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Ricardo A. Herrera
Saving the Revolution: From New York to Princeton, 1776
In the spring of 1776, Congress tasked General George Washington and the newly-created Continental Army with defending New York City against an impending British Invasion. Washington commanded the largest field army he would ever lead during the war, some 25,000 Continentals, provincial troops, and militiamen. In July 1776, over 30,000 British soldiers and German auxiliaries landed on Staten Island. Over the summer, British forces bested the rebellious Americans time after time and pursued them across the Jerseys, into Pennsylvania. The Revolution seemed doomed. On Christmas Day, 1776, the Continentals and Pennsylvania militia struck back. Over the course of ten days, they reversed the course of the Revolution by through victories at Trenton (twice!) and Princeton. They ignited the Forage Wars in New Jersey and forced General Sir William Howe to give up all that his army had taken in New Jersey. Over the course of ten days, Washington and the army saved the Revolution. This talk foregrounds History Camp’s November excursion to Trenton.
Ricardo A. Herrera, PhD, began his career as an armor and cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He is Senior Historian, George Washington Leadership Institute, George Washington Presidential Library, and Professor Emeritus, U.S. Army War College. An award-winning historian, Rick Herrera is the author of Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778; For Liberty and the Republic: The American Citizen as Soldier, 1775–1861; and of numerous articles and essays. His forthcoming book is the tentatively titled, A Most Uncommon Soldier: The Life, Letters, and Journal of Edward Ashley Bowen Phelps, 1814–1893, an edited collection to be published by the University Press of Kansas. A graduate of Marquette University (PhD, 1998) and the University of California, Los Angeles (BA, 1984), Herrera has taught at Mount Union College and Texas Lutheran University.
