About world war ii soviet soldiers. My name is kim mccarty. Im a curator here at Washington Crossing historic park in pennsylvania. Today is a very exciting day. We are doing a reenactment of George Washingtons crossing of the Delaware River on christmas night 1776. Well, what happened here is one of the most unexpected and daring military maneuvers of the American Revolution. And the story is washington and the Continental Army after having lost battles in new york and retreating across new jersey came into bucks county in the beginning of december 17, 1776. They encamped in several locations around this area including the Thompson Neely house which is also part of our park. And things were pretty desperate at this point for washington and the patriot cause. The Continental Army really needed a win. Washington was afraid about the british were going to invade philadelphia and take over the capitol. And he really knew that what he needed was a bold bold action. And after meeting with his war council they made the decision that on christmas night they would cross the delaware and march to trenton to attack the outpost at trenton. As the army began to march from the neely house down here to the ferry a snowstorm started, and the weather was terrible. There was snow and hail and it was basically a pretty bad noreaster. And all of these men, 2,400 in all had to cross the delaware and begin their march. There were other regiments who were supposed to cross at two other locations at the trenton ferry and bristol ferry, and they werent able to get across for a variety of reasons, and the weather was absolutely a major part of that. General washington, i know its a secret mission but could you tell us about this operation . This is our final chance. This is our chance to make an impact in this war. The problem we have our enlistments are expiring, soldiers want to go home. I have ten days, just ten short days in order to make this attack. We feel that with the weather behind us, the element of surprise on our side well be able to take the city of trenton, raise the morale of troops, prove to congress were a viable army that they should support, and hopefully hopefully enlistments will rise. Have you done any operation like this before . We have not. The only operations weve done of a maritime order have been the evacuation from new york which was very welldone and my hats off to the marble headers from massachusetts who manned the boats that removed us from new york, and then we retreated down to the jerseys and here on the banks of the delaware. Right now we are trying to keep a river between us and the hessian mercenaries right now encamped in the town of trenton. Were trying to at least stay between them and the city of philadelphia. Tell us about your forces. What type of men are they . Hopefully you keep this among ourselves, but we do have 3,000 troops of which i have found 2,400 are fit for duty. The remainder have fallen ill from malnutrition, from the weather, and we are caring for them further north of the river. But we have 2,400 troops ready to go. They have three days rations cooked, 60 rounds of ammunition each, and we expect to give them a good fight. My name is frank lions from down the street, and i am portraying colonel john glover from marble head, massachusetts. Colonel glover was the commander of the 14th continental regiment also known as marble head mariners. Marble head is a small town about 10 miles north of boston. When the American Revolution started it was the tenth largest port on the east coast. Because of the intolerable acts and all those british enactments that led up to the American Revolution most of the men in marble head were unemployed and very unhappy, and they were happy to join marble head regiment. Glover initially signed a 550 men. Colonel glover and his marble head regiment saved washington and his army three times, this being the third time. The first time after the disastrous battle of long island glover and his men rode 9,000 men, horses, canon baggage aross the lower east river from brooklyn into what is the modern day downtown brooklyn into Lower Manhattan and saved Washingtons Army from being incircled by the british. And then again at pels point when wallace was planning to he sailed up the east river out to the Long Island Sound and he was planning to march across the north bronx and trap washington and manhattan. Glover once again with 7pen men led off 4,000 british and hessian troops. He took about 22 casualties. The british took about 7 and 800 casualties. And that gave washington time to escape to manhattan and fight another day. Then we fast forward to this section of pennsylvania around the 22nd of december and glover marches into this area, and he camps up the hill near where washingtons headquarters were, and washington calls him to his headquarters, and he tells him what he wants to do, cross 800 feet of a rocky ice strewn river under the cover of darkness. And by the way the barometers falling, we could be looking at some weather. And glover mutters to washington he says your excellency it is impossible. Washington says to glover, colonel glover i did not ask you to assess possibilities. I asked you if you could do it, and colonel glover thinks for a second and he says general washington my marble headers can do it. And thats what legend tells us its not written anywhere, but legend tells us washington made this decision to make this bold stroke which really did save the American Revolution. You can point to maybe a dozen events that truly changed the course of World History forever. And one of them took place right on this ground where were standing here. Its one of the three iconic parts of the revolutionary war. You ask anyone even the smallest amount of history theyre going to talk about valley forge which was an encampment. Washington crossing the delaware, and the battle of york town. Everyone knows the iconic painting which was obviously painted in