23. On the 8th of December, Washington crossed the Delaware. Cornwallis, having no boats, was obliged to wait for the freezing of the river. It was seen that as soon as the river should be frozen the British would march into Philadelphia. Congress accordingly adjourned to Baltimore. During his retreat across New Jersey, Washington sent dispatches to General Lee, at North Castle, to join the main army as soon as possible. That officer took up his quarters at Basking Ridge. On the 13th of December, a squad of British cavalry captured Lee and hurried him off to New York. General Sullivan took command of Lee's division, and hastened to join Washington. The entire American force now amounted to a little more than six thousand. [Sidenote: =Victory at Trenton.=] 24. The tide of misfortune turned at last. Washington saw in the disposition of the British forces an opportunity to strike a blow for his country. The leaders of the enemy were off their guard. The Hessians on the east side of the river were spread out from Trenton to Burlington. Washington conceived the design of crossing the Delaware and striking the detachment at Trenton before a concentration of the enemy's forces could be effected. The American army was arranged in three divisions under Generals Cadwallader, Ewing, and Washington himself. Christmas night was selected as the time for the movement. 25. The Delaware was filled with floating ice. Ewing and Cadwallader were both baffled in their efforts to cross the river. Washington, having succeeded in getting over, divided his army of twenty-four hundred men into two columns and pressed forward. At eight o'clock in the morning the Americans came rushing into Trenton from both directions. The Hessians sprang from their quarters and attempted to form in line. Colonel Rall was mortally wounded. Nearly a thousand of the Hessians threw down their arms and begged for quarter. Before nightfall Washington, with his army and the whole body of captives, was safe on the other side of the Delaware. [Illustration: CENTRAL NEW JERSEY 1778.] [Sidenote: =Effect of the victory.=] 26. The battle of Trenton roused the nation from despondency. The militia flocked to the general's standard; and fourteen hundred soldiers, whose term of enlistment now expired, reentered the service. Robert Morris, the great financier of the Revolution, came forward with his fortune to the support of his country.