It is said that some
of the men marched barefoot leaving tracks of blood in the snow.
The arms of some were lost and those of others were wet and
useless but Washington told them that they must depend the more
on the bayonet. He attacked Trenton in broad daylight. There was
a sharp fight. Rahl, the commander, and some seventy men, were
killed and a thousand men surrendered.
Even now Washington's position was dangerous. Von Donop, with two
thousand men, lay only a few miles down the river. Had he marched
at once on Trenton, as he should have done, the worn out little
force of Washington might have met with disaster. What Von Donop
did when the alarm reached him was to retreat as fast as he could
to Princeton, a dozen miles to the rear towards New York, leaving
behind his sick and all his heavy equipment. Meanwhile
Washington, knowing his danger, had turned back across the
Delaware with a prisoner for every two of his men. When, however,
he saw what Von Donop had done he returned on the twenty-ninth to
Trenton, sent out scouting parties, and roused the country so
that in every bit of forest along the road to Princeton there
were men, dead shots, to make difficult a British advance to
retake Trenton.
The reverse had brought consternation at New York.
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