Hessian (soldier) in the context of "New York and New Jersey campaign"

George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a complex and surprise military maneuver organized by George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, which culminated in their attack on Hessian forces garrisoned at Trenton. Washington and his troops successfully attacked the Hessian forces in the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776.

The military campaign was organized in great secrecy by Washington, who led a column of Continental Army troops from today's Bucks County, Pennsylvania across the icy Delaware River to today's Mercer County, New Jersey in what was one of the Revolutionary War's most logistically challenging and dangerous clandestine operations. Other planned crossings in support of the operation were either called off or ineffective, but this did not prevent Washington from surprising and defeating the Hessian troops encamped in Trenton under the command of Johann Rall. After prevailing in the Battle of Trenton, Washington and his Continental Army troops crossed the Delaware River again, returning to Pennsylvania west-bound with Hessian prisoners and military stores taken in the battle.

The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton. Following a surprise attack at Trenton early in the morning of December 26, 1776, General George Washington of the Continental Army decided to attack the British in New Jersey before entering the winter quarters. On December 30, he crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey. His troops followed on January 3, 1777. Washington advanced to Princeton by a back road, where he pushed back a smaller British force but had to retreat before Cornwallis arrived with reinforcements. The battles of Trenton and Princeton boosted the morale of the patriot cause, leading many recruits to join the Continental Army in the spring.

After defeating the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26, 1776, Washington withdrew back to Pennsylvania. He subsequently decided to attack the British forces before going into winter quarters. On December 29, he led his army back into Trenton. On the night of January 2, 1777, Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek. That night, he evacuated his position, circled General Cornwallis' army, and attacked the British garrison at Princeton.

The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American Continental Army under George Washington.

After defeating the Continental Army at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, and the Battle of Paoli on September 20, Howe outmaneuvered Washington, seizing Philadelphia, the capital of the United States, on September 26. Howe left a garrison of some 3,000 troops in Philadelphia, while moving the bulk of his force to Germantown, then an outlying community to the city. Learning of the division, Washington determined to engage the British. His plan called for four separate columns to converge on the British position at Germantown. The two flanking columns were composed of 3,000 militia, while the center-left, under Nathanael Greene, the center-right under John Sullivan, and the reserve under Lord Stirling were made up of regular troops. The ambition behind the plan was to surprise and destroy the British force, much in the same way as Washington had surprised and decisively defeated the Hessians at Trenton. In Germantown, Howe had his light infantry and the 40th Foot spread across his front as pickets. In the main camp, Wilhelm von Knyphausen commanded the British left, while Howe himself personally led the British right.

The Passage of the Delaware is a large, Neoclassical 1819 oil-on-canvas painting by Thomas Sully. With attention to historical accuracy, the painting depicts George Washington on horseback observing the troops of the American Revolutionary Army in the process of crossing the Delaware River prior to the surprise attack on Hessian troops on the night of December 25 and 26, 1776, at the Battle of Trenton. The image is intended to capture the moment prior to George Washington dismounting his horse and joining his army in crossing the Delaware River.

The painting was initially commissioned to be displayed in the North Carolina Capitol but with dimensions of 146.5″ (372.1 cm) high and 207″ (525.7 cm) wide, the work was too large to be displayed in the building so the contract was mutually terminated. The Passage of the Delaware was eventually displayed in the Boston Museum. The museum closed in 1903, and the painting was gifted to the Museum of Fine Arts. It is exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

French involvement in the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783 began in 1776 when the Kingdom of France secretly shipped supplies to the Continental Army of the Thirteen Colonies upon its establishment in June 1775. France was a long-term historical rival with the Kingdom of Great Britain, from which the Thirteen Colonies were attempting to separate. Having lost its own North American colony to Britain in the Seven Years' War, France sought to weaken Britain by helping the American insurgents.

A Treaty of Alliance between the French and the Continental Army followed in 1778, which led to French money, matériel and troops being sent to the United States. An ignition of a global war with Britain started shortly thereafter. Subsequently, Spain and the Dutch Republic also began to send assistance, which, along with other political developments in Europe, left the British with no allies during the conflict (excluding the Hessian mercenaries). Spain openly declared war in 1779, Spain joined its ally France in the war (but did not make a formal treaty with the Americans), and war between the British and Dutch followed soon after.

Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751 – January 16, 1800) was a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. On November 16, 1776, her husband John Corbin was one of 2,800 American soldiers defending Fort Washington in northern Manhattan from 8,000 attacking Hessian troops under British command. She was too nervous to let her husband go into battle alone, so she went with him. She was a nurse and was therefore allowed to accompany him and attend injured soldiers.

John Corbin was on the crew of one of two cannons that the defenders deployed. He fell in action, so Margaret took his place and continued to work the cannon until she was seriously wounded. Her husband was a trained artilleryman, and she had learned by watching him; consequently, she was able to fire, clean, and aim the cannon with great speed. This impressed the other soldiers and was the beginning of her military career.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is an 1820 short story by American author Washington Irving contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Irving wrote the story while living in Birmingham, England.

Along with Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially during Halloween because of a character known as the Headless Horseman believed to be a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannonball in battle.

Johann Gottlieb Rall (also spelled Rahl) (c. 1726 – December 27, 1776) was a German colonel best known for his command of Hessian troops at the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War.