After British General William Howe captured New York City from Washington in 1776 in the New York and New Jersey campaign, he began a slow advance south through New Jersey in the direction of the Continental Capital of Philadelphia. Samuel Brady was among those who handed General Howe an unpleasant setback, by crossing the Delaware River with General Washington to fight Howe's overconfident forces at the Battle of Trenton, which took place on the morning of December 26, 1776. Trenton, New Jersey was at that time a small town in western New Jersey. Three regiments of German forces hired by the British to fight the Colonials, called "Hessians," had occupied the settlement. As year end approached, Washington had been retreating through New Jersey ahead of the British. Lost battles and constant retreat had put the morale of his army at low ebb. Many soldiers left the army as soon as their enlistments were up and others just deserted. Some of Washington's generals just ignored his orders, insulted that they had not been chosen instead of him to lead the army. Washington needed a victory for the Revolution to survive. Washington's made a hazardous nighttime crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776. He marched his tattered force of about two thousand four hundred men over the snow-covered ground to Trenton, many of his soldiers shod only with bleeding rags for shoes. General Washington attacked the Hessians in the morning and completely overwhelmed them at the cost of only light casualties to his own forces. Samuel Brady, therefore, was very much a part of this very crucial battle that gave the Americans their much needed victory and effectively kept the American Revolution alive.