the 1850s based on the rine river but everyone knows that painting as Washington Crossing the delaware. This river does freeze solid but you dont get icebergs. Its very thick sheets of ice that go across. The reenactments of this, what will take place . Were going to start by seeing washington and his officers review his troops. Well hear washington give a speech to the troops, and then everyone will board the boats, the boats we have here and cross the delaware. Tell us about the boats. The durham boats are one of the types of boats that were used during the crossing to get men from pennsylvania to new jersey. Whats special about the durham boats is that they are large, and they were originally made to haul iron up i down the delaware. So they were ideal for putting a lot of guys in and getting them from point a to point b. They werent the only boats used during the type of crossings but theyre the only boats youre going to see here during the reenactment. He ordered the boats brought over to pennsylvania in hopes of sloeg down any crossing that the british might need doo to invade philadelphia. So the durham boats were used and in particular a ferry was used so you could get artillery across and the horses across because obviously youre not going to be able to get any of them into a durham boat. How do the conditions look . Your excellency, my marble headers have just returned from traversing the river. They report to me that the river is swift, that the river is strewn with ice, but they are confident, sir, and they are determined to convey our army across the delaware this very night. Excellent. And remember its victory or death. We will not fail. Please return to your troops and prepare them for inspection. Thank you. Dismissed. Weve asked congress for many things that were short of, food, tents, provisions, blankets. Weve had citizens of philadelphia coming up to provide us with at least some blankets to keep you warm. It reminds me of the crisis by thom thomas paine, your sergeants have read to you. He wrote, these are the times that try mens souls, the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of their country. But he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. And my troops you deserve that love and thanks. Youre here with me now to continue our fight. I look forward to seeing you in trenton. And remember victory or death. Colonel sergeant . Yes, your excellency. Prepare your troop tuesday boas to board. That i will. And the durham boats, they were meant to float down the river. They were not meant to go across the river. But washington knew they could be valuable for transporting troops, basically ferries took people across the river, not the durham boats. So they dont maneuver well going across the river, and its a real art form. You have to roll them up the river and tap into the wind and current just to get them in position. So they were really meant to float down the river and be pulled down the river and steered. And it take as bit of skill for these guys to do it to be able to do it. My name is leon vaughn, and im portraying a member of colonel glovers marble headers. 14th regiment out of marble head, massachusetts. Cod fisherman that helped George Washington get across. How was crossing today . Crossing today was very easy. Some years it has snowed, some years it has rained, and its been cold. But today perfect weather conditions. Tell me about your portrayal. Why do you do this . I do this because its not in the average American History textbook. About the 40 of colonel glovers unit because during that time in massachusetts black men were a large part of the waling and the fishing industry. Being that john glovers men they caught cod ever day, and this is a typical dress of a cod fisherman. The trousers, theyre open so just in case you fell in the water you wouldnt have any water in your pants that could drain and you could come up and you would not drown that evening. And the hat if it got cold, you could have it pulled down over your ears, not like the tricore hats. And everything was made, what you wore was practical. Now, we are here from day one. I have a cousin. He did Extensive Research on my fathers mother, and he traced her ancestor back to one of the 20 and odd africans that was on the boat that landed at Point Comfort in hamptens, virginia, in 1619. So i can trace my family back in this country 400 years. You have to go deep into libraries, you have to go to used bookstores, and the internet has helped also. I picked up a book out of a library, and in this book i found in the painting of george Washington Crossing the river the man rowing the boat to the right of George Washington is a black guy. His name was prince whipple. He was a servant of one of George Washingtons aides. And hes the guy rowing the boat on the participating. We need ameet all yearlong t this. Theres 48 boat crew because it takes 12 per boat, and therell be about 300 soldiers crossing, a lot less than the 2,400 that actually crossed in 1776. If we had to wait for 2,400, it would take all day. It took washington 9 hours. But, yeah, about 300 today and about 48 boat crew. And the boat crews come out and practice, they practice on a local lake. And then we come down and practice on the river. So we do, the planning goes on all year. Therell be a meeting in january to debrief and then well start planning for next year. I kind of had advanced training because my father he never owned a motor. When we went out fishing we rode in the chesapeake bay. We road into the bay. I was 10 years old. So rowing this is just a reflection of my childhood. As a reenactor ive been doing George Washington for 9 years now, and its a tremendous opportunity. As you look around here and you see hundreds and hundreds of visitors that come to this park just to see this one event, its an iconic event and something that is not only regionally important but also nationally important. Because without this victory the army would have collapsed. How did you get into doing this type of thing and why do you do it . As an amateur historian ive been doing revolutionary reenacting for 26 years and when you work your way up you look at your predecessors and you say i think i could do a better job or i could do something different. And ive taken on the role for the last 9 years, and had many successful crossings. And i actually like the fact that we not only educate the public in what took place here and how much this meant to our nation, but it keeps the site viable. 