Washington's Miracle, Part Ii
...It also left their powder pretty wet,
but their was something command had foreseen,
and they brought extra artillery guns,
less vulnerable to the moisture’s sheen.
Washington hoped they’d make it by midnight,
but they weather slowed down the whole affair,
it was near three AM when all unloaded,
the commander felt a bit of despair.
He had meant to strike from the gloom of dawn,
and it was the day right after Christmas,
the Hessians would no doubt have celebrated,
and he had planned to take advantage of this.
But the die was cast, so his men pushed on,
twenty-four hundred marching down the road,
they split just outside it, Greene to the north,
while south and west General Sullivan would go.
Leading the Hessians was a career soldier,
an experienced man, Colonel Johann Rall,
who’d seen Americans flee from New York,
had no respect for his enemy at all.
He’d not even set up proper defenses,
few pickets, no trenches and no redoubts,
when rumor had come of rebel movements
he laughed it off and had thrown people out.
Now that complacency would cost him much,
for Washington was but a mile out
when the first outpost noticed him coming,
“Der Feind!" was the Hessians' first, panicked shout.
Caught off guard despite the light of morning,
the Hessians scrambled to throw up a line,
and retreated backwards towards the village,
stunned by the numbers of foe they did find.
They sent off some volleys, patriots did to,
as they closed in on the town from the north,
Washington was riding with General Greene’s men,
and cheered the soldiers on for all they were worth.
Pressing on they entered into the town,
Hessians shooting from what cover they could take,
but south of the ville Sullivan arrived
and seized a bridge, cutting off all escape.
The patriots spread out, surrounding Trenton,
and onto the scene came General Knox,
the patriot artillery commander,
he knew perfectly how to line up the shots.
With the extra guns that they had brought on,
and Trenton being a town of straight streets,
they opened with a hail of sharp grape shot,
blowing handfuls of Hessians off their feet.
Even worse for the Hessians, militia had
gone into houses that were warm and dry,
out of the wet they could use their weapons,
and a haze of lead musket-balls did fly.
But despite the shock of the surprise attack
the Hessians troops tried to regroup and fight.
Colonel Rall came out to lead his forces,
two of their cannons let loose with their might...
CONCLUDES IN PART III.
Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2020
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