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Did The Battle of Trenton save America?
Posted on 2/18/24 at 7:29 am
Posted on 2/18/24 at 7:29 am
it seems like morale was really low, and they may have been ready to replace George as leader if not for that one small victory. Crazy how one day can change the entire history of the world
i just finished a 20 minute podcast on it and it didnt go deep into it but still a fun listen
George Wishes Some Hessians a Merry fricking Christmas
i just finished a 20 minute podcast on it and it didnt go deep into it but still a fun listen
George Wishes Some Hessians a Merry fricking Christmas
Posted on 2/18/24 at 7:45 am to Corinthians420
quote:
Did The Battle of Trenton save America?
You could put lots of revolution battles in this question.
Battle of Kings Mountain comes to mind.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 7:52 am to GetCocky11
quote:
You could put lots of revolution battles in this question.
Battle of Kings Mountain comes to mind.
yep.
i guess some will say it was only a matter of time, but still these battles were crucial. and they definitely didn't fight themselves.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 7:52 am to Corinthians420
The Christmas gambit and faith through writings of Payne et al. were crucial in that moment.
Valley Forge, Lafayette, the French and Von Steuben tipped the scales for the colonies.
Valley Forge, Lafayette, the French and Von Steuben tipped the scales for the colonies.
This post was edited on 2/18/24 at 7:54 am
Posted on 2/18/24 at 9:09 am to TheFlyingTiger
quote:
Payne
he really was elite at writing speeches and convincing folks to support the cause
Posted on 2/18/24 at 10:12 am to Corinthians420
What happened at Trenton was an act of pure desperation by Washington. Many believe that because of the situation at the time, the Continental Army was on the verge of disbanding altogether.
I like the mention of Paine. The reading of The American Crisis is said to have had a palpable impact. It’s really impossible to say whether the Battle of Trenton saved America, but I’ve always believed that you could comfortably argue it.
I like the mention of Paine. The reading of The American Crisis is said to have had a palpable impact. It’s really impossible to say whether the Battle of Trenton saved America, but I’ve always believed that you could comfortably argue it.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 10:54 am to Corinthians420
Great x 5 grandfather was there (17 at the time), a member of the Continental Army’s German regiment. Supposedly Washington had them call for the Hessians in German, drawing them out.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 11:10 am to Corinthians420
Some folks talk about the Battle of Cowpens over in North Carolina being the reason that the US exists in its present form.
A Maine author Kenneth Roberts thought it was overlooked, and important enough that it was the last book he wrote and it was published posthumously. The Battle of Cowpens: the story of 900 men who shook an empire
Most of Roberts books were New England centric but he thought Cowpens was that important.
(The men who served in more recent actions on the escort carrier named after the battle called it "The Mighty Moo" and have their reunions at the battlefield park.
A Maine author Kenneth Roberts thought it was overlooked, and important enough that it was the last book he wrote and it was published posthumously. The Battle of Cowpens: the story of 900 men who shook an empire
Most of Roberts books were New England centric but he thought Cowpens was that important.
(The men who served in more recent actions on the escort carrier named after the battle called it "The Mighty Moo" and have their reunions at the battlefield park.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 11:29 am to real turf fan
The entire southern theater gets overlooked even though it was more brutal and what ended up winning the war.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 12:08 pm to real turf fan
For sake of the argument presented by OP, you could say that neither King’s Mountain nor Cowpens would have happened without Trenton.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 2:58 pm to real turf fan
quote:
Some folks talk about the Battle of Cowpens over in North Carolina being the reason that the US exists in its present form.
The southern theater is overlooked all the time when discussing this war. I know Washington wasn’t there and whatnot but damn, the southern war was so important and so brutal in comparison with the northern theater.
Cornwallis ended up at Yorktown because of what happened in the south.
This post was edited on 2/18/24 at 3:01 pm
Posted on 2/18/24 at 3:55 pm to GetCocky11
quote:
Cornwallis ended up at Yorktown because of what happened in the south.
It was beautiful how the British plan of moving through the South rather easily and picking up loyalist support along the way backfired. Morgan, Marion, and other Patriot volunteers wore them down and drove them into their own trap at Yorktown.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 4:29 pm to Corinthians420
In a way it did, the American war effort was at a pretty low point at the end of 1776. Washington had been routed on Long Island and all the way up Manhattan Island and chased across Jersey to PA. The army was melting away and a lot of enlistments were up on 1/1/1777. He needed to do something to keep the army together and that was it. I always tell my students if the war was a football game, this was like being down big early and having to go for it on 4th down on your own side of the field. It's not going to win you the game, but it blunts the momentum of the other team and keeps you alive.
Of course Trenton is iconic because of the painting (which is completely misleading about the crossing), but he also scored a nice victory at Princeton a few days later which was just as important. Washington wasn't a great x's and o's battlefield commander but he was able to keep the army together and alive to fight another day.
The southern theatre does get ignored in the big scheme of things when people discuss the Revolution. Greene and company bleeding the British throughout the South and prolonging the war was great strategy. The people in Britain were getting sick of the war and the longer it went, the less they supported it. There was still some fighting after Yorktown, but of course that was pretty much the final nail as far as the British government and population were concerned.
Of course Trenton is iconic because of the painting (which is completely misleading about the crossing), but he also scored a nice victory at Princeton a few days later which was just as important. Washington wasn't a great x's and o's battlefield commander but he was able to keep the army together and alive to fight another day.
The southern theatre does get ignored in the big scheme of things when people discuss the Revolution. Greene and company bleeding the British throughout the South and prolonging the war was great strategy. The people in Britain were getting sick of the war and the longer it went, the less they supported it. There was still some fighting after Yorktown, but of course that was pretty much the final nail as far as the British government and population were concerned.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 4:51 pm to GetCocky11
We (early Americans) had the "yuhant too". Not so sure we still have it.
Posted on 2/18/24 at 5:15 pm to Corinthians420
Just speculating, but had we remained under British rule, and part of the Commonwealth, would we be better or worse off?
Posted on 2/18/24 at 5:19 pm to JawjaTigah
I find that to be another question that is impossible to answer.
Posted on 2/19/24 at 12:19 am to grsharky
quote:
I always tell my students
Any textbooks or books(non-fiction and historical fiction) you’d recommend?
Posted on 2/19/24 at 12:47 am to JawjaTigah
quote:Worse.
Just speculating, but had we remained under British rule, and part of the Commonwealth, would we be better or worse off?
We'd have not expanded as far West, as the La Purchase was from France (the Brits didn't get along with them then), and almost certainly the Texas and California parts would have stayed Spanish/Mexican.
We also would not have industrialized to the point that we did. It would have been more raw materials for the English factories, with maybe some New England or similar factories at most.
So we'd have been a lot smaller, more rural, with a much more powerful Mexico building up on the Western half of North America.
The Mexicans probably do the La Purchase to get the port of NOLA and control of the Mississippi River, moving Eastward in the process. The Brits had the Eastern Seaboard anyway, so without a Westward expansion, they wouldn't have been interested.
By the time the 20th Century rolled around, we'd have been similar to Argentina but English-speaking, while Mexico would be developing into a world power (maybe not as strong as WE are, but greater than they ever were).
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