"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men... [no] controls on government would be necessary." — James Madison

An Affair of Bayonets & Cannon — Henry Knox at the Battle of Trenton

On November 5, 1605, English Catholic Guy Fawkes attempted to kill ProtestantKing James I and members of Parliament by blowing up the Palace of Westminster with barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes was discovered before he could succeed—but in 18thcentury Boston, November 5 was celebrated as “Gunpowder Treason Night” or "Pope’s Night." Opposing gangs of Boston youths from the North and South End would march from their neighborhoods, carrying effigies of the pope and the devil mounted upon crude floats. As the respective groups reached Union Street, they would fight to seize their opponent’s carts—the victorious group eventually celebrating with its trophies. Sometime around 1765, the wheel of the South End gang’s cart broke as it approached the festivities. A large,powerful youth stepped forward and hoisted the cart, carrying it forward to victory for the South End that year.This would not be the last time Henry Knox helpedto achieve a triumph.

Henry Knox was born in Boston’s South End on July 25, 1750. Initially he attended the prestigious Boston Latin Grammar School,but after his father’s untimely death, he left and became self-educated. In 1771, he opened his "London Bookstore" and stocked it with a range of popular and military titles.When he wasn’t selling books, Knox read military histories and numerous military tactics and drill manuals and taught himself French. He also joined a company of artillery militia known as "The Train."

In 1766, this company benefited significantly from a winter spent training under a British artillery companythat had been stranded in Boston by inclement weather. Hemight not have realized it, but Henry Knox—an imposing figure who would stand six feet tall and weigh almost 260 pounds by the time he was 25 years old—was actively preparing to become a military leader.

Initially trapped in his home city at the outset of hostilities between the colonies and Britain in 1775, Knox and his wife Lucy fled in a rowboat in early June of that year, and he immediately offered his services to the Provincial forces blockading Boston. When General George Washingtonarrived in Cambridge, he soon discovered that Knox was a capable artilleryman and engineer with considerablemilitary knowledge. In November of 1775, Washingtonselected Knox to travel to New York’s Fort Ticonderogaand return with a "noble train of artillery"that would enablethe Americans to drive the British out of Boston.The task of transporting tons of heavy ordnance across many miles of virtual wilderness in the dead of winter was daunting.Nevertheless, Knox succeeded, and was shortly rewarded with the command of the Continental Army’s artillery andthe rank of colonel.

Knox directed the artillery as it drove the British from Boston in March of 1776, and during the subsequent faileddefense of New York City and retreat through New Jersey.Late December found the battered, ragged remnants ofthe Continental Army artillery huddled on the westernbank of the Delaware River. Only the severe weather, and Washington’s timely efforts to seize all of the boats on the river, finally ended the British pursuit.The American causewas at its crisis. As Thomas Paine wrote:

"These are the times that try men’s souls.The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but hethat stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

Several battalions from Fort Ticonderoga, and regimentsthat had been under the command of General Charles Lee before his capture by the British in New Jersey, eventually reached Washington. These reinforcements gave his army just enough strength for an audacious counterattack.

A brigade of three Hessian regiments had established anadvanced garrison at Trenton. Washington was well awareof their presence, and he believed them to be exposed andvulnerable, particularly as they had failed to construct anyfortifications. Furthermore, New Jersey militia were continuously probing Trenton, exhausting and frustrating the smallgarrison.Washington decided to cross the Delaware River onChristmas Night and, with 2,400 infantry under his directsupervision and two supporting columns, attack at dawn.

In planning the attack, Knox persuaded Washingtonto bring a powerful train of no less than 18 artillery pieces.

This is significant because, according to conventional military practices of the time, a pair of battalion guns (usually 3- or 6-pounder cannon) normally accompanied every 1,000 infantry on the battlefield. Following this adage, Knoxwould have brought only four or five cannon. Instead, he urged for a massive increase in firepower. Knox had supremeconfidence in the strength of his arms and the talents of his gunners, and he believed that powerful artillery would help sway Washington’s gamble.

A Critical Crossing

The Americans began crossing the river after dark on Christmas Day. Due to their construction, the Durhamboats that carried the soldiers across the river could not carrythe artillery pieces or the horses—the "knees" supporting the boats prevented their being loaded. Thus, the artillery and horses had to be placed on flatboats collected fromvarious ferries in the area.

