First published 2004
David Hackett Fischer examines how George Washington salvaged the American Revolution from near collapse in winter 1776. By December, British forces had crushed American troops at New York, seized three colonies, and threatened Philadelphia. The Revolution seemed finished. Fischer traces Washington's bold response through detailed military history. On Christmas night during a fierce winter storm, Washington ferried his army across the Delaware River. His forces surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand soldiers. Days later came a second battle at Trenton, where Americans repelled Lord Cornwallis's counterattack before slipping away at night to strike Princeton. Fischer shows how these victories emerged from countless individual decisions by commanders and civilians on both sides. He argues that American flexibility proved superior to rigid British hierarchy. The author reveals how contingency shaped each battle's outcome. Fischer demonstrates that Washington's winter campaign did more than rescue a failing revolution. These twelve weeks of fighting broke British control of New Jersey, damaged their army, and destroyed their strategic plans. The book offers readers a granular view of how military leadership and adaptable tactics transformed American defeat into surprising victory.
Genres: historical-fiction, non-fiction, military-history, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-events, military-strategy
Setting: New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Trenton
Period: 1776, Winter
379 pages · Kindle Edition · Oxford University Press, USA