actually going to be talking about a little bit before for context and roughly the 10 days after up until like the beginning of January. So, just for context, because I know not all of our listeners are American or from the U.S., we're going to be talking about the Revolutionary War. I'll be going into more detail about that in just a second. But the main character of our story today is General George Washington. He was a general during the Revolutionary War. He was the first president of the United States. America has a hard on for George Washington, but a lot of it's deserved. He was a really brilliant general. He really led the way to victory for the United States or what would eventually become the United States. And in most circles, he's very highly respected. You know, he was a slave owner. So, there is that kind of aspect. He owned a plantation. He was kind of uneasy about allowing like black slaves to fight in the Revolutionary War. But this is not a biography of George Washington. Those are just some things, not all of them really relevant to the story. I think we should definitely cover him at some point because he lived a very long life and, again, he was a very important character in American history. I just want to say, let's keep in mind that our heroes are people, too, and that they might not always do the best thing. It's like Susan B. Anthony had her faults as well, but she is an American icon in the women's right to vote thing. So, like, let's just keep in mind that just because he did so many good things, he might not necessarily have been like a perfect person or made decisions that we would feel would be the right decisions now. You also have to take into account that the time back then wasn't always right either. So, but he did a lot of good. So, he's worth a lot. Yes. Thank you for that example of Susan B. Anthony. They are all people. A lot of people make mistakes. No one is perfect, despite other people's claims to the contrary. We all grow. We all learn from our mistakes. And, in the end, George Washington is remembered as an American hero. He is very highly honored in the U.S. and, you know, we should, we definitely will at some other point get more into the Revolutionary War, the Founding Fathers, George Washington. There's so much history there that I'm not going to talk about today. I'm only going to be talking about like 10 days, like the lead up to those 10 days. So, and most of this background knowledge is for people who, again, are not from the U.S. that are in different countries that don't know about this history. So, the background information, there were English and European colonies in the Americas when it was first discovered by colonizers, for lack of a better term. It was not discovered, but they, because there were people here, but, you know, they stumbled upon it, started settling the land. Some came for religious reasons, like the Puritans and the Pilgrims. Some came for land and work opportunities, because there was not a lot going on in the United Kingdom and Europe at the time. It was really rough, and we kind of mentioned it a little bit when, in the pirate episode I covered. Like, and that's why a lot of people turned to piracies, because there was just not a lot of job opportunities at the time. But with that, a lot of people were coming to the Americas, including, you know, all of North America, because there was plenty of land, plenty of, you know, farming opportunities. You could be an artisan, you know, all that. And as time went on, the descendants of these initial immigrants began thinking of themselves as Americans, because this was the Americas, but they were still all colonies at this time. So next is the background to the revolution. So at this time, and like, we're getting into like the 1700s here, there are 13 British colonies. They all have autonomy. They could all make their own laws, and they're essentially like self-governing, but the British government still controlled taxes and like major decisions and such. And at this time, the kind of system that was going in place is that Americans were gathering raw materials like lumber and cotton. It would be shipped to Great Britain to be processed and refined. And then it would come back to the Americas to be sold back to the colonists at a higher price. So there was that kind of thing going on, which it just was kind of being dealt with. Great Britain got extremely wealthy during this for sure. And the documentary I was watching also talked about like the triangular trade route, which also involved like trading goods for slaves in West Africa, and then slaves being brought over to the Americas for slavery. And then using the money from the slave trade to buy goods to get, go to the Great Britain. So it was just like this big triangle. Then in from 1756 to 1763, we have the seven years war between Great Britain and France. It was fought there. And it was also fought on American soil. And it was known as the French and Indian war during that time. Great Britain won the war and got all of France's colonies in the Americas. So there was a big redistribution of the land that Great Britain owned in the Americas. And Great Britain was also broke after this war. So the colonists got a bunch of new taxes put upon them. Great. At first it was fine. I mean, you know where this is going and our American listeners will know where this is going. So at first it was fine. They're like, but there were more grumblings that were starting to emerge that the colonists did not