The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-02-23
And Washington Crossed
the Delaware

Stanley Sum

Washington's crossing of the Della
ware of course has become one of the
commonplaces of history. We have
become SO familiar with the phrase
that few of us stop to consider just
why he crossed it, other than that he
did cross it, and that he landed on the
other side.
At the time Washington accom-
plished what was then considered an
impossibiity, things were looking
clark for the Colonial army. The
British had won victory after victory
and worst Of all, the Colonies were
without funds. Men who had been
leaders of the revolution had given
up all hope of winning the war and
many of them had sought refuge in
hiding. The Colonial congress had
disbanded and its members had scat
tered. The Colonies were without a
government. For months, Washing
ton had kept an army together on
promises and now he had reached
| the end of his rope His own per-
sonal fortune was sunk in the revo-
lutionary venture, and worse than
that, he had talked well-to-do friends
into putting in every dollar that they
could borrow or beg. He had bor-
roWed money until every possible
avenue had been exhausted. If the
revolution failed, Washington would
be hunted down like a dog by the
British and his end would probably
come before a firing squad or at the
end of rope. His friends were
turning from him and dubbed him
"quack' because he had not carried
out his promises. If there had been
any other avenue of escape, English
histories would probably today tell OF
the American revolution as just an
other uprising of rebels" The only
possible escape for Washington and
his followers was to whip the Brit
ish.
Over across the Delaware river at
Trenton, the British were celebrating
the collapse of the Colonial govern
ment and the winning of the war.
Officers were celebrating at ban
quet, while the soldiers were making
whoopee around kegs of cider and
harder refreshment. The ice was
breaking up in the Delaware river
and it was considered an impossible
ity to cross at that particular time.
Hardy fishermen volunteered their
services and the use of their boats
and a miracle was performed. Wash
ington'S army was transported across
the ice-filled river in the night with
out the loss of man or boat. They
fell upon the British and one OF the
most decisive victories in history re-
| suited. It was the turning point in
| the Revolutionary war and following
| it, the colonists took new heart and
kept the British on the run until the
close of the war
The desperation of one man and
the implicit faith of those who fol-
lowed him in those few hours, prob
ably made American history what it
| is today and the map of the United
States as it appears in our school geOg-
raphies. And so, when we refer to
George Washington as the father of
his country, we are not repeating a
meaningless phrase, but expressing in
a few words a very great truth. May
be it is true that the history books
stretch the truth in places. and may
be the heroic deeds of Washington
and his followers were prompted by
other than patriotic motives at times,
but the fact remains that these men.
with Washington as their loyal leader,
accomplished their ends over seeming
odds, and to them we owe any claim
to greatness which we may have ac-
compliShed.