The Battle of Trenton was pivotal to the outcome of the American Revolution. Without certain intelligence assets, General Washington would have failed at Trenton, changing the course of the war. This paper will provide a detailed analysis of the Battle of Trenton and discuss in detail human intelligence (HUMINT) and offensive counterintelligence (OFCO); both of which were critical to Washinton’s success.
The Battle of Trenton Defined
The Battle of Trenton was a substantial turning point early in the Revolutionary war. Though this was a relatively small battle, the significance cannot be overlooked as it was an extremely important victory for the fight for independence. The battle took place in the winter of 1776 after a series of defeats for the Continental Army. It was in fact the first major victory for the Continental Army. This battle changed the momentum of the war by increasing morale and giving the Continental Army new purpose.
The American Perspective America was just starting out. Tensions had been building with the British for the last few years.
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At the start of the attack, Rall was quickly woken up from his sleep, but Washington had already taken the key intersections in the town. Rall quickly formed a hasty play to take the “V” intersection of King and Queen street which was the main intersection of the town. Rall would attack King street while the Lossberg regiment would simultaneously go up Queen street. The Continental Army had already set up cannons at the intersection and taken defensive positions in the houses lining the street (US Army, n.d.). The Hessians formed up and began to attack the Continental Army, but were no match for the cannons and well defended positions of the Continental Army. Rall tried to use his own cannons, but they were quickly overrun after getting off only a few shots. (Hickman,
His men were in place on 12 October without General Cornwallis having any idea of the new position. Over the next two days American and allied forces bombarded redoubts nine and ten in order to weaken their defenses. On 14 October Washington initiated a plan to conduct a diversionary strike against Fusilier’s redoubt to allow a sneak attack against redoubts nine and ten. The successful plan allowed his men to occupy redoubts nine and ten with artillery and have Yorktown in range from three sides of artillery fire. For the next three days the British were annihilated by American and French artillery fire.
The colonists fired the first shot of the revolutionary war. Multiple sources say that the colonists shot and then hid behind stone walls and that right as the British were approaching the colonists shot. The colonists fired the first shot and then proceeded to hide behind stone walls. The London Gazette (Doc 8) says, “several guns were fired upon the arrival of the king 's troop from behind a stone wall.”
Therefore, the british could’ve attacked from just about any location they wanted to. Later in the war, the Hessians were quickly shot, most wounded or killed. In total of all of the Hessians, 22 were killed, 92 were wounded, 918 captured, and 400 of the Hessians found a way to escape the war. On all top the that, 2 American were somehow frozen to death and 5 were wounded. After this big battle in Trenton, The American Colonists took away prisoners, and supplies but withdrew from the Next war which was the Battle of Princeton.
The Battle of Trenton was a significant battle in the American Revolution. The reason for this is General George Washington decided that on December 25, 1776 he and his men would cross the Delaware River and attack the Hessians. Washington tricked and trapped the Hessians by attacking them from behind. Since the battle lasted less than an hour, Washington and his army defeated the Hessians. These are some key points on why the Battle of Trenton was so significant.
The “battle” was the first American victory of the American Revolution. The lack of British intelligence capabilities like human intelligence, counterintelligence, Calvary Scouts and key assumptions analysis at Fort Ticonderoga, led
Now that we know who's fighting let's talk about what led to the war first is that there was salutary neglect which is when a country or power helps out a neighbor but only when needed otherwise they let them grow on their own make their own laws, punishments, culture and taxes because of this some colonies felt Britain had no right to make the
With tired troops and night upon them, Cornwallis makes the decision to let his men rest for the night and resume the attack the next morning, but they underestimated Washington’s success with sneak attacks. Washington and the rest of his troops stealthily travel around the British forces, advancing toward Princeton to attack the British from the rear. At dawn, the Americans led by Mercer and the British led by Mawhood come face to face. Mawhood’s men charge with their bayonets, while most of Mercer’s men have rifles. After Mercer is injured, Cadwalader comes to the rescue with 600 men.
In the starting years of the war, the British generally won most battles due to their far superior sea power. After the invasion of Canada, the American colonist rebellion invasions and attacks continued. Battles after battles were being fought and everywhere the anger and the revenge taking nature was visible in both the colonists and the British officials’ eyes. The next 2 battles occurred in Trenton and Princeton of New Jersey. The Battle of Trenton occurred 26 December 1776.
Introduction George Washington was many things, from the first Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army to the first President of the United States of America. He was a Founding Fathers of our nation and considered the Father of American Intelligence. Throughout his military career, he had many successes and an equal number of defeats. One such defeat almost cost him the Revolutionary War while still in its infancy, the Battle of Long Island. This paper will analyze the battle and the misuse of intelligence assets using the four-step method: define the subject, review the setting, describe the action, and assess the significance by offering an alternate outcome.
The American Revolution was one of the most important wars that was fought in the history of the United States. The Patriots and the British had two different views on how things should be run in America. Many people have different opinions on why, where and how the war was started. There were a few key battles that helped to influence the outcome of the war. The outcome of the American Revolutionary War influenced the United States way of Freedom and the way the American people live today.
The American Revolution: Battles of Lexington and Concord Jaydon Yancey P.2A 12/1/2015 Abstract The battles of Lexington and Concord were very important to the Revolutionary War. Those battles showed just how small the colonists were compared to the Europeans. The www.history.com staff (2009) stated that there were 700 British troops compared to a measly 77 militiamen .They
As Washington and his men moved toward Trenton, they approached a Hessian outpost. Hessian Commander, Lieutenant Andreas Wiederholdt stepped outside, quickly spotting the Continental Soldiers. “The Enemy!” (Pavao, Pavao, and Pavao 2010) exclaimed the commander causing his Soldiers to run toward the fight but they quickly realized they were outnumbered. The Hessian Lieutenant ordered his men to retreat.
George Washington was infuriated by Lee’s decision and took command of the army. After reshaping his soldiers, he attempted to attack the British and failed. After hearing word that a French militia
As dawn approached, he and his army would attack Trenton with all the force that they had at the time. The author stated that Washington had thought the battle was already lost because they would lose the element of surprise as the weather slowed them down which was pushing them into the daylight. According to Fischer, Washington and his army arrived to Trenton at around seven-thirty in the morning. They succeeded in using the element of surprise and the weather helped the colonial army and they took Trenton.
The Battle of Saratoga in September and October of 1777 is the turning point of the Revolutionary War because the French joined with allies, British troops surrendered their arms, and the Patriots had crucial victories. It was a victory for the Patriots in the American Revolution and is the most decisive battles in history. The Battle began as a plan by the British to control New York and isolate New England from the Southern colonies and put an end to the Revolution. Which ended as an opportunity for the Patriots.