have any decision making power for this decision. They were not involved in these decisions. Say it with me, everyone. No taxation without representation. Yeah. So that was a big like calling cry against the British. And many taxes were actually ceased because of this uproar. But one of the few that did remain was a tea tax. We also know where this is going. In 1773, there was the Boston Tea Party in which we're having a party. It was a party. So in this instance, there were some men dressed up as Native Americans. They went on a bunch of ships that were coming in in the Boston Harbor that were carrying boxes and boxes and boxes of tea. They threw all the tea into the Boston Harbor. Great Britain got really mad at them and sent a bunch of soldiers to keep the peace. And then the colonists were further protesting by boycotting British goods. So tensions are starting to rise. Yeah. And then we get to 1776. The Continental Congress of the Americas drafted the Declaration of Independence and signed by 56 delegates on July 4, 1776. And this is known as Independence Day. Even though it was not the day that we won the war, it was the day that we declared independence. And then what followed was the Revolutionary War. And then at the round this time, George Washington was named an officer, the armies for the war. And I think he was only, I think he was in his late 20s at this time. A child. Maybe early 30s. Yeah. So before the crossing, on July 9, 1776, five days later, the declaration was read aloud to a bunch of people. And a lot of men volunteered to join militias, especially in New York. Mostly farmers and artisans. George Washington himself led 23,000 men. Damn. In New York. That's so many. Yeah. Especially in 1776. And when the British were responding with their own soldiers, I think the documentary I was watching said they brought in like almost 30,000 men. So they definitely outnumbered the American militia. William Howe was the general for the British. Like he was like the commanding general. And it wasn't just the British. There was a group of contracted soldiers called the Hessians. And they were German contracted soldiers. They made up over a third of the army. And they, their troop, I guess, the Hessians numbered over 30,000 soldiers. And the Hessians are really important to the story. And that's why I'm bringing them up. So in the very early days of the war, Washington lost a lot. He did not have any major victories in the first, like five months of the war. A lot of soldiers deserted. By the time around when this story starts to take place, he only had 3,800 soldiers left. Wow. So he lost about 20,000 men, whether it was through like casualties of fighting or desertion, yeah. Five months. Yeah. Damn. So General Howe believed the Americans were, they were losing their gusto. They were losing the will to continue fighting, which was not very far off. A lot of, a lot of people were starting to lose their trust in the revolution. And they're like, I guess, we tried, we're not succeeding. I guess Great Britain is going to win. They were so close to winning after only five months. Wow. And then, so Washington had this major loss in New York and was basically chased, like around New England, like through New Jersey and ended up like on the other side of the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. Okay. In the very beginning of December. During this time, the British army was occupying New Jersey and they were just kind of being dicks to the civilians there. Like whether they were rebels or loyalists, they were like coming in, stealing food and resources, like just kind of being awful. And so that kind of invigorated some of the New Jersey militias to start targeting some British occupations throughout the state. So there's like, okay, like there's some like small groups that are like pestering the British and like kind of doing like some guerrilla tactics against them. So Tom, this is in the documentary. One of the documentaries I watched, but this is a quote by Thomas Paine. He ended up writing Common Sense. Yeah. He, I don't know if he was, he may have been a founding father. I'm not sure, but he was a really prominent author during this time. So he wrote, these are the times that try men's souls, the summer soldier and sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of their country. But he that stands by now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny like hell is not easily conquered, but the heart of the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. Well, those are inspiring, aren't they? They, they are inspiring. Very inspiring. Right. So this was in, he published a group of a collection of essays called the American crisis. And it was kind of spread throughout the armies throughout just like the people. And this inspired a lot of people. It's been a lot of men to rejoin the cause. So this wasn't quite like for this event. Because the American crisis papers were only published a few days before the crossing, but 7,000 men joined the rebellion cause after the American crisis essays were published. So, wow. So that was just kind of a little bit of buildup. We're getting closer to the actual event. So like I said, Washington's troops were chased basically from New York to Pennsylvania. And one of the big, the person that was chasing him was a Hessian general named Johan Rall. And the, so in New Jersey, along the Delaware river, there are three different outposts. One was Trenton. I think one was Princeton. Other was