As 1776 drew to a close, our Revolutionary War to achieve independence was faltering badly. After defeats at White Plains and other battles in New York, General Washington and the Continental Army retreated across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania to camp along the western banks of the Delaware River.
The winter weather was harsh. Supplies were short and clothing inadequate for the season. Desertions and the end of fixed-term enlistments reduced the ranks of the army to a few thousand dispirited soldiers. Congress had fled from Philadelphia, and two of its members had gone over to the enemy. By all reasonable accounts, we were on the brink of losing the war.
On December 22, Joseph Reed, an organizer of the Pennsylvania militia, wrote an unsolicited letter to Washington to ask if something aggressive and surprising could be done to save the cause, perhaps “to make a diversion or something more at or about Trenton?” Reed despaired that “Our affairs are hastening fast to ruin if we do not retrieve them by some happy event.”
Reed’s thinking corresponded remarkably with Washington’s own. On December 14, Washington had written Governor Trumbull that a “lucky blow” across the Delaware would “most certainly rouse the spirits of the people, which are quite sunk by our misfortunes.” Responding to Reed, Washington confirmed that an attack on Trenton would, in fact, be made.
On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington audaciously led his men across the icy river into New Jersey and on a ten-mile march to Trenton where they surprised a garrison of 1,500 Hessian mercenaries operating under British general command. Washington and his men won the battle of Trenton and prevailed again a week later at Princeton.
Years of hard struggle remained ahead but, through the ingenuity and daring leadership he demonstrated that Christmas week, Washington did indeed strike a blow that roused the spirits of the people and re-energized our fight for independence.
Christmas is a time for gift giving, and for gratitude for the gifts we have received. So, as we open our gifts on Christmas morning, let us pause to remember and give thanks for the great gift of freedom we received from General Washington and the valiant soldiers under his command 248 years ago. So, too, let us remember and give thanks for all the sacrifices of all the soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen who have fought to preserve the precious gift of freedom. And to remember our great obligation as recipients of this precious gift.
In the closing battle scene of Saving Private Ryan, a dying Captain Miller orders Ryan to “Earn this”: to earn and deserve the opportunity to live out a peaceful life in freedom that had been purchased at the cost of Miller’s life and the lives of most of his men. As citizens blessed to live in liberty purchased at the cost of so many lives, from Trenton to Normandy and far beyond, we must never forget our profound and continuing obligation to protect, preserve, and pass on the freedom that has been purchased for us at such great cost, our profound and continuing obligation to Earn This Blessing.
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