How many boats were used in crossing the Delaware and how many troops fit in a boat?
Your guess is as good as ours! We have found no specific notations on an accepted number of boats used and as the Durham boats were various sizes, we can only surmise as to how many people fit in a boat. For the Christmas reenactment, the site can fit about 35 people in a 40 foot Durham boat. The Crossing of the Delaware required several boats to take several trips back and forth until everyone and everything was across the River. Washington ordered that all river craft within a 75 mile area of Trenton be gathered for the endeavor and specifically mentioned the gathering of the Durham boats. Durham boats, ferries and any usable river craft was certainly employed in the maneuver. A number of boats used is quoted in Stryker’s Battle of Trenton and Princeton, however, the man quoted is a bit suspect and Stryker presents the quote as such.