Burlington. And Trenton was pretty isolated. So the Hessians were stationed at Trenton because Rall wanted to be on the front lines. Yeah. And this is basically the Western most part of the conflict in the colonies. And William Howe was like, sure, that's fine. Like he, Rall was a pretty distinguished general. He had a really good military record. And he had like kicked Washington's ass multiple times at this point. So he was like, yeah, that's fine. So Rall had 1400 Hessians stationed at Trenton. Rall had been a Hessian soldier for 36 years. Whoa. He was 50 at the time of this conflict. So higher up, like higher ranking Hessians didn't like Rall very much. They thought he was arrogant and crude and he did not respect their authority. Another Colonel named Carl Von Donop that was stationed near Rall told him to fortify Trenton because it was so exposed, but Rall and Von Donop didn't like each other. And so Rall ignored him. So Rall was also arrogant. Yeah. He defeated the Continental Army several times already and is quoted to have said, quote, let them come. We will gut them with the bayonet. What? He's just like, Oh, it's like he I'm getting the imagery of what he thinks is like an adult holding the head of like a child who's swinging at them, like just holding him at arm's length. And he's just like, yeah, whatever. I think that's pretty close to what he thought. Yeah. So when he arrived in Trenton and the Hessians like camped up at Trenton, they were being annoyed by the constant barrage of attacks from the Hunterton militia from New Jersey and another militia from Pennsylvania under General Ewing, who comes back a little bit in the story. They were just kind of like, you know, taking some of their supplies and really just bothering them like, like very dangerous mosquitoes. And so Raul ordered his soldiers to sleep with their uniforms on and with their weapons, like in their beds, because he was worried about all the militia attacks. So they were constantly at the ready. They were constantly vigilant. And he even asked for reinforcements from, from reinforcements from Von Donov and General James Grant, who is a British commander in New Jersey, but neither facilitated his request for reinforcements. Probably because he was a dick. I think that, and then they also like didn't think that the problem was as serious as Raul was saying it was. They were like, these are little gnats, like you'll be fine. You're Hessian soldiers. Like what is going to happen? So there's 8,000 British and Hessian troops in Princeton, which is about 11 miles away from Trenton and about 1400 Hessians in Trenton. Okay. So this is kind of like the backdrop. Now we're getting into the actual story. Okay. So the crossing before the crossing, like I said, Washington was not doing well. He had experienced multiple losses, especially New York. The Battle of Long Island was a major loss for Washington and they were forced to retreat across the Delaware River, Delaware River into Pennsylvania on December 2nd, 1776 and other regiments throughout the area joined in on their side throughout December. So the spirits of the troops were very low. There was very little food. They were in freezing Northern weather with little clothing. Yeah. Soldiers were deserting their, or their enlistments were fulfilled and Washington was losing troops by the week. Earlier in December, Washington had ordered a bunch of boats be gathered, including Durham boats, which are really big wide boats that are used for, that were used for transporting pig iron up and down the Delaware River. What's pig iron? So I think it's a type of like iron alloy. I think it's like a predis, like steel almost. Cool. Like it's a crude iron, I think. Got it. I don't know. And I actually, I got to see, so I, when I went to go visit Corey in New Jersey, they took me to Washington Crossing Historic Park and we got to see like replicas of these Durham boats and they're huge. There were like 1400 pounds and good Lord, like eight feet wide, 40 to 60 feet long. I think the ones that we saw were only like 20 to 30 feet long and they were huge. And these, I mean, 60 feet long boats. I'm sorry. I'm putting that into reference. Our gooseneck trailers that could hold at a minimum, just like two Jeeps. You might be able to squeeze a third one on there. We're 40 feet long, 20 extra feet on those bitches. Holy shit. Huge, huge boats. So Washington was trying to figure out how he could get his entire army across the river quickly. Yeah. Because this is part of his plan. And it had taken a smaller army five days to do so like an earlier point in time. And the men's enlistment ended December 31st. So he was going to lose his army. Yeah. In just a few days. So he had to act now while he still had an army. So this was the plan. Washington wanted to take all of his troops and like two other encampments across the Delaware river at McConkie's ferry, which was just a ferry and surprise the Hessian encampment at Trenton. They would leave around 3 PM, like start leaving 3 PM, December 25th. Once they all got there by like, I think he was trying to get there by like 3 AM. They would March 10 miles into Trenton and make it there by 5 AM and attack. This did not happen. What actually happened. So most of the troops did not arrive until after nightfall. Oh God. And didn't start crossing until around 6 PM ish. Oh, so they're already three hours late. Yes. And at this time, a horrible Nor'easter was blowing through. And for those that don't know, a Nor'easter is a Northern winter