Although they were designed and constructed to bemobile, the guns were still large and cumbersome. Thelighter 3-pounder cannon could be easily manhandled,but the bronze tubes alone for the 6-pounder cannonweighed about 550 pounds, and the howitzers weighedbetween 350–475 pounds. Nevertheless, they and thecarriages, limbers, implements, and ammunition chestswere carefully lifted from the steep and slippery banksand onto the boats.

Adding to the difficulty of the crossing was the fact that,just as it began, a classic nor’easter blew in. John Greenwood, a young fifer who had marched from Fort Ticonderoga to join Washington on the banks of the Delaware, remembered that the sun

"…had no sooner set than it began to drizzle or grow wet, and when we came to the river it rained…Over the river we then went in a flat-bottomed scow, and as I was with the f irst that crossed, we had to wait for the rest and so began to pull down the fences and make f ires to warm ourselves, for the storm was increasing rapidly. After a while it rained, hailed,snowed, and froze, and at the same time blew a perfect hurricane."

Knox himself recalled that "…the night was cold &Stormy, hail’d with great violence."

Hazards were everywhere. A coating of ice enveloped theplatforms of the flatboats; the Delaware’s current was swift and dangerous, carrying with it numerous chunks of ice. AsKnox would later tell his wife: "Floating ice in the River madethe labor almost incredible however persistence accomplish’d what at first seem’d impossible." Once the boats reached theeast bank, the artillery had to be hoisted onto land again.

Washington’s plan had called for the crossing to be completed by midnight, but the timetable was wrecked by the horrific weather, the two supporting columns were unable to successfully cross the Delaware, and the entire operation was endangered.Yet Knox was determined to save the mission. His bellowing and authoritative voice motivated the hard-working artillerymen struggling with the heavy,awkward guns. When necessary, he strived alongside his soldiers, lending his massive bulk and powerful strength to the work. It must have reminded Knox of the many misspent "Pope’s Nights" of his Boston youth.

A Continental Army officer later recalled:

" You have heard of [Colonel] Knox, and of hisstentorian voice. I assure you that no justice can be done him or it; my ears rung for a fortnight after,at the same hour of the night—and do yet when Iremember how he galloped about, cursing and swearing, dismounting every five minutes, and lifting at his own artillery like a giant. He was a gallant fellow—full of blood…"

Major James Wilkinson remembered that "…but forh the stentorian lungs and extraordinary exertions of ColonelKnox, it could not have been effected in season to favour the enterprize."

The crossing was finally completed around 4:00 a.m.—and the march towards Trenton and glory began.

Artillery Onslaught

In his General Orders, Knox had mandated "four pieces of artillery tomarch at the head of each Column." This decision proved critical to theAmerican attack, for on the trek to town, it was revealed that every musket and rifle had been soaked in the heavy snow and rain and were incapable ofbeing fired until cleaned out and dried.Thus, the soldiers were ordered to rely on bayonets.

Knox’s cannon, however, were ready for battle. First of all, the artillery ammunition had been carried inwatertight boxes, and the gunpowder had been pre-manufactured in greased flannel or papercartridges that protected the powder from dampness.Secondly, the muzzles of the cannon had been pluggedwith carefully fitted wooden tampions and weatherproofedwith heavily greased rags, and the vents had been protected with tightly fitted lead aprons (which were in turncovered with lanolin rich sheepskins).

Furthermore, the cannon primers could be shieldedfrom the elements by the hands of the gunners themselves and then ignited by either smoldering slow matches orportfires (tubes of highly combustible compounds) carried by the gunners on staffs called linstocks. As a young but highly experienced Connecticut soldier, Elisha Bostwick,later recalled of the march to Trenton:

"…all the time a constant fall of Snow with some rain & f inally our march began with the torches[portf ires] of our f ield pieces Stuck in the Exhalters [carriages of the cannon] Sparkled & blazed in the Storm all night."

American artillery was soon positioned to control the streets of Trenton. Pennsylvania Captain Thomas Forrest placed his two 6-pounder cannon and two 5" howitzers at the head of Queen Street, and New York Captain Alexander Hamilton similarly positioned his two 6-pounder cannon to fire down King Street. The other twelve 6-, 4- and 3-pounder cannon surrounded the town. Knox’s cannon—particularly those of Forrest and Hamilton—thundered away. Knox later recalled how the enemy

"endeavored to form in streets, the heads of which we had however the possession of with Cannon & Howitzers. These in the twinkling of an eye clear’d the streets."

