A Magnolia Tribune article says the American Revolution nearly collapsed in late 1776 and was revived by George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on the night of Dec. 25, 1776.
The article says Washington’s army had been driven from New York, pushed across New Jersey and toward Pennsylvania, and was losing soldiers to desertion and expiring enlistments. The piece says members of the Continental Congress had fled Philadelphia and that, by December, only a few thousand soldiers remained huddled along the banks of the Delaware River.
According to the Magnolia Tribune, Washington gambled on a risky attack on a Hessian garrison at Trenton. The article says the victory there, and a follow-up success at Princeton, shocked the British, revived American morale and helped increase enlistments. The piece adds that later episodes such as Saratoga and the winter at Valley Forge followed.
The Tribune piece also frames the Declaration of Independence as a radical break with historical norms. It notes the Declaration’s assertion that rights come from a Creator and quotes the signers’ pledge of “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” saying the men risked execution, confiscation of property and ruin if the rebellion failed.
The article concludes that the American inheritance is not inevitable and that preserving it requires courage and sacrifice from each generation. The piece appeared on Magnolia Tribune as the first in a series leading up to the nation’s 250th anniversary, the article says.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