storm. Yeah. So you've got freezing temperatures. You've got crazy wind. You've got hail. You've got sleet and snow. The river was freezing up because it was so cold. Oh my God. So now there are 2,400 men waiting to cross a 300 foot river in blizzard conditions on these flat barges, essentially. Well, not only transporting 2,400 men, but horses and artillery in almost complete darkness. Could you imagine just rowing a boat next to a horse in a blizzard? I can't even imagine. And some sources say that they had to stand up in the boats because there was ice and water all in the bottom of the boat. So they had to like stand in these boats. And they were, I think like five feet deep, maybe four feet deep. You could stand in them. And they were flat enough and like wide enough that like you wouldn't tip it over. But I mean, it took, guess how long it took for this to happen? 12 hours. You were very close. It's 11 hours. Hey! It took 11 hours. And they were just going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth transporting everything over. Oh, my God. And there were supposed to be multiple crossings. So there was Washington with his men in the northernmost position. Slightly farther south, there was Ewing. He had about 800 Pennsylvanian militiamen. They were supposed to cross. And then farther south, like around a bend, there was Cadwallader, who's another general. And he had his own like regiment. Neither Ewing or Cadwallader made it across. And Washington didn't even know that until after they had all made it across. And he learned that his reinforcements never made it. Like they all sank or they just couldn't make it? No, they couldn't make it across. Okay. So I don't even think they, they may have like started to try, but yeah, it just didn't happen. Also, Washington kept all of this a secret until like the day of. Like not even his troops knew because he didn't want to getting back to the Hessians. Smart. So he kept it like really close to his chest. Yeah. They were three hours behind schedule. Okay. He was like, we just got to keep moving forward. We can't turn back. We can't go back across this river. We just spent 11 hours getting to here. Yeah. So he was like, let's, so they ended up marching to Trenton. Okay. Next part, the battle of Trenton. So there is a myth that the Hessians were drunk because it was like the day after Christmas. At this point, they had been all day Christmas drinking. That's not true. They were actually anticipating the attack. They'd gotten word that Washington was on his way. Okay. They were ready. Apparently Raul was warned of the incoming attack, but instead of fortifying the defenses, he decided just like wait and see. Hold on. So he was asking for help with these smaller attacks. And then when the big one comes, he's like, it's fine. We got it. This will be all right. He'd already beat Washington so many times. False sense of security, my dude. Yes, it was. So the Hessians, like, again, they've been sleeping in their uniforms with weapons at their sides. They've been like constantly monitoring the situation like with the other militia. So they were like, it's all it's more likely that they were just exhausted. I mean, that's fair when you can't sleep well knowing that like an attack could come at any minute. That ain't good. Yeah. So, but even though that the Hessians like knew they were coming, they were still caught by surprise a little bit. I think they weren't quite expecting like 2400 men right there. So Raul believes they're surrounded by Washington's men, and he makes a lot of mistakes in the counter attack. And he actually ends up getting shot twice in the side while leading the assault. And this was in one of the sources I read. Apparently, he was a very good superior to soldiers, and he treated them well. And as he lay dying in the battle, he implored Washington to treat his men well. Wow. And apparently Washington did. Good. And so the Hessians tried to escape, and then they were cut off by another troop led by, I guess, General Sullivan. So he was another, like, I think he was like in Washington's like overall troop, but he had like surrounded, like cut them off. Okay. So this is actually not a very bloody battle. The Hessians lost 22 men. Okay. Two of Washington's men froze to death after crossing, but no men died during the battle. And they captured 900 men. And how many did they have? 2400. Okay. Damn. All right. So this is a major win for the revolution. Yeah. And the British saw that this victory could possibly reinvigorate the rebel cause, which it was starting to, but we're not done yet. Okay. So immediately after the Trenton victory, Washington's troops went back across the river to Pennsylvania. And apparently it was even worse. Like the weather was even worse. And it took them like an extra like few hours. Like it was just awful. But Washington knew that he had to do something else. Like he couldn't just be a one and done because that is exactly what would be seen at like a flute. Right. He got lucky. So he was like, we have to make another decisive movement. We have to be very careful and we have to have another victory for this revolution. And the number of days that he had left for his army was ticking down. Dwindling. Yeah. Yes. So December 27th, Washington learned that Cadwallader's men who was farther south. Yeah. Had crossed the Delaware and made it to Burlington, which was another like outpost. And they had the British soldiers there retreating and scattering. So he's like, okay. Cadwallader's