The Hessians tried to prepare their own guns for action but were overwhelmed by Knox’s devastating barrage. Sergeant Joseph White, manning one of Knox’s guns, recalled that "we gave them four or five cannisters of shot…the 3rd shot we fired broke the axle-tree of the piece." But even this did not divert Knox, who rode up and instructed: "My brave lads, go up and take those two [Hessian] field pieces sword in hand." Sergeant White joined the raid, led by Captain William Washington and Lieutenant James Monroe. Both officers went down, nearly the only American casualties of the fight, but the Hessian guns were seized in the maelstrom of a melee. Sergeant White sprinted along,

"[yelling] as loud as I could scream, to the men to run for their lives right up to the pieces. I was the first that reach them. They [the Hessian gunners] had all left it, except one man tending vent run you dog, cried I, holding my sword over his head, he looked up and saw it, then run. We putin a cannister of shot- they had put in the [gunpowder] cartridge before they left it, and f ired.The battle ceased."

Within less than two hours, Knox’s artillery had won the Battle of Trenton.The guns had absolutely dominated the battlefield; their accurate, rapid, and timely firing overwhelmed every Hessian effort to resist. This fact can besupported by the disparity between American and Germancasualties.Washington reported only two officers (CaptainWashington and Lieutenant Monroe) and "one or two privates wounded." The Hessian casualties, in comparison,were severe, with 22 killed and 83 seriously wounded.This devastation was nearly exclusively the result of Knox’s gunners and their well-served artillery.

In short order, Colonel Knox found that his original 18 artillery pieces were now augmented by a further six "doublefortified Brass three pounders" seized from the Hessians.These proved to be excellent pieces of the highest quality and provided superlative service to Knox’s corps of artilleryfor the remainder of the war. Knox had anticipated their capture, specifying that the lead division was to "have with them a detachment of the Artillery without Cannon provided with Spikes and Hammers to Spike up the enemies Cannon in case of necessity or to bring them off it canbe effected, the party to be provided with drag ropes for the purpose of dragging off the Cannon." This wise precaution ensured that the six valuable trophies of conquest could be brought back to the American camp west of the Delaware River.

Although ordered to do so, Sergeant White had refusedto abandon the cannon with the shattered carriage, for"this field piece was called the best in the regiment." He determined to "get it off " and with great difficulty successfully evacuated it from the battlefield.When Colonel Knox queried him, the young Sergeant set the standard for the future Noncommissioned Officer Corps of the United States Army Field Artillery when he replied: "I wanted the victory complete." Knox saluted him, and responded with pride in the determination of his gunners: "You are a good fellow…I will remember you." In fact, Knox would reward Sergeant White by entrusting him with the command of a cannon one week later at Princeton.

Henry Knox himself was promoted to BrigadierGeneral of Artillery two days after the Battle of Trenton and would go on to make more major contributions during the American Revolution before serving as the early Republic’s first Secretary of War. But his finest moment occurred on the banks of the Delaware River as his personal leadership and foresight ensured that the Americans would win the Battle of Trenton.

Sources For John Greenwood’s account, see: Isaac J. Greenwood, ed., The Wartime Services of John Greenwood, A Young Patriot in the American Revolution (New York: De Vinne, 1922; reprint edition Westvaco: 1981). For Major Wilkinson’s account, see: Wilkinson,Memoirs of My Own Times (Philadelphia: Abraham Small, 1816; various reprints).Volume One contains the 1776 campaign. Microfilms of the Henry Knox Papers are available at the David Library of the American Revolution,Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. For Sergeant White’s account, refer to: Bruce Catton, ed., "The Good Soldier White: A Revolutionary Veteran Speaks" American Heritage

VII:4 ( June 1956), 74-79. For Private Bostwick’s account, see: William S. Powell, ed., "A Connecticut Soldier Under Washington: Elisha Bostwick’s Memoirs of the First Years of the Revolution" The William and Mary Quarterly Third Series

6:1 ( January 1949), 94-107. Knox has been the subject of numerous biographies, the most recent being Mark Puls, Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). For the artillery at Trenton, refer to Jac Weller,"Guns of Destiny: Field Artillery in the Trenton-Princeton Campaign, 25 December 1776 to 3 January 1776"Military Affairs 20 (Spring 1956), 1-15. For the single finest rendition of the Battle of Trenton, refer to the Pulitzer Price winning David Hackett Fischer, Washington’s Crossing (Oxford University Press, 2004).

   —by Douglas R. Cubbison