Spot where general George Washington and the Continental Army crossed on christmas night in 1776. Well see the reenactment and talk with several participants. [ drumroll ] sdas we are doing a reenact mint of George Washingtons crossing on christmas night 1776. What happened here is actually one of the most unexpected and daring revolution the story is washington they encamped in several locations around this area, including the to which aye kneely house, which is part of our park, and things are pretty did the paragraph, and the patriot cause. The continental affirm really needed a win. Washington was aflay that the british were going to invade philadelphia and take over the capital. He really knew what he needed was a bold action. After meek with his war council, they made the decision on christmas night they would brought the delaware and attack the outpost at trenton. A snowstorm started touch terrible, snow and hail, a pretty bad noreaster, and all of these men, 2400 in all, had to cross the delaware and begin their march. There were other regiments supposed to cross a two the of location. At the trenton and bristol ferries, and they werent ability to get across. The weather was a major part of that. General want, i know its a secret mission, but could you tell us about this operation . This is our final chance. Our enlistments are expiring. Soldiers want to go home. I have ten days, just ten short days in order to make this attack well be right back take the city, and prove to congress that we are a viable army that they should support we have the evacuation from new york was very well done, and my hats off to the marble we recruited from the jerseys, right now we are trying to keep a river between us and the hessans were trying to stay at least between them and the city of philadelphia. Tell us about your forces. Hypofully you keep this among ourself, about you we do have 3,000 troops we have 2400 troops, ready to go they have three days rations cooked, and we expect to give them a good fight. My name is frank lyons from yardley, just down the street. I am portraying colonel john glover from marblehead, massachusetts. Le was the commander of the 14th con nenl regiment, which is also known as the marblehead mariners or Glover Marblehead regiment. Marblehead is a small town about ten miles north of boston. The because of the intolerable acts and the british enactments, most of the men were unemployed and very unhappy. They were happy to join marblehead rental mend. They originally signed up 150 men. They never expected to find themselves all the way down here in they saved this become cannon baggage across the lower east river into what is modernday brooklyn into Lower Manhattan and saved Washingtons Army from being encircled by the british. Then again as pells point when cornwallace was planning to march across the north bogs and trapped washington in manhattan, glover once again held off 4 hounds british and hessian troops. So that david washington time for escape from manning hanes and to fight another day, and then we fast forward to this section of pennsylvania around this 22nd of december, glover marching into this area, and he camps up the hill near where washingtons headquarters were, and washington calls him to his headquarters and cross 800 feet of a rocky icestrewn river under the cover of darkness and the barometer is falling, we could be looking at some weather. Glover says your excellency, it is impossible. Washington says to glover, i did not ask you to assess possibilities. I asked you if you could do it. He thinking for a second and says general washington, my marbleheaders can do it. Thats when legend tells us its not written anywhere, but legend tells us thats when washington made the final decision to go ahead with the bold stroke. You can point to make a dozen events, and one of them took place on this ground where were standing here. Its one of the three iconic parts of the revolutionary war. Even the smallest amount of history, they talk about valley forge, an encampment, Washington Crossing the democrat aware, and 9 battle of yorktown. Everyone nose 9 painting painted in the 1850s, but everyone knows it as Washington Crossing the delaware. This river does freeze solid, but you dont get ice birks. Its very, very thick sheets of ice that go straight across. The reenactment, what will take place . We will start by seeing washington and his officers review his troops we will hear washington gift a speech to the troops and everyone will board the boats and cross the delaware. Tell us about the boats. The durham boats are a type of boats used during the crossing to get men from pennsylvania to edge in in this. Whats special about the boats is that they are large and they were originally made to haul a pickiron up and down the delawa delaware. They were ideal for putting a lot of guys in and getting them from point a to point b. They were not the only boats used, but they are the types of boats during the reenactment washington ordered them all to pennsylvania, and slow down any crossing that the british might do so they were use, and in particular a ferry was used. So that you can get artillery across and horses across. Obviously you will not be able to get any of them into a boat. [ drumbeat ] noel officers, post excellency. Glover, how do the conditions look . Your excellency, my marbleheaders have just returned from traversing the river. They report that the river is swift, strewn with ice, but they are confidence, sir, and determined to convey our army against the delaware this very night. Excellent. Remember, its victory or death. We