there. We can, we can use this. So Washington and his top men were discussing how to seize this opportunity to do anything else. They would have to cross the Delaware for a third time. Technically fourth time, because they already had to make it across, but it wasn't that bad in like December 2nd. And like I said, they needed to prove that they were a force to be reckoned. Why didn't they just stay? Because they had to get, they didn't want to be within British territory. Oh. Because New Jersey was occupied by the British and Pennsylvania was not. So, so this crossing was even worse. Just keeps getting worse. It just keeps getting worse. But the soldiers were back over by New Year's Eve. And it was the last day of enlistment. So Washington was like, okay, men, he like was trying to convince, he has like this bolstering speech about patriotism and liberty. And he also offered to pay them $10 if they stayed, which at the time was worth 300, almost $354. And I think that's the, the tour guide that was telling us the story at Washington crossing was like, it's probably the money. Why most of them stayed probably because that is what convinced them. It wasn't like the big bolstering speech about freedom and liberty. It was, I'm just imagining. And we fight for this country and we do all this and you have to fight. And then like crickets. And then he's like, and I'll give you $10. They're like, yeah. And it was, if they stayed on for one more month, he was like one more month, I'll give you $10. If you stay on for one more month and then you'll be free to go. And most of the men were like, cool. Like, like most of them. So thankfully he still had most of his army. Wow. So the next step, the battle of second trend. So 6,800 American men were stationed at Trenton at this point. So way more, like way more reinforcement. Yeah. Like plenty of troops. So general Cornwallis, he was a British general. He was in Princeton and he had heard about what happened to the Hessians. Yeah. At Trenton. So he was moving troops out of Princeton to Trenton and he brought with him 8,000 soldiers. Damn. Yeah. So a thousand soldiers, like rebel soldiers went ahead and kind of like aggravated the British soldiers and to kind of delay them getting to Trenton. So Washington had his army lineup along the Aspen pink Creek. So around Trenton, there's a Creek and to cross the Creek, there's one stone bridge. And so he had been, it managed to move all of his men on the other side of that Creek. I think I remember this. Okay. Continue. So Cornwallis, his men are on one side of this Creek. Yeah. And he orders three different attempts to cross this bridge and each fail. He lost 365 men during this like encounter at the Creek and the Americans lost a hundred by nightfall. So I think, you know, it's coming. So that evening, Cornwallis was like, okay, what do we do? Like, I'm getting ready to attack the Americans. And Washington was like, we're not going to win this battle. We've got to figure out how to get out of here, but also not retreat. Yeah. And so, especially because his, I think they said his right flank, but it looked like his left flank. One of his groups was in a very vulnerable position. Yeah. And he was like, we cannot lose this battle, but we cannot lose this entire garrison of men. So Arthur St. Clear, which is who is one of Washington's men suggested, instead of retreating back across the river, they can move along the road, skirting Cornwallis's army and head to Princeton. Yeah. So they would completely like avoid and like slink. So it was kind of retreating, but in the meantime, Yeah. So throughout the night, Cornwallis was looking across the creek, saw all these American fires burning. And he's like, ha ha, I can't wait till morning. And this is a quote from him. He said, quote, we've got the old Fox safe. Now we'll go over and bag him in the morning. And quote, let's, you're all snaking out the back door. That's hilarious. It is noted as one of the most brilliant flanking maneuvers in history. I love that. He got almost 7,000 men out of there. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. That's a lot of men. at this battle, turns the tide, and the remaining British soldiers retreat. Maahud retreats, and Washington is able to capture Princeton. So that is three really big victories for Washington. And this really makes the British nervous, because they're like, oh shit, we just experienced three pretty significant losses against this pretty small ragtag group of militiamen when we're supposed to be the greatest army in the world. It does not look good. It does not look good. And then at the same time, there's like, and Washington's not the only general. He's not the only, it's not the only front that's going on, but these were his first major wins in the Revolutionary War. It reinvigorated the revolution. People are like, we can do this. We can win against the British. And then, you know, as Americans know, like, we ended up getting reinforcements from the French and like from other groups. Yeah. Anyway. So after Princeton, Washington considers making a break for Brunswick because it has supplies and is not as heavily fortified, but his men are completely exhausted. Yeah. They have been going for almost a week straight. And in freezing weather, they basically have been fighting and moving for two days nonstop. Because they didn't sleep that night. They were on their way to Princeton. So he instead decides to head up to Morristown, New Jersey, and reinforces the local militias