Johann Rall Johann Gottlieb Rall ( also spelled Rahl ) ( ca . 1726 – December 26 , 1776 ) was a German colonel , best known for being in command of Hessian troops in Trenton , New Jersey at the Battle of Trenton during the American War of Independence . Early life and career . Rall was probably born as a so - called " soldier child " ca . 1725 . He was a son of Captain Joachim Rall from Stralsund , who served in the regiment of Major General Donop . The first mention of Johann Rall was as a new cadet of the same regiment on March 1 , 1740 , commanded at this time by Colonel Prince Casimir von Isenburg of Isenburg - Birstein . He was promoted to warrant officer on July 25 , 1741 ; to second lieutenant on August 28 , 1745 ; and to captain on May 10 , 1753 . Rall was promoted to major on May 7 , 1760 , under Major General Bischhausen and transferred , in January 1763 , into the Stein garrison regiment , where he was appointed lieutenant colonel . On April 22 , 1771 , he was transferred to the Mansbach Infantry Regiment as a colonel . He became commander of the regiment in January 1772 . During this time , Rall fought in the War of the Austrian Succession and participated in campaigns in Bavaria , on the Rhine , in the Netherlands , and served in Scotland during the Jacobite Rebellion . He fought in the Seven Years ' War ( also called the French and Indian War ) and was involved in many battles . From September 1771 until August 1772 , he was in Russia and fought for Catherine the Great under Count Orlov in the Fourth Russo - Turkish War . American War of Independence . By 1776 , Rall belonged to the infantry regiment of the 1st Division under General Phillip Leopold von Heister and commanded approximately 1 , 200 men fighting for Great Britain in the American War of Independence . He was at the Battle of Brooklyn at Flatbush , the Battle of White Plains , Battle of Long Island , and figured prominently in the Battle of Trenton . On the night of December 25 – 26 , 1776 General George Washington crossed the Delaware River with his troops on the way to Trenton , New Jersey . The Hessian regiments , camped in and around Trenton , were attacked and decisively defeated by the American Continental Army . The Hessians had supposedly let their guard down to celebrate the Christmas holiday , and Rall himself was misled by John Honeyman , a spy of Washington who convincingly posed as a loyalist . According to one account , Rall was busy playing cards / chess the night before the attack at the home of Trenton merchant Abraham Hunt when he was handed a note from a local Loyalist who ' d seen Washington ' s forces gathering . Then after receiving the message , placed it in his coat pocket without reading it . While leading his troops in retreat from the battle of Trenton , Rall was struck by a musketball . He died later that day from his injuries . The note informing the colonel of the attack was later found in his coat pocket . " According to local tradition , the brave , but headstrong leader of the Hessian troops , sleeps in an unidentified grave in the churchyard of the First Presbyterian Church on East State Street " in Trenton , with an inscription dedicated to his memory .