Delaware River prevents Washington's crossing

History might have turned out much differently if the Delaware River behaved the way it did on Christmas Day 2007. For the last 55 years, reenactors have staged the pivotal Battle of Trenton, which took place on Christmas Day 1776.

Historians, as well as the docent I encountered at New York Museum of Metropolitan Art, have pointed out the inaccuracies of the famous painting pictured here. Washington's Continentals staged a night attack, the sun rays that shouldn't be there are coming from the south, which means that Washington is crossing from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, instead of the other way around.

And the amount of ice--well, that's a lot of ice for December at that latitude.

Today the reenactors had to face their own inaccuracy--a fast current that wouldn't let the first of the three boats make it across the Delaware to Trenton. The mission was promptly aborted.

But in 1776, the Continental Army routed the Hessian mercenaries for Washington's first battlefield victory in months.

Let's hope the reenactors had a Merry Christmas all the same. It was certainly a better Christmas than the Hessians had 231 years ago.

The Historical Marker Database has more on the Battle of Trenton.

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