there that had been annoying and harassing and raiding the different British outposts there to the point where the British have to leave the area and go back to New York City. Good. Yeah. So this is in the documentary, and this doesn't really have anything to do with like the battles. But while he was at Morristown, a smallpox outbreak starts affecting the militiamen. And Washington, like, pleads with Congress to inoculate his men. And he did. He got his men inoculated and it saved so many lives. Wow. Which is really great. And then these 10 days of Washington's campaign are considered some of the most important all of military history. Again, it really started turning the tide of the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War goes on for, like, what, like six more years after this? Seven more years? Yeah. Because it ended in 1783. So. Damn. But, like, this was, it was finally at a point where, like, no, we can do this. And here we are today in the United States. So if you know the story of the Washington Crossing, you've probably seen this very iconic painting. Yes. It is very powerful. I don't know if you see it in the notes, Emily. I see it. Yes. Yes. It is. The title of it is Washington Crossing the Delaware. So I'm going to go into a little bit about this painting because it may be a tiny bit disappointing. So the painting was originally painted in 1851 by Immanuel Lutze. He was a German-American artist. He painted three different copies of the painting. The first was eventually destroyed in World War II. One is currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And then the third was in the White House until 2015, where it was sold and is now displayed at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Why would you sell that? I don't know. Okay. I guess. So Lutze was born in Germany. He grew up in the U.S. and he moved back to Germany when he was an adult. And at this time, a series of revolutions were happening across Europe in 1848. Ireland, France, the German Confederation, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Moldavia, Wallachia, Poland, others. Like there are so many revolutions happening at this time. And he was really inspired by the American Revolution. And he decided to paint this painting to help inspire those engaging in revolution against their oppressors. So this is not an accurate painting. And I'm going to go into what those inaccuracies, but again, this was painted almost 100 years later by a German-American artist. He was not there. Yeah. So the first inaccuracy is the flag. That is not the flag that would have been flown at the time of the crossing. The Stars and Stripes flag wasn't flown until September 3rd, 1777, so the next year. They likely would have flown the Grand Union flag. And that was a flag with 13 stripes like we have on the current flag, but it had a Union Jack where the stars would be. Got it. Okay. So, or a lot of residents had their own flags. Washington would not have been able to hold that stance in the icy waters of the Delaware River. They were also not in a rowboat. That is a rowboat that is depicted. Again, these boats were 40 to 60 feet long, 8 feet wide, and I have it here about 3 feet deep. They had, these suckers had to hold cannons. Yeah, that's like a quarter the size of what you just described. Yeah. They were probably as crowded, but not a tiny little rowboat. I didn't see this mentioned in my sources, but they didn't get started until dark. So, it would not have been this amazing, beautiful, light composition in the painting. Right. But with that said, you can't deny the impact and the gravitas of that painting. It is moving. It's beautiful. It's inspiring. Like, I do have an opinion. What? I just think it's funny to think that all these men are working so hard to row this rowboat, and Washington's just standing there. In a power pose. In a power pose. For 11 hours, he's like, I'm showing up to the shore, even though no one's on the other side to see him. That's in his head. I also love this man, like, clinging to the flag for his life. He has got a death grip on that flag. Yeah, I know. He's holding on. Like, his life depends on it. He might be one bump into an iceberg away from falling into this river. You don't know. For sure. Also, there are horses in the background. Did you notice that? There are. Yeah. But it's still not like, you know. And I see this guy in the front is pushing icebergs away. I could definitely see that as being a thing, and also I didn't notice there's no snow or storm going on right now. Yeah, no, it looks like it's like, you know, there's ice in the river, but it looks like it's just windy. Yeah. No, it was a blizzard. Yeah. I guess you couldn't paint that, though. It'd just be white. Yeah. Or black. Because it's pitch dark. True. Like, there are no lights. True. Accuse your imagination, people. Yes. So, also, this painting is huge. I did not realize it was 12 feet by 21 feet. So, you're telling me that the boat that he painted was life-size? What? Not quite. Yeah. Oh, my God. Well, almost, for sure. Almost. Damn. You mean... Actually, it may even be bigger. I have no idea. The people would be about the right size. Mm-hmm. And if you look at the painting in the Met, you can see, like, people standing next to it. And it is very large. Damn. That thing is huge. Mm-hmm. And there's a bunch of different, like, conceptualizations of what happened. Yeah. There's a bunch of different artwork. There's a lot of stuff going on. Apparently, James Monroe is