What follows is an entry in a Hessian dairy, made by one of the Jagers on the day they arrived in Trenton.
“We marched to Trenton and joined our two regiments of Rall and Knyphausen, in order to take up a sort of winter quarters here, which are wretched enough. This town consists of about one hundred houses, of which many are mean and little, and it is easy to conceive how ill it must accommodate three regiments. The inhabitants like those at Princeton are almost all fled, so that we occupy bare walls. The Delaware, which is here extremely rapid, and in general about two ells deep (90 inches), separates us and the rebels. We are obliged to be on constantly on our guard, and to do very sever duty, though our people begin to grow ragged, and out baggage is left at New York. Notwithstanding, we have marched across the extremely fine province of New Jersey, which may justly be called the garden of American , yet it is by no means freed from the enemy, and insecure both in flan and rear. The Brigade has incontestably suffered the most of any, and we now lie at the advanced point, that as soon as the Delaware freezes we may march over and attack Philadelphia which is about thirty miles distance.”
Q: 1.What is a Jager?
2. What town mentioned with “about one hundred houses?
3. Explain the word “mean.”
4. Who are the rebels of which he spoke and name their commander?
5. Who was Rall and what happened to him?
Summerseat will celebrate the men and women
of WWI and WWII from Morrisville
Do you have a relative who served in the military during WWI or WWII?
Do you have a relative who worked in the war industries, helped build munitions, gathered scrap metal, were Blackout Wardens, or sent letters to soldiers and sailors they didn’t know in order to keep military spirits up?
Did your grandmother or mother make special “Patriotic Foods” like meatless meatloaf, sugarless cake? Do you have those recipes? We’d love a copy.
Do you have a picture of these patriots?
Could you give Summerseat a copy, or send a digital copy along with their story in a paragraph or so about how and where they served?
Summerseat would love to have these histories to be kept in our permanent collection. After all, this is an important part of Morrisville’s history.
Do you have a friend or relative who served in later military events? Please send their picture and memories, too, and we will be able to have a day for them in the future.
Mail your pictures and memories to:
Summerseat
c/o WWI and WWII Project
130 Legion Avenue
Morrisville, PA 19067
Or digitally send your picture and memories to: summerseatsharon@aol.com
Patriots’ Day will have our delicious Summerseat Hot Dogs,
Bake Sale, and Basket Raffle
Hope to see you there in September!!
More information about this event will be forthcoming
Follow Summerseat (HMS) online at historicsummerseat.org
and on Facebook
THE CROSSING
Excerpts from the book The Crossing, by Howard Fast
Chapter 14
It pressed upon him hotly. Sunday afternoon on the eighth of December, he lay down for a little while in the bedroom at the Barclay house, and his servants tried to protect him. He was still in the cloths he had crossed the river with; but a messenger came, and young Hamilton, his aide, agreed that he must be awakened.
The messenger told Washington that General Howe’s army had just entered Trenton-ten miles away-but was making no preparation to stay. Six, ten, fifteen thousand of them. The messenger was a spy or a patriot or an observer or a man out to make a dollar. Had he also informed the British that Washington was across the river? And with how many men?
Questions
1. Where is the Barclay house located today?
2. What is it called today?
3. What significant thing on happened in Morrisville on December 8th, 1776?
4. Who was the Bullet Stopper? See next instalment for answer 4.
