The Aftermath of the Battle of Trenton

 

The Battle of Trenton by H. Charles McBarron from Wikipedia

December 26, 1776 the Battle of Trenton. 

 One of, to me the most fascinating and dramatic battles of the American Revolution.  And one which I hope to recreate one day if I build enough houses!  But as it is the anniversary and I traditionally stay up reading a book or two about it I thought I might share this quote from the book " The Day is Ours" by Glenn Dwyer about the aftermath.  John Greenwood was a fifer in the American Continental army.  Originally from Boston he had moved to Portsmouth Maine just before the Revolution.  His book, The Revolutionary Services of John Greenwood 1775 -1783 is a most interesting read. Elisha Bostwick served in a Connecticut regiment of the Continental army.

Hessian Fusilier cap at the Smithsonian.

"On the way to the boats, Greenwood continued, "seeing some of our men were much pleased with the brass caps which they had taken from the dead Hessians, our prisoners, who were besides exceedingly frightened, pulled off those they were wearing and, giving them away, put on the hats which they carried tied behind their packs. With these brass caps on, it was laughable to see how our soldiers would strut-fellows with their elbows out and some without a collar to their half-a-shirt, no shoes, etc." It was also laughable, according to Lieutenant Elisha Bostwick, to see some of the Hessians springing up and down in the boats with their long plaits flying. The men poling the boats across the river found the job difficult because of ice forming on the walkways. So, Bostwick noted, "the boatmen, to clear off the ice, pounded the boats and, stamping their feet, beckoned the prisoners to do the same, and they all set to jumping at once with their cues flying up and down . . . sticking straight back like the handle of an iron skillet." Greenwood and the rest of his company crossed the river themselves selves after the Hessians had all been carried over. Most of the company flaunted Hessian swords, headgear, or other mementos of battle, but all of them were without their packs-the ones they had piled by a roadside before entering Trenton. "As we never went back that way," Greenwood would recall, "we all lost our packs. At least I never heard anything of mine, and I had in it a beautiful suit of blue clothes, turned up with white and silver laced." Greenwood and the others in his unit were back at the Newtown encampment late in the afternoon, after being on the move for more than twenty-four hours. Some of Washington's other Continentals would not reach their encampments until late the following day, having been gone for fifty hours or more. Some, upon their return, took time to note the day's doings in a diary. David How, an eighteen-year-old from Massachusetts, summed things up with his usual Yankee succinctness: "This morning at 4 o'clock we set off with our field pieces. Marched 8 miles to Trenton"

Hessian Colors Captured at Trenton. Where Are They?

 Rereading Richardson's Standards and Colors of the American Revolution this morning.  What happened to the Hessian colors captured at Trenton?  They were displayed in the halls of Congress for a short time. On 31 December 1776 William Ellery writes the Governor of Rhode Island a description of the flags which are on display in the room where Congress meets in Baltimore.The six colors captured at Trenton are depicted in good detail in Charles Wilson Peale's painting of Washington victorious after Trenton and Princeton. Other colors captured have survived.  There are four Anspach-Beyreuth colors captured at Yorktown still in existence and in good condition. Two are at West Point, one at the Smithsonian and the fourth one at Yorktown. Davis (Regimental colors in the War of the Revolution) said there were no know (to him) Colors in Germany when he did his research during the 1900's.  The colors of the 7th (Royal Fusiliers) Regiment are at West Point.

   Here is some information about what happened to them. Davis describes the existing colors when he examined them in 1907 in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and photographed the two flags and the remains of a third which had a black field. These were in the Clymer papers. These two colors and the fragments disappeared sometime between when Davis saw them in 1900-1907 and the mid 1970's when they were found to be missing. It is possible, based on a " cryptic" entry on a accession card that they were loaned out and never returned; possibly during the Sesquicentennial of 1926.

   William Buehler wrote Admiral Preble on 18 November 1881 "two flags out of six captured ...At Trenton are in the department on the hill at Harrisburg." This appears to have been the William Penn museum at Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Richardson is quoted as saying staff members " have no knowledge as to the whereabouts of any surviving remnants there. "

   Lastly there are fragments of another Hessian flag captured at Trenton in the First City Troop Museum in Philadelphia. The fragments are about " twenty by seven inches and are black brocade will seamed to a narrow strip of White are are decorated with a small elements of brown and yellow painted designs. "

Richardson, Edward W. Standards and Colors of the American Revolution.
1982.

Davis, Gherardi.  Regimental Colors in the War of The Revolution.
1907.

For a copy of the book online see:
https://archive.org/details/regimentalcolors00davi/page/n12

Paper buildings

  Tis the season to plan out projects and goals for next year.  And one of my goals is to  fight the Battle of Trenton at Christmas time next year.   Once at our club game night in December then again Christmas day with my son.  I have the miniature soldiers ready;  it is the terrain I need to work on.  A winter ground mat, trees, snowy roads and icy river.  But mostly I need buildings, and lots of them.

  After looking at a number of  resin buildings I doubt I will go that way due to the cost.  I really like the MDF buildings but again I need a lot of them. So I will turn my hand to trying the paper type. Towards that end I have bought a number of clap board and stone houses from Paper Terrain.  These look very nice and are a very reasonable price.

  My first try was with one of  the simple white clap board houses.  Nothing complex about it.  I cut out most of the house with scissors and trimed it with a xacto knife.  I then scored the folds with the dull edge of the knife to fold it.  Using tacky glue I put a small amount of glue along the folds and glued the edges.  It went together very quickly and now I have a neat little  home for my table top. Thus ine should work for both  American Rev War and War of 1812. 

  A nice bonous is each house comes with a burned out destroyed version which fits inside the building.  Just in case your British Legion or  Canadian Volunteers are  up to their reported nastiness!

More to come soon both in terrain and buildings.