depicted. I go into this in a second, but James Monroe, who was a future president, is depicted as being in the boat. He was not. He was in another boat. Oh, okay. But I'm going to go into that in a second. So, this is my last little piece of this episode. So, there is a site called Washington Crossing Historic Park. It is a state park that is at the site of the Washington Crossing. There originally was a ferry that was established at the site around 1700, and it was used for transportation and trade, and that's kind of why Washington chose that position, because there was already existing, like, ferry lines, and there's some theories that they used guidelines for the boats. That would make sense. But nothing's, like, concrete. Yeah. And every year since 1952, they have enacted or attempted to reenact the famous crossing on Christmas Day. So, since this will be coming on the 28th, they will have just had their 71st reenactment. Wow. There have been times where the, and I was talking, we were talking with the tour guide about this, there have been times where they have not been able to do the crossing because the weather was too extreme. Well, that didn't stop Washington. These are actors. I know, I know. But she said that the river does get really dangerous. I'm sure it does. And they have, like, they have Coast Guard, they have EMTs nearby, because, I mean, these are men and women getting in freezing cold water on Christmas Day to reenact this crossing. Like, it's pretty miserable. And it's mostly just, like, one or two boats. Like, they don't have, like, all the cannons and the horses and stuff. Thank God. But they have, like, they read, they read the American Crisis essays, they cross, it's a big to-do. Yeah. And they're, they are very dedicated to it. You can go on tours. Yeah. There's a cute little, like, like, village in the area. Like, it's not from 1776, most of the buildings are from later, in, like, the 1800s. But there's, like, a little inn that they're working on. When I went there, they were renovating it, but they're making, like, a museum. Cute. And, like, like a, like a, like a public space. I think there's, like, a little bakery house, there's, like, a couple little houses nearby that's really cute. They have a really nice little museum that you can walk around in. There's tours. The three of us went on, like, our own little private tour, which is really cool. Yeah. Yeah. And so the, the park website has, like, a list of myths and legends about the Washington Crossing. Yeah. So I'm going to go into a couple little fun facts. Not all of them, because a lot of them I've already mentioned, but these are just ones I found interesting. Okay. So apparently there is a myth that Washington crossed the Potomac. He did not. It was the Delaware River. The Delaware. Yes. The Potomac is in, like, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Yeah. Like I said earlier, the Hessians were drunk. They were not. They were, like, exhausted from the string of guerrilla attacks from the militiamen surrounding Trenton. Mm-hmm. James Monroe was in the boat with George Washington. No. He was actually with his cousin, William Washington, in the 3rd Virginia Regiment. Just a different Washington. Yeah. And Washington was the first to cross the river. No one knows. How can you track that? Right. Yeah. So that is all I have for the Washington crossing of the Delaware. Thank you. I learned a lot. I didn't know he crossed, like, a million times. I know. I'm sure those men were so sick of crossing that river. Could you imagine paddling? You're just like, God damn it. I'm so tired of this. It's like grumbling the whole time. It's cold. I can't feel my fingers. Ah, I hit another iceberg. Well, now you can just drive across it. But, I mean, it, yeah, I, I can't believe more men didn't freeze to death, honestly. Like in that first crossing, just two. Yeah. Water is beautiful and dangerous, and you have to have a healthy respect. I've been swimming my entire life, and I have a very healthy respect for water. You do not mess with water. Nope. You can freeze. You can drown. Like, it is very easy to be killed by water. Yeah. You also need it for life, so it's kind of, water is the true double-edged sword. Truly. You drink it, it drown you. There you go. Yep. So a few of my, my sources, I found some really good ones. So MountVernon.org had a lot about the crossing of the Delaware. Mount Vernon is George Washington's, like, home, so they have a lot of stuff. Right. NJ.gov, they had some stuff about the Park Revolt, American Revolution, 1775-1783 documentary. It was more just like kind of the lead up in the Revolution. Right. There's a documentary I watched called The Winter Patriots, A Revolutionary War Tale by George Washington's Mount Vernon on YouTube, and I'll post a link to that. And then I learned some stuff about the painting from Wikipedia. Oh, and I forgot to say WashingtonCrossingPark.org. I got a lot of information from there. They have so much information. I couldn't go through everything. I know there's things I did not cover in this episode because there's just so much, as there usually is, but they go into a lot more detail. I highly recommend checking out the park website. They have information about events leading up to it, to the crossing, during the crossing, after the crossing, like different players involved. It's really, really neat little website. And then you can learn more about the events that they have going on. If you want to go to the crossing next year, you