Merry Christmas! Brought to You by the Christmas Miracle of 1776
- innerweavings
- Dec 23, 2019
- 6 min read
“The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous through this all…that [one] must be worse than an infidel and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligation.” George Washington
Innerweavings would like to share with you a children’s Christmas story from America’s earliest days that was well known a century ago. Like most Christmas stories, it includes the many wonderful things we celebrate on this special day: family, loved ones, home, food, and even presents. But it is unique in that it centers around a miracle that happened on this day in 1776. For this miracle was so important in the founding of our great nation, that were it not granted to us by our Creator, America would not exist. This is how some of the good people of that day spent their Christmas so that we could spend this Christmas in Liberty.
Here, then, is our retelling of the Christmas in Seventeen Seventy-Six:
“Children, have you ever thought what Christmas was like for little people like you more than a century ago when the cruel tides of war swept across our land? Many fathers were away from home, fighting for the Liberty which we so enjoy. Mothers, too, valiantly struggled against hardship to keep a home for their children.
The story I have to tell you is about a little boy and girl who lived in Bordentown, New Jersey. Their father was a soldier in General Washington’s army which was encamped a few miles north of Trenton, on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. Bordentown is about seven miles south of Trenton, where fifteen hundred Hessians and a troop of British light horse were holding the town. Thus, the British and the Hessians were between George Washington and Bordentown and some of their soldiers were even in the town itself.
This predicament would seemingly make it impossible for Captain Tracy to share Christmas dinner with his wife and children. Young Katie and Harry Tracy could not imagine their father not being with them on Christmas and had spent several weeks in preparation for the day. Harry had collected a basket of pecans for their meal and Katie had learned to knit just so she could make her father a warm pair of woolen socks.
“What if he shouldn’t come?” asked Harry suddenly.
“Oh, he’ll come. Papa would never stay away on Christmas,” said Katie, looking up into her mother’s eyes for an echo. But, instead, she saw what looked like tears.
“Oh, Mama! Don’t you think he’ll come?” pleaded Katie.
“He will come if he possibly can,” said Mrs. Tracy, “and if he cannot, we’ll celebrate Christmas whenever Dear Papa does come home.”
“It won’t be half so nice,” said Katie, “and how will Kris Kringle know if we change the day?”
“We’ll let him come just the same. And if he brings something for Papa, we’ll put it away until he returns.”
This plan seemed like a poor one to Katie who went to bed that night in a somber mood. She confided in her dolly, Martha Washington, that, “Wars are miserable things. One day I’ll marry a man who keeps a candy shop, instead of being a soldier – even if he’s as nice as Papa.”
The days of that cold winter of 1776 wore on. So great were the sufferings of the soldiers, their bleeding feet left bright red marks on the snow over which they marched. As Christmas drew near, there was a feeling among the Patriots that some blow was about to strike. But what it was, and from whence, no one could tell. But better than all, the British had no idea that any blow could come from Washington’s army, weak and out of heart, as they thought, after being chased through New Jersey by Cornwallis.
Mrs. Tracy looked anxiously each day for news of the husband and father only a few miles away, yet so separated by the river and the enemy’s troops that it seemed like hundreds. Christmas Eve came, but brought with it few rejoicings. The hearts of the people were too sad to be taken up with merry making, though the Hessian soldiers in town, good-natured Germans who only fought the Americans because they were paid, were caught up in the revelry and feasting.
“Shall we hang up our stockings?” asked Katie in a rather doleful voice.
“Yes,” answered her mother. “Santa Claus won’t forget us, I am sure, even though he has been kept rather busy looking after the soldiers this winter.”
“Which side is he on?” asked Harry.
“The right side,” said Mrs. Tracy, which was the most sensible answer she could possibly have given.
That night the two children were sound asleep when the Jolly Old Soul made his way down the chimney to stuff their stockings with a cornucopia of apples and sugarplums. St. Nick stopped to stare lovingly at the children for a few moments, then realizing he had many more children to gift that night, he quickly sped away. That night another Santa Claus, in the form of Mrs. Tracy’s farmer brother, brought a turkey for their Christmas meal. But, because the Hessians were so fond of turkey, it came hidden under a load of wood.
Harry was fond of turkey, too, as well as the other things, but when mother sighed, “It’s such a fine bird. It’s too sad to eat without father.” Harry cried out, “Yes, save it for Papa!” with Katie joining in the chorus. And, so, the turkey was hung away to await the return of the good soldier, although it seemed strange, as Katie later told Martha Washington, “to have Christmas with no turkey and no Papa.”
The day passed and night came, cold with a steady fall of rain and sleet. Katie prayed that her “Dear Papa might not be out in the storm and the cold and that he might come home to wear his new stockings.” “And to eat his turkey,” added Harry sleepily.
Toward morning, the good people of Bordentown were suddenly aroused by firing in the distance, which became more and more distinct as the day wore on. There was great excitement in the town. Men and women gathered together in the street in little groups to wonder what it could be about. Neighbors dropped into Mrs. Tracy’s parlor all day long, one after another, to say what they thought of the firing.
In the evening there came a body of Hessians flying into the town to say that George Washington had surprised the British at Trenton that morning, which caught them completely by surprise. So frightened were the Hessians at Bordentown that they left without a single ceremony. It was a wonderful hour to the good town people when the Red Coats turned their back on them, thinking every moment that the Patriot army would be after them.
Indeed it seemed as if wonder would never cease that day! For while rejoicings were still loud over the departure of the enemy, there came a knock at Mrs. Tracy’s door. And while she wondered if she should dare open it, it was pushed ajar and a tall soldier entered. What a scream of delight greeted that soldier! How Katie and Harry danced around him and clung to his knees as Mrs. Tracy brought him over to the warm fire and helped him off with his damp cloak. Cold and tired Captain Tracy was after a night’s march in the street and a day’s fighting, but he was not too weary to smile at the dear faces around him or to pat Katie’s head as she brought his new warm stockings and placed them on the weary feet.
“Tomorrow is to be a real Christmas because you are home, Papa!” said Katie.
“And we’ll have the turkey and the pecans that I saved!” added Harry. “What a good time we’ll have! And, oh Papa, don’t ever go to war again, but stay home with mother, Katie, and me.”
“What should become of our country if we should all do that, my little man?” Asked Papa. “It was a good day’s work that we did this Christmas, getting the army all across the river so quickly and quietly that we surprised the enemy, and gained the victory with the loss of a few men.”
Thus it was that some of the good people of 1776 spent their Christmas that their children and grandchildren might spend many of them as the citizens of a free nation.
The idea of America as we have known it was almost over before it ever began. Toward the end of 1776, the remnant of General George Washington’s army were in tatters. They were defeated and disheartened and counting down the days till the new year when their enlistment would be up and they could finally go home. They were also trapped on the banks of the Delaware River by the British who had just routed the army and taken over all of New York. Defeat was imminent.
It was at this point Washington determined to make one final effort for American Independence. On Christmas night, this brave man, relying on the strength and providence of our Creator, was able to ferry his men over the nearly frozen Delaware to launch an incredible surprise attack on the British forces stationed at Trenton, NJ. This amazing victory was the turning point in the War. It helped ensure victory and has enabled our nation to celebrate every following Christmas since that time enjoying the blessings of Liberty!
You can find the original story of Christmas in Seventy Seventy-Six in its entirety here:
You can find out more about Washington’s Christmas miracle here:
You can see one of the only 3 still in existence copies of the broadside handbill printed by The Providence Gazette on January 5, 1777 detailing Washington’s victory here:
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