Chapter IX.
THE WINTER OF 1777.
The Hessian officers and soldiers who had been taken
prisoners at Trenton had to march on the 26th of
December, 1776, over the same cold and snowy road by
which the Americans had advanced to the attack. We
can fancy them shivering in their uniforms, while their
tattered and bare-footed captors marched gayly beside
them, and forgot the icy wind in the glow of victory.
Again the Delaware was crossed amid the cakes of
floating ice, and we may be sure that it was not the
ragged Americans whose teeth chattered;[1] but
reaction came after so much labor and excitement, and
on the morrow one half of the victorious army was
worn out and disabled. For forty consecutive hours
the Americans had stood to their arms, and marched
and fought in the snow and sleet of a December storm,
and nature now claimed a few days of rest and shelter.
Only Washington was indefatigable, and although the
term of service of a large part of his army was expiring,
the great leader prepared to take advantage of
his success.
The Hessian officers were treated with great courtesy by the American commanders. Washington expressed
- ↑ It was not without danger that they crossed the Delaware. Wiederhold says that he had to wade seventy paces to get to shore, with water and ice up to his breast.