can do that. I don't even think you have to pay. I didn't see any admission, but when I was on the website, because it's before Christmas, they were looking for volunteers to play the reenactors. I would volunteer if I was close by. That sounds like a lot of fun. It does. It does. I did play Pilgrim a couple weeks ago, and I never posted about it, so I might do that. Oh, yeah. You should. You should post about you playing Pilgrim. I can't believe you didn't. I forgot. I didn't mean to volunteer. I got bullied into it by Shelby. Thanks, Shelby. But she's like, hey, I need to do some volunteer hours for school. Do you want to do this with me? It's at like a place in Chattanooga I didn't even know existed. And there's like a cabin from the mid-1700s there. And I was like, sure, thinking I'm going to run a booth or parking or something like that. No, they put me on cabin tours. I didn't know shit about this cabin until the day I showed up. And I was like, okie doke, we're going to learn today. I was honestly expecting you to be the woman in the corner churning butter the entire time. Oh, no. I thank God that there was the butter churners were in. Okay, what I didn't tell you was it was school children. Ah. So what I did all day was keep children's hands off of 300-year-old spinning wheels and buckets and coffee grinders and all this other stuff that's really old and they just want to touch it. They just want to, like, crush it in their hands. Oh, my God. Every kid that came in there just walked in and would just spin the wheel on the spinning wheel. And I'm like, let's not do that. I have to use nice mom voice because you're not my child, so please stop spinning the wheel. If it was my kid, I'd be like, hey, you think that's a good idea? Don't do that. Don't touch that. But you're not my kid. I can't say that. I wish you would. I just like to tell a bunch of these strangers, like, hey, you think that's a good idea? Don't do that. Poor kids. Sarcasm is their first language, so if they're ever rude to you in public, just know that they mean well. They definitely learned it from somewhere. Yeah, I asked my, this is some solid parenting right here, so when I couldn't walk over the summer, I asked my son to go get me a beer because I couldn't walk. And he was, like, kind of grumbling. He's like, I don't want to. And I'm like, bud, it'll take me forever to go get one. Like, could you just run and grab one, please? And my daughter looks up from what she was doing, coloring or some shit. She's minding her own business. She looks up, squints her eyes at me, and goes, you can go get it yourself. Oh. Well, the problem is I can't. Damn. Just, you can go get it yourself. Oh, man. Oh, she's rude. What do you say to that? Are you just saying, like, I should have squished you on that water slide? You're welcome for saving your life, daughter. I broke your fall with my ankle. Rude. So maybe you go get me the beer, okay? I will say, he did eventually begrudgingly go get me the beer. Good boy. He's helpful. He's helpful. Yeah. That's why you just have to frame it. I was like, can you please help me? Yeah. That's what I did. I was like, you'll help me out a bunch, and then she just had to, like, have her opinion on it. She's very opinionated. Very, very opinionated. I wonder who she gets that from. I'm staring very open-eyed at my co-host right here. Nice weather we're having in this closet. Yeah, I'm definitely paying for just the way that I am as a person. It's come back twofold. She's just like me. Help. You'd ask your parents for advice. Like, how did you deal with me? Well, your parents are really sarcastic, too, so. Yeah, yeah. I can't even describe how I was raised. I don't even know how to put it into words, but it culminated into what you're hearing right now. Well, we've all grown to know and love. It's the end result. Thank you. All rewards can go to my parents, I guess. You're right. I guess we can start wrapping up this episode. Yeah. I wrote down our socials on my hand, so I wouldn't forget them. Good job. Okay. Thanks. Are we ready for socials? Yeah. Okay. Cool. So you can find us on Facebook. We also have a page, so you can go to either of those. Instagram. Our Gmail to email us. Patreon.com. And if you can't remember, it's just Illequipped History anywhere. Yep. Just Google us. Yeah. No spaces, no dashes, just Illequipped History. All one word. That's right. So how do we sign off from this? I mean, maybe, I don't know, consolidate your trips of crossing rivers. For sure. Yeah. I don't really know, because I feel like Washington did the best he could. He did everything right, yeah. Seize opportunities as you come across them. Yeah. When in doubt, fake them out, go around the side. Yeah, and bribes work. Yeah, bribes work. $10 will get you a lot in 1776. Oh, and, everyone, we haven't even brought this up, but have a happy New Year. New Year is just a few days, so have a happy, wonderful New Year. Yeah. You know, if you're in a relationship, get that good New Year's kiss. If you're not, kiss who's next to you. Go to the Goodyear blimp. Kiss who's next to you. Make it weird. It doesn't matter who it is. That's fine. Consenting, of course. Or just hug a dog or something. That's what I've done in the past. I'm like, oh, by myself on New Year's, I'm for a glass of wine and my dog. Yeah. Just going to watch a movie. Yeah. Then go to bed. Forcefully hug my 25-pound cat. Chunky, chunky. Chunky. All right. Say bye. Say bye. Say bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.