Resources

Reading and Viewing List of the Ten Crucial Days Campaign December 25, 1776 to January 3, 1777

Specific to the Ten Crucial Days

  1. THE ROAD TO ASSUNPINK CREEK:Liberty's Desperate Hour and the Ten Crucial Days of the American Revolution by David Price(Knox 2019). Says Patrick K. ODonnell,Assembling the best scholarship … Price has rightfully elevated the crucial importance of one of the least remembered battles…” 
  2. VICTORY OR DEATH:The Battles of Trenton and Princeton by Mark Maloy(Savas Beatie, 2018)Good overview and great for a self-guided tour.
  3. RESCUING THE REVOLUTION:Unsung Patriot Heroes and the Ten Crucial Days of America's War for Independence by David Price(Knox 2016) Fascinating biographical vignettes about names clouded in history.  
  4. 1776by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2006) 
  5. WASHINGTONS CROSSINGby David Hackett Fischer(Oxford, 2004)Despite having included some of Stryker's challenged references this is the bestselling book on the subject. 
  6. THE LONG RETREAT:The Calamitous Defense of New Jersey, 1776 by Arthur S. Lefkowitz (Rutgers, 1998) 
  7. THE DAY IS OURS!An Inside View of the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, November 1776-January 1777  by William M. Dwyer(Viking, 1983)Relies heavily on Stryker; written in a thrilling, journalistic style. 
  8. THE WINTER SOLDIERS:The Battles for Trenton and Princetonby Richard M. Ketchum.(Doubleday, 1973)Relies heavily on Stryker. Good military history for the modern reader. 
  9. THE BATTLE OF TRENTON/THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON: Two Studies by Samuel Stelle Smith(Philip Freneau1967)  
  10. THE BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETONby William S. Stryker(Houghton Mifflin, 1898)The earliest history from which many following works have been based. While detailed, there are unsourced references which are either questionable, or have since been proven inaccurate. Still, a must-read for anyone interested in the Ten Crucial Days.

Overviews, Abridgments, and Essays on the Ten Crucial Days and the Revolution in New Jersey

  1. NEW JERSEY IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONedited by Barbara J. Mitnick(Rutgers, 2005) 
  2. TRENTON AND PRINCETON 1776-77:Washington Crosses the Delaware by David Bonk(Osprey 2010) 
  3. A PEOPLE HARASSED AND EXHAUSTED:The Story of a New Jersey Militia Regiment in the American Revolution by Larry Kidder(Kidder, 2013) 
  4. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN NEW JERSEY: Where the Battlefront Meets the Home Front edited by James J. Gigantino II(Rutgers, 2015) 
  5. FATAL SUNDAY: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle by Mark Edward Lender and Garry WheelerStone Ph.D(Univ OK 2016)Award winning narrative on the largest battle fought in the northern theater of the revolution. 
  6. CROSSROADS OF THE REVOLUTION: Trenton, 1774-1783 by William L. "Larry"Kidder (Knox, 2017)  Meticulously researched history of Trenton; rich background on how this important colonial town survived the revolution. 

General Histories of the Revolution

  1. THE BRITISH ARE COMINGby Rick Atkinson(Holt 2019) 
  2. THEATERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION   James Kirby Martin and David L. Preston, Editors(Westholme 2017) 
  3. WASHINGTON'S IMMORTALS:The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. ODonnell(Grove 2017) 
  4. AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS:A Continental History, 1750-1804by Alan Taylor(WW Norton 2016) 
  5. BAND OF GIANTS:The Amateur Soldiers Who Won America's Independence by Jack Kelly(Macmillan 2014) 
  6. THE MEN WHO LOST AMERICA:British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empireby Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy(Yale 2013) 
  7. ALMOST A MIRACLE:The American Victory in the War of Independenceby John Ferling(Oxford 2007) 
  8. THE GLORIOUS CAUSE:The American Revolution, 1763-1789by Robert Middlekauff(Oxford 2007) 


Books for Young Readers about the Ten Crucial Days and the Revolution Listed by Age Group

  1. CROSSING THE DELAWARE: George Washington Fights the Battle of Trenton by Arian Dean (Rosen 2004, Ages 5 – 9) 
  2. WHEN WASHINGTON CROSSED THE DELAWAREby Lynne Cheney (Simon & Schuster 2012, Ages 5 – 9) 
  3. REVOLUTIONARY WAR ON WEDNESDAY: Magic Tree House #22 by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House 2000, Ages 6 – 9) 
  4. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION FOR KIDS: A History with 21 Activities by Janis Herbert (Chicago Review 2002) (Ages 6 – 9) 
  5. IF YOU WERE A KID DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONby Wil Mara (Scholastic 2016) (Ages 6 – 9) 
  6. THE CROSSING: How George Washington Saved the American Revolutionby Jim Murphy (Scholastic 2016, Ages 8 – 12) 
  7. CROSSING THE DELAWARE: A History in Many Voices by Louise Peacock (Aladdin 2007, Ages 8 – 12) 
  8. GEORGE WASHINGTON: The Crossing by Jack E. Levin, Mark R. Levin (Threshold 2013, Ages 8 – 12) 
  9. TIME ENOUGH FOR DRUMSby Ann Rinaldi (Laurel Leaf 2000, Fiction, Ages 12+ -)  


Television and Film

  1. “Turn” - AMC - www.amc.com/shows/turn (rife with historical liberties, but a nice sense of time and place).
  2. “Winter Patriots”- www.WinterPatriots.com.  Produced by Mount Vernon, with support from the F. M. Kirby Foundation
  3. “The Crossing” - A&ETV 2003 (rife with historical liberties, but a nice sense of time and place).

These and other fine books and educational materials are available at your local library, or wherever books are sold including the David Library of the American Revolution 215-493-6776,the gift shops at The Old Barracks Museum 609-396-1776, andWashingtons Crossing Historic Park 215-493-4076. (Titles listed with aare out of print and are available at libraries or perhaps online)

Links: 

https://www.washingtoncrossingpark.org/traversing-bus-tour/

Educator Resources

The Princeton Battlefield Society welcomes conversations with educators on how we can assist in providing you with the information and resources to teaching children of all ages about the Battle of Princeton, life in British America, the Colonial, and Revolutionary eras.  One of our volunteers can help you find the most appropriate books, living historians, re-enactors, historical interpreters, and public historians.

We would be happy to assist in school visits to the battlefield, or bringing living history into your classroom. Please send us your questions, and one of our volunteers will be in touch with you. If you do not have any questions at this time, but you would like to be added to our educator mailing list, please let us know which school, and/or grade level with which you are connected and we will add you to our mailing list!

A few recommended  resources:

School/Scout Tours of the Battlefield

Tours of the Thomas Clarke House and the Princeton Battlefield can be arranged by contacting the Battlefield's Staff Park staff (t. 609-921-0074, e. princetonbattlefield@comcast.net or Princeton Battlefield Society (t. 609-232-8540, e. info@pbs1777.org).

battery