2013 we had 6 inches of snow in 4 hours. And when i launched my boat to go across you couldnt see the shoreline on either side once you got in the middle of the river. And they canceled it right after i went out there because it was deemed unsafe to cross any boats. And it started out on a day like today, sunny, a little cool. And by the afternoon, by the time of the crossing you had 6 inch of snow on the ground. It certainly did feel like the period. And ive also been here when it rain, sleeted and snowed all on the same day. And the troops are grumbling, theyre complaining, theyre standing up waiting to cross and i have to look at them and say these are the conditions the troops actually crossed under, and im sure they were complaining about the same discomforts. I have a general staff, and a general chiefs guard and a standard bearer and that is where you know where the general is on the battlefield in camp, that specific flag. Where the original is now in a museum in philadelphia. The officers were aware where they were going, where they were marching to and that they were attacking the hessian outpost. The men in the boats didnt necessarily know exactly where their destination was, but clearly they were aware that something significant was about to take place. They were cold. Many of them were sick. They were hungry. You know, they didnt have the equipment as far as appropriate clothing that they needed to protect them from this weather, so they did this under great hardship. They were very brave and did accomplish something that i dont know i know i certainly couldnt do under those circumstances. They marched 9 miles after this crossing in the snowstorm, they marched 9 miles south to trenton, and they attacked the hessians who were not expecting to be attacked for a number of reasons. First of all, because it was just after a major snowstorm. It was also the time of year, wintertime where most armies went into camps and stopped fighting, and the hessians had actually been engaged several times by some of the local militias in new jersey, and were really on edge, and this wasnt the type of fighting they were accustomed to. So by the time it was christmas and there had been a major snowstorm, they were hoping to have the opportunity to rest a little bit, and of course that didnt happen. They were attacked by the Continental Army who was able to defeat them in pretty short order. The army stayed in trenton for just a short amount of time and brought the prisoners about 900 or so prisoners back and crossed again at a couple different ferries and ogss were kept overnight at the tavern here and enlisted and eventually the officers were taken to new town, pennsylvania, which is just a couple of miles from here. Well, its always good to know your history, know where where you have come. That way you know where you are going and you try not to repeat some of the same mistakes. When i was in school i hated history because it was always teaching me about what somebody else did, not what my people did. Now i have to join to learn what i didnt learn in high school nor in college about real American History, all inclusive American History. One time i was giving a lecture at an office of homeland security, and it was black History Month program. After i gave a short speech on the black involvement in the civil war, one of the white men in the audience stood up and said, why youre here teaching us black history . I said, sir, im not teaching you black history, im teaching you American History. It just happened to be about black people. Most people are probably familiar with the paintings. What do you think of that painting . I think its a lovely painting. Loytsa was not trying to provide a snapshot of the actual historic event. He was telling a story. And in that painting you see the story of the American Revolution, that he was trying to inspire, you know, people in germany at the time in their quest for revolution. So you see Washington Crossing, you see james monroe who ends up being a president. You see a flag, what we now call the betsey ross flag used in the painting. Well, that flag wasnt being used in 1776 but he already knows how the story ends, so she includes it there. So youre seeing two future president s. Youre seeing this flag, and you see a variety of different types of people in that boat, which was just like the makeup of the army at the time. Every saturday night American History tv takes you to College Classrooms around the country for lectures in history. Why do you all know who lizzy burden and raise your hand if youd ever heard of this murder before the class . A deepest cause where well try a true meaning of the revolution is where this transformation of that took place in the minds of the american people. So were going to talk about both of these sides of here and well talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. Watch history professors lead discussions with their students on topics ranging from the American Revolution to september 11th. Lectures in history on cspan 3 every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv, and lectures in history is available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. Historian, author and reenactor frederick describes the 4th infantry regiments role and shows us his encampment. We talked with him at the annual heritage days in carlyle, pennsylvania hosted by the u. S. Army heritage and education