For many Americans today Christmas is a time of peace, love, comfort, and family but the first American Christmas was far from what a modern American could handle on the holiday.

In 1776 independence had been declared by the colonies and the rebellion had turned into a war. But the new Continental army had been struggling throughout the year according to history teacher Chad Richards,

“On the verge of defeat.  They had lost miserably when the British invaded New York. They desperately needed a win.” And by Christmas of that year Washington was faced with 1,400 Hessian troops set up to guard Trenton who were celebrating Christmas on the other side of the Delaware River.

“Most armies did not fight in the winter back then.  Washington knew that he needed a quick win to boost morale and that the British/Hessian troops would have their guard down.  He hoped for a quick and easy win.” said Richards

“During the night of December 25, Washington led his troops across the ice-swollen Delaware about 9 miles north of Trenton. The weather was horrendous and the river treacherous. Raging winds combined with snow, sleet and rain to produce almost impossible conditions. To add to the difficulties, a significant number of Washington’s force marched through the snow without shoe.” EyeWittnessHistory.com.

Being a soldier in the Continental Army differed greatly from our modern ideas of an American army. Michael Farago described how he sees the moderns U.S. army,

“The army they are pretty uniform from what I understand they’ve got a lot of tools for missions like guns and knives.” But this quite the opposite from the original U.S. army,

“Horrible conditions and a shocking lack of food. Most common soldier accounts have countless references to hunger and a lack of basic supplies.” says Richards.

After successfully crossing the river and arriving at dawn, Washington and his men caught the Hessian troops completely off guard in Trenton as they were hungover from their Christmas celebrations. Washington and his men were able to capture 1,000 Hessian troops with the loss of only four Americans. The victories real accomplishment comes with the moral it gave to the struggling Americans as it injected hope into many who had begun to lose hope in the revolution,

“Washington needed a quick win for his own position within the army, but also for the overall morale of the colonial cause.” Richards said

The first American Christmas was probably the most uncomfortable Christmas for those involved as they saw battle against both foes and the elements. And the memory of this crossing has lived on thanks to the painting of the crossing by Emanuel Leutze which has become an iconic image that many think of when they think of President Washington and the revolution in general similar to the famous flag raising photo of soldiers raising the American flag after the victory over the Japanese at Iwo Jima in 1945 as that photo also seems to encapsulate that time period as well. The painting has been known to students as well as historians,

“I’ve seen that it’s Washington crossing that river in Jersey I’ve seen it it was a in bunch of the texts books.” said junior Kiefer Callewaert  

The first American Christmas is an important event to remember as the difficult crossing by Washington and his men helped insure the success of the revolution and Washington as a leader. And thanks to it we are able to have a merry Christmas today 200 years later.