What happened at Trenton? Were the Hessians really all drunk?
No, but their position was poorly prepared for defense due to the poor decisions made by the commander of that post, Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall. Rall himself may have been drunk that night, but the Hessian sentries were able to alert the forces (all sober) in Trenton. All the advantages, however, were with the Americans. The Americans employed their artillery well while the Hessians had only were able to get two guns into action. Worse yet, the flintlocks used (by all soldiers of that time) were next to useless in the rain/sleet storm like the one that occurred that Christmas day. Rall tried to overcome these problems by leading a bayonet charge with his regiment, but the artillery drove them back and Rall was fatally wounded. After that, the Hessians either fled or surrendered. It can be argued quite easily that if Rall had merely given up the town instead of making such a futile fight for it, not many Hessians would have been captured. As it was, of the 1,500 Hessians at Trenton, 9
