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Sunrise at Trenton: Nurturing the Revolutionary Spirit of 1776 Nicholas E. Hollis In late 1776, General George Washington’s decision to cross the Delaware River and launch a surprise attack on Trenton set the stage for one of the most inspiring and pivotal moments in our Nation’s history. After suffering defeats while trying to hold New York against a numerically superior, better equipped and more mobile British Army under Lord Howe backed by the British Navy, Washington had been forced into retreat across New Jersey. With morale plummeting and enlistment papers nearly expired for many of his troops, Washington seemed on the brink of defeat. The Redcoats (and their Hessian mercenaries) assumed the Continental Army was in winter quarters and incapable of mounting any type of concentrated action.1
The daring, early morning counterattack on December 26 caught the Hessian pickets off guard. Advancing in two columns along the Bear Tavern (River) and the Pennington Roads, Washington’s army swept in with a howling snow storm at their backs, surrounded the town and positioned artillery at the head of the main streets. When the alarmed Hessians poured out of their barracks, their attempts to organize in formation met Colonial cannon fire and infantry with fixed bayonets on the side streets.
Hessian commander Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall, who had performed brilliantly in capturing Fort Washington and Fort Lee, was slow that morning in recognizing (and responding to) the growing ferocity of the Continental attack (see Map 2). He ordered his artillery up, but the well-situated Colonials got the best of the ensuing duel and, with horses down, the Hessians were forced to abandon their cannon. Rall then commanded his troops to reform outside town in an orchard for a counterattack. But his orders to link up with other regiments (Col. Von Lossberg and troops detached from General von Knyphausen) were confused, and the attack floundered under pressure from American artillery barrages on its flank. Colonel Rall was mortally wounded, and the disorganized Hessians retreated to the orchard (Map 3). A few minutes later nearly a thousand mercenaries surrendered. A large percentage of von Knyphausen’s men escaped through Assunpink Creek and fled towards Princeton, but Washington’s victory was stunning and soon electrified the country -- giving new spirit to the American cause for independence.2
At this miraculous juncture, Washington’s army suffered only light casualties – with four wounded. The Revolutionary War would drag on another five years to other theaters leading to Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown in 1781, but Trenton was the turning point. The significance of Washington’s dawn attack was summed up in London by Lord George Germain, Colonial Secretary of State to King George III in a speech before the House of Commons on May 3, 1779 when he said, "All our hopes were blasted by that unhappy affair at Trenton."
Dr.
Jacob Jennings of New Jersey According to Jennings lore, Dr. Jacob was one of those wounded at Trenton, but he recovered and later became a pastor himself at the North Branch Reformed Church in Readington, New Jersey. He and his wife, Mary (Kennedy) Jennings had six sons and two daughters between 1770-1787. But in 1791 Mary died prematurely (at age 42), and Jacob moved his family to New Salem, Pennsylvania (near Uniontown). He continued practicing medicine, remarried and was soon ordained as pastor at the Dunlop’s Creek Presbyterian Church (1792). Jacob continued in the pulpit until his death in 1813. In choosing his southwestern Pennsylvania home, Jacob probably followed David (1742-1824) and Benjamin Jennings, who had moved from New Jersey more than twenty years earlier in the late 1760s. The road west had been marched and hacked out of the wilderness by young George Washington with British General Braddock, who met defeat (and death) in 1755 at the beginning of the French and Indian Wars. A century later this path had become the "National Road." Today, not far from the old National Road (U.S. Route 40) in a small cemetery, the gravestone of Dr. Jacob Jennings is inscribed with these words: "And
I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me,
A Peregrinating Family A Revolutionary Spirit
Courtesy of Jennings Heritage Project
GRANT BOYHOOD HOME - This property, just off Georgetown, Ohio's main square and less than a mile from the Jennings farm, was once owned by Jesse Root Grant. His eldest son, Ulysses S. Grant, learned to ride and work horses in this area. These "intersections" were discovered during Jennings genealogical research which linked Israel Jennings (1745-1830) to William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925). ________________________________________________________________ Notes and Additional Reading: 1 The Battle of Trenton, Samuel Stelle Smith, 1965, pp. 20-27. 2 1776, David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, 2005. 3 History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties of New Jersey, James P. Snell, 1881, p. 30, 218, 228. 4 Early History of Southampton, Long Island, New York, Georges Rogers Howell, 1887, p. 330-331. 5 History of Fayette County (PA), Ed. Franklin Ellis, 1882, p. 623, 735. 6 Centennial History of Belmont County, OH, A.T. McKelvey, 1903, p.642. 7 History of Brown County (OH), 1883, p. 379 8 History of Marion County (IL), Prof. J.H.G. Brinkerhoff, 1909, pp. 41, 46, 121. "Dig Deeper and History Will Fascinate You," N.E. Hollis. Culpeper Star-Exponent (March 18, 2011).
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Jennings Heritage Project Jennings Heritage Project Enrollment Form Nicholas Jennings: In Search of Justice
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