New Jersey - Day 17 - Washington Crossing and Trenton

Clarksboro KOA
Monday, 17 December 2018

This morning I looked out the window and saw what looked like a man and his dog playing "statues."  The man was carrying a bag of trash in one hand and his dog's leash in the other (the dog was about Shih-tzu size), and they were both frozen still.  It was the oddest thing to see.  It finally occurred to me to look in the direction they were both looking, and I saw the turkey flock in the woods but close to the road, staring back.

I'm guessing the bag of trash got heavy because the man started to move again very slowly, and his dog also moved very slowly, and the turkeys backed away slowly - like a choreographed dance.  So odd.  I noticed the scene in the first place because I was about to take my own dogs out and I've learned to look around before I open the door.  Glad it was his dog and not mine looking at the turkeys, because the outcome would have been much livelier with mine.

today's route

I drove up to Princeton and did some errands and then went down to the Washington Crossing State Park.  This, not surprisingly, commemorates Washington's crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War and the subsequent Battle of Trenton, events that were pivotal in the war effort.

The exhibits at the park visitor center were extensive and include:

• a number of muskets and pistols that have been documented as part of the period, especially one that was captured from a Hessian (German mercenary) at Trenton
• screwdrivers used by the soldiers
• brass portable coffee mills that had become more popular - especially among the officers - than the mortar-and-pestle grinding of coffee beans
• jack knives
• traveling forks and knives
• powder horns and salt horns
• a rum keg canteen
• a pocket compass (so important for navigating the vast forests and uninhabited lands in the original Colonies)
• uniforms
• crampons - called ice creepers - used by early Americans (including the soldiers) to navigate icy roads
• copper and iron pots that still had Brunswick stew boiling in them when Washington's army hastily evacuated Fort Lee in advance of the British invasion

Unfortunately, the exhibits and literature at this museum aren't very clear about what led up to this event, except to say that there was "a series of military disasters during the late summer of 1776," necessitating a retreat across "the Jerseys" (it had been divided into East and West Jersey) to Pennsylvania in early December.

By Christmas, Gen. Washington was in a pickle: his troops had very little food or clothing (some of the men didn't even have shoes); winter weather was severe with snow, ice and winds; and all the soldiers had enlisted for 1 year only - a year that ended on January 1st.  After the depressing military defeats, Washington knew he was about to lose most of his experienced soldiers.  I suppose you could say he needed a Christmas miracle - and he manufactured one.

On the night of December 25, 1776, the troops went on their evening parade but, instead of returning to their quarters for the night, they marched to the nearby ferry crossing.  And boat by boat, the entire army - men, horses and cannon - crossed the river.

And that's what this famous painting is about.  I never understood it because I didn't know this story.  But that's actual chunks of ice in the water and they're fighting a strong northeast wind.

the same location today

The river's not very wide at that point, which is probably why there was a ferry there, and you can see both banks in that painting if you really look.  But it took a good part of the night to get all the men and supplies across.  And Gen. Washington supervised it all from right about where I took this photo.

If you put the 2 halves of this sign together, you can get some sense of the scene that night.  Those poor soldiers must have been miserable - no talking and not even a fire during that weather?  And then it all started to get worse.

info re: soldiers is on this side

info re: march is on this side

But when they got to Trenton, they managed to surprise the Hessian troops garrisoned there.  There were 2,400 Americans to 1,400 British and the battle didn't even last 2 hours.  The Americans managed to surround the town and the German mercenaries didn't have much chance.

That battle was a turning point in the war because of the psychological boost it gave the troops, at a time when it was most needed.  A week later, the Americans fought another successful battle, this time down the road at Princeton, where the British had gone to regroup after Trenton.  The result of these events was startling: the British evacuated almost all of New Jersey, there was great dismay and disbelief in Great Britain and its allies, Philadelphia (the US capital) was spared a British occupation, and European powers began a rethink about supporting this upstart rebellion.

Johnson Ferry house, c. 1740

stone barn

Apparently this ferry house is the actual one Washington took breaks in during the long night of river crossing, which took almost 10 hours.

I don't know whether this barn was there then or built by a subsequent owner.  It's clearly old but has been renovated for use, in part, as bathrooms for visitors.

From there I drove into Trenton to see the State House.

I could have found a place to stop and take a photo but didn't want to because there was scaffolding all over the front.  I found an internet photo that shows what it looks like.  It's the only capitol I've seen that sits right on the street - no farther back than an average house, as is shown in this photo.

I guess this is the front - it's the side facing the street, which you can see in the left bottom of the photo

 I turned the next corner and got a good view of the back, which is a more dramatic angle and has the more traditional lawn in front of it.  So maybe it's the front?  But the other side has fancy columns.  It was built in 1790, and maybe back then it would have been more usual to be built closer to the street, with a drive up to the door for carriages?

this is the back side, I guess, but easier to see the fancy dome from here

Every state does it differently - a good illustration of the fact that each state is different.