Washington Crossing the Delaware

Agit8r

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Dec 4, 2010
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241 Years ago (when Americans weren't afraid to wage war on Christmas) Washington led the Continental Army across the Delaware River. The following morning they would defeat a vast garrison of German mercenaries (known as Hessians).

It proved to be a turning point in the American Revolution, in particular convincing the French to increase their financing of the effort.

The fact that Christmas was a major holiday in Germany, but not in America at that time, may or may not have had any impact on the outcome.
 
It was a stupendous victory.

The Americans attacked the Germans when they were drunk and in their barracks.

Saratoga was far more influential in getting French money, munitions, and troops.
 
4d68a843f6ef7b0137cc1e5ed7e519fd--american-pride-american-well.jpg
 
It was a stupendous victory.

The Americans attacked the Germans when they were drunk and in their barracks.

Saratoga was far more influential in getting French money, munitions, and troops.
The Americans attacked the Germans when they were drunk and in their barracks.
Balderdash!
  • "Rumors that they were drunk from Christmas celebrations are unfounded."
  • "The Hessians weren’t drunk. They were tired from near-constant harassment by local militias."
  • The Hessians, for example, are often portrayed as “'evil monsters,' but the stereotype America has spun about them just isn’t true. The truth is that they were quite strong Calvinists who sang hymns on their way to battles. People think they were drunk celebrating Christmas when Washington attacked, but their strict religion forbade excessive drinking.” (Source)
  • General George Washington, who truly was a great military strategist and tactician, launched a plan to attack Trenton, NJ on Christmas morning by crossing the icy Delaware River at dawn. Trenton was being held by the Hessians, who were hired by the British to augment their forces. The mythology around the battle is that the German Hessians were hopelessly drunk and hungover in the morning, but alas, for the sake of the story, that was not true at all.

    A wicked snow storm disguised the Americans' approach, and a series of fortuitous decisions by George Washington & Co, and missteps by the Germans lead to an overwhelming American victory, and a turning point in the war. But it would have been a better story if the Hessians' floors were littered with empty growlers when the Americans arrived. (Source)
 
We can read a lot of new revisionist history (the Germans were not drunk) without evidence, simply Shootspeeders' and protectionist' and EdwardBaiamonte' style assertions "no, they were not drunk." OK.
 
And a Troop of British Lighthorse......damned miracle 3 widely dispersed columns arrived on schedule without any way to communicate....his army was mostly worn out ghosts..
 
The Germans got us back around 175 years later when Americans and Allies were dreaming of "home for Christmas" and Ike was attending Christmas parties instead of supervising the Troops in the Ardennes, the Germans launched the most devastating attack of WW2 on Dec. 16 which lasted until around Jan. 25 and almost changed the course of the war. The Germans called it the Ardennes Offensive and the Allies called it "The Battle of the Bulge".
 
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Barbarosa was a far more "devastating" attack than that in the Bulge.

The lunge around the Maginot Line was a far more "devastating" attack than that in the Bulge.

The Japanese attack on the Philippines was a far more "devastating" attach that in the Bulge.

And there were others.
 
It was a stupendous victory.

The Americans attacked the Germans when they were drunk and in their barracks.

Saratoga was far more influential in getting French money, munitions, and troops.
The Americans attacked the Germans when they were drunk and in their barracks.
Balderdash!
  • "Rumors that they were drunk from Christmas celebrations are unfounded."
  • "The Hessians weren’t drunk. They were tired from near-constant harassment by local militias."
  • The Hessians, for example, are often portrayed as “'evil monsters,' but the stereotype America has spun about them just isn’t true. The truth is that they were quite strong Calvinists who sang hymns on their way to battles. People think they were drunk celebrating Christmas when Washington attacked, but their strict religion forbade excessive drinking.” (Source)
  • General George Washington, who truly was a great military strategist and tactician, launched a plan to attack Trenton, NJ on Christmas morning by crossing the icy Delaware River at dawn. Trenton was being held by the Hessians, who were hired by the British to augment their forces. The mythology around the battle is that the German Hessians were hopelessly drunk and hungover in the morning, but alas, for the sake of the story, that was not true at all.

    A wicked snow storm disguised the Americans' approach, and a series of fortuitous decisions by George Washington & Co, and missteps by the Germans lead to an overwhelming American victory, and a turning point in the war. But it would have been a better story if the Hessians' floors were littered with empty growlers when the Americans arrived. (Source)

In my experience, if you don't drink much then 4.2%ABV 12oz beer is enough to tire a body. Couple this with the holiday and the surprise and you have Washington's victory. The question about drunkenness is really a question about degrees and reflect as much on the assumptions inherent to the present academics' (I shouldn't even say academic because many colleges now are far off from any real academics. Obviously that's not true of everyone everywhere.) gross drunkenness and our present cultures drug dependency as anything else.
 

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