Q 01/05

On which holiday night in 1776 did George Washington's army cross the icy Delaware to attack Trenton?

A) New Year's Eve

B) Christmas

C) Thanksgiving

D) Twelfth Night

Answer · why

B) Christmas

Christmas night, December 25, was when the crossing began. Sleet and a choked river put the landing three hours behind schedule, so the planned pre-da...

Q 02/05

Which grim password did Washington set for the attack on Trenton, as a visiting doctor saw written on a note?

A) Victory or Death

B) Liberty or Death

C) Independence or Death

D) Join, or Die

Answer · why

A) Victory or Death

Victory or Death was the challenge given to sentries around the New Jersey landing. The doctor, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, had come ...

Q 03/05

Which future US president was badly wounded by a musket ball in the shoulder at the Battle of Trenton?

A) Andrew Jackson

B) James Madison

C) James Monroe

D) John Adams

Answer · why

C) James Monroe

James Monroe, an 18-year-old lieutenant, was hit while charging the Hessian cannon on King Street. A doctor clamped the severed artery in time to save...

Q 04/05

Which popular belief about the Hessians at Trenton do historians such as Edward Lengel dismiss as legend?

A) They had no cannon

B) They fired no shots

C) They wore red uniforms

D) They were drunk

Answer · why

D) They were drunk

They were drunk, the story goes, but an American who guarded the prisoners swore not a drop was touched that night. Weeks of skirmishes and false alar...

Q 05/05

What peacetime trade suited John Glover's Massachusetts regiment to getting Washington's army over the Delaware?

A) Sailors and fishermen

B) Lumbermen and raftsmen

C) Canal bargemen

D) Shipyard carpenters

Answer · why

A) Sailors and fishermen

Sailors and fishermen from Marblehead filled Glover's ranks. Four months earlier the same men had carried the beaten army off Long Island overnight.