will not fail. Please return to your troops and prepare them for inspection. Dismissed. Weve asked congress for many things that we are short of food, tents, provisions, blankets. Weve had citizen of philadelphia coming up to provide us with at least some blankets to keep you warm. It reminds me of the crisis by thomas payne, your sergeants have read to you. He wrote these are the times that try mens souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of their country. He that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. My troops, you deserve that love and thanks. Youre here with me now to continue our fight. I look forward to seeing you in trenden. Remember, victory or death. Colonel sergeant. Yes, your excellency. Prepare the troops to board. That i will. It is boats were meant to float down the river. They were not meant to go across the river. He knew they could be valuable for transporting troops. Basically ferries took people across the river. So they dont maneuver well, and its an art form, you row up the river and tack them into the winter to get them in position. They were really meant float down the require and steer with the sweep board, which youll see out here today. Theyre not real maneuverable. It takes a bit of skill for these guys who do it to be able to do it. My name is leon vaughn. Im portraying a member of colonel glovers marbleheaders. How was the crossing today . The crossing today was very easy. Some years it has snowed, some years it has rained. Its been k08d, but today perfect weather corns. Tell me about your portrayal. Why do you do this . Its not not average american his toy textbook about the 40 of colonel glovers unit during that time, black men were a large part of the whaling and fishing industry. Being that john glover every day, and these a typical dress of a codfisherman. The trouser are open, so just in case you fell in the weight, the water could drain and you would not drown that easily the hat you can pull down over the years, not like the tricory hats. What you wore was practical. We were here from day one. I had a cousin who does Extensive Research on my fathers mother, and he traced her ancestor back to one of the 20 and odd africans that was on the bode that landed at Point Comfort in hampton, virginia, 1619. So i can trace my family back in this country 400 years. You have to go deep in the libraries, you have to go to used bookstores, and the internet has helped also. I picked out a book out of a library. In this book i found in the painting of George Washington crossing the river, the man row right of George Washington, is a black guy. His name was prince whistle, he was a servant of one of George Washingtons aides. And he is a black buy rowing the boat on the painting. And he is a black guy rowing the boat on the painting. We meet all year long to plan this. There are 48 boat crew, it takes 12 per boat, and there will be about 300 soldiers crossing, a lot less than the 2400 that actually crossed in 1776. If we had to wait for 2400, it would take all day. It took washington nine hours. But yes, about 300 today, and about 48 boat crew. And the boat crews come out and practice, they practice on a local lake, and then we come down and practice on the river. So we do, theres a lot, the planning goes on all year, there will be a meeting in january just to debrief and then we will start planning for next year. I kind of had advanced training, because my father first, he never owned a motor, when we went out fishing, we rowed in the chesapeake bay. We caught the fish, we rowed into the bay. That was, i was ten years old. I started rowing a boat at ten. So rowing this is just a reflection of my childhood. As a reenactor, with George Washington for nine years now and it is a tremendous opportunity. As you look around here, and you see hundreds and hundreds of visitors that come to this park to see this one event. It is an iconic event. And it is something that is not only regionally important but nationally important. Ba because without this victimry, the army would have collapsed. How do you get into this thing and how do you do . I have been doing revolutionary reenacting for 26 years, and over the years when you wok your way up from a private to a sergeant to an officer, you look at your predecessors and you say i think i could do a better job, or i could do something different, and i have taken on the roll for the last nine years, and had many successful crossings, and i actually like the fact that he would not only educate the public, in what took place here, and how much its meant to our nation, but it keeps the site viable. 2013, we had six inches of snow in four hours. And when i launched my boat to go across, you couldnt see the shoreline on either side, once you got in the middle of the river, an they canceled it right after i went out there, because it wasnt deemed safe to cross any more boats and it was one of those, it started out as a day like today, sunny, a little cool, and by the afternoon, by the time of the crossing, you had six inches of snow on the ground. It certainly did feel like the period. And i have also been here when it rain, sleeted and snowed, all in the same day, and the troops are grumbling, theyre complaining, standing out on the cross and i have to stand out there and say these are the conditions that the troops actually crossed under and im sure they were complaining about the same discomforts. I have a general staff. I also have a court. And we also have our standard bearer that carries the commander in chief position flag and thats how you know where the general