Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/118



Hessian officers and soldiers who had been taken prisoners at Trenton had to march on the 26th of December, 1776, over the same cold and snowy road by which the Americans had advanced to the attack. We can fancy them shivering in their uniforms, while their tattered and bare-footed captors marched gayly beside them, and forgot the icy wind in the glow of victory. Again the Delaware was crossed amid the cakes of floating ice, and we may be sure that it was not the ragged Americans whose teeth chattered; but reaction came after so much labor and excitement, and on the morrow one half of the victorious army was worn out and disabled. For forty consecutive hours the Americans had stood to their arms, and marched and fought in the snow and sleet of a December storm, and nature now claimed a few days of rest and shelter. Only Washington was indefatigable, and although the term of service of a large part of his army was expiring, the great leader prepared to take advantage of his success.

The Hessian officers were treated with great courtesy by the American commanders. Washington expressed