Delaware River Artillery

Advanced Leaders Course DATE \@ "d MMMM yyyy" 3 November 2014
Artillery at the Delaware River Throughout history, the use of artillery has been a tide-turning asset. From arrows, catapults, and trebuchets to modern howitzers and mortars, artillery has developed into a branch of military that plays a vital role in executing any successful mission or battle. This concept, well known to the British having used artillery in their military doctrine successfully for sometime before entering into a war against the Continental Army, were well trained. The Continental Army knew the importance of artillery in having a chance against the British forces. The use of artillery at the Battle of Trenton was invaluable and the start of the eventual
downfall of the British Forces. A closer look at this battle will show how artillery became dominating asset. Artillery has been a well know concept of war long before the Revolutionary War came about.
As a new and developing country, the United States of America was in need of good artillery if there was a going to be a chance of a win in the war against England. After the declaration of war against the British, General (Gen.) George Washington appointed Henry Knox as the commanding officer of the Continental Regiment of Artillery with the rank of Colonel. With limited resources, Continental Military used any assets available to include a supply of cannons and mortars acquired at Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen. Colonel Knox, known as the Father of the United States Army Artillery, played a key part of turning the tide and the eventual win of the American Revolutionary War. Col. Knox moved, from December 5, 1775 - January 24, 1776, 59 cannons and mortars acquired from Fort Ticonderoga and moved them to Boston to a heavily fortified position placed on Dorchester Heights to push the British from the harbor. Succeeding in Boston, Col. Knox assisted in the Battle of Long Island afterwards he met up with Gen. Washington during his retreat to New Jersey. The movement of the Col. Knox’s artillery pieces with Gen. Washington became the key to the victory in the Battles of
Trenton. With artillery at Gen.
Washington’s disposal, Col. Knox was given the responsibility of logistics and artillery for his next battle, the Battle of Trenton. Careful planning and coordination, Col. Knox moved Gen. Washington, 2400 Soldiers, and 18 artillery pieces across the Delaware River at McKonkey 's Ferry. The famous crossing took place at night and took multiple trips to complete. Crossing the river during the winter was a difficult task to accomplish as it was is full of ice. Plans, involving crossing four groups across the river, do not always go as they are expected. Of the four groups that were to cross, only the group with Gen. Washington and Col. Knox succeeded in crossing. The infantry, securing the landing site, were the first to cross and sent the boats back to retrieve the artillery pieces and crews. Having crossed 9 miles from Trenton, Col. Knox marched the artillery into battle moving in two main groups. The two groups moved into positions surrounding Trenton. Trenton, currently occupied by Hessians, awake unsuspectingly to artillery fire and musket fire. In an attempt to counterattack, the Hessian commander fired his six 3lb. cannons, all the unit had. This was short lived as they were quickly over run adding to the overall firepower of the artillery. The artillery pieces, which consisted of seven 3-lb. cannons, three 4-lb. cannons, six 6-lb. cannons and two 5.5 Howitzers, became an overwhelming force of 1 cannon to about 130 men, normally a ratio of
artillery pieces to soldiers is about 2 to 3 pieces to every 1000 men. The element of surprise and the use of artillery granted Gen. Washington a victory very quickly. Works Cited
"Henry Knox." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 14 Jan. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
Weller, Jac. “Guns of Destiny: Field Artillery in the Trenton-Prinston Campaign 25 December 1776 to 3 January 1777.” Military Affairs, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring, 1956): Pages 1-15