is on the battlefield, in camp, that specific flag, which the original is now in the museum of the American Revolution in philadelphia. And pull. And pull. And pull. And pull. And pull. And pull. And pull. The officers were aware of where they were going, where they were marching to, and that they were attacking the heshian outpost, the men in the boat didnt know exactly where their destination was but they were aware that something significant was about to take place. They were cold. Many of them were sick. They were hungry. They didnt have the equipment as far as appropriate clothing that they needed to protect them from this weather, so they did this under great hardship. They were very brave, and did accomplish something that i dont know, i know that i certainly couldnt do under those circumstances. They marched nine miles after this crossing, in the snowstorm, they marched nine miles south to trenton, and they attacked the hessians were w. H. O. Were not expecting to be attacked. For a number of reasons. First of all, because it was just after a may jr. Snowstorm. It was also the time of year, winter time when most armies went into nare their winter camps and stopped fighting. And the hessians had actually been engaged several times by some of the local militias in new jersey, and were really on edge, and this wasnt the type of fighting that they were accustomed to, so by the time, it was christmas, and there had been a major snowstorm, they were hoping to have the opportunity to rest a little bit, and of course, that didnt happen. They were attacked by the Continental Army, who was able to defeat them in pretty short order. The army stayed in trenton for just a short amount of time, and then brought prisoners, about 900 or so, prisoners back, and crossed again, with a couple of different ferries, and officers were kept overnight at the tavern here at mccosten ferry and enlisted and eventually the officers were taken to newtown pennsylvania, which is just a couple of miles from here. It is always good to know your history, know from where you have come, and that way you know where youre going, and you try not to repeat some of the same mistakes. When i was in school, i hated history, because it was always teaching me about what somebody else did, not what my people did, and now i just have to join this hobby to learn what i didnt learn in high school, nor in college about real American History, all inclusive American History. One time, i was giving a lecture at an office of homeland security, it was their black History Month program. After i gave a short speech on the black involvement in the civil war, one of the white men in the audience stood up and said why are you here teaching us black history . I said, sir, im not teaching you black history. Im you, im teaching you American History that just happens to be about black people. Less people are probably less familiar with the emanuel loudsa painting what do you think of that painting . I think it is a lovely painting. Lloydsa was not trying to provide a snapshot of the actual historic event. Lloydsa was telling a story, and in that painting, you see the story of the American Revolution, that he was trying to inspire people in germany at the time, and their quest for revolution. So you see Washington Crossing the sea, james monroe, who ended up being a president , you see a flag, what we now call the betsy ross flag, that is used in the painting. Well, that flag wasnt being used in 1776, but lloydsa already knows how the story ends, so he includes it there. So youre seeing two future president s, youre seeing this flag, and you see a variety of different types of people in that boat, which was just like the makeup of the artist, of arriving. Tonight on American History tv, beginning at 8 00 eastern, we join tour guide eric finley to learn about the early history of mobile, alabama, and to visit africatown, the National Historic landmark neighborhood north of the city, founded by former slaves who were cap tives on the slip clotilda. Watch American History tonight and over the weekend, on cspan3. Every saturday night, American History tv takes you to College Classrooms around the country, for lectures in history. Why do you all know who lizzy borden is and raise your hand if you ever heard of the gene harris murder trial before this class . The deepest cause where we will find the true meaning of the revolution was the transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. We will talk about both of the sides of the story here, right . The tool, the techniques of slave owner power, and we will also talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. Watch history professors lead discussions with their students on topics ranging from the American Revolution, to september 11thth, lectures an history on cspan 3, every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv and lectures in history is available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. Next, on American History tv, military historian Gregory Urwin talks about the challenges the british army faced in adapting to north american terrain and battle tactics during the revolutionary war. The museum of the American Revolution, prchld Pritzker Library and von hes foundation cohosted this event as part of a threeday international conference. My name is philip mead, the director of curator affairs and chief historian here at the American Revolution and it is my distinct pleasure to welcome today professor Gregory Urwin of temple university, an historian of military history, broadly from the era of the American Revolution, through