Link: The American Revolution - Battle of Trenton.
As you contemplate a night of celebration of the New Year, it might be beneficial to think about George Washington and the time between December 25th, 1776 and January 3, 1777. Washington had recently retreated from New York, fearing that his small army of 5,000 men would be trapped on Long Island. As the year ended, he was encamped, in Winter, without food or funds. His letters showed that he was about to give up the whole thing. Then, as the New Year beckoned, he made a bold decision. On Christmas night, he crossed the Delaware River, and took Trenton in a surprise attack. He knew the soldiers would be drinking and celebrating Christmas and the holidays, and took advantage of their inebriated state. (Perhaps a lesson tonight?) As battles go, it wasn't much, but days later, the attack on, and taking of, Princeton, proved to be the turning point of the war. Our battles, as we face a New Year, don't really compare to the battle for freedom, and life and death, do they? Something to think about while we have friends and neighbors far away in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for us.
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