By December 1776, the Continental Army had withdrawn in disarray from New York across Central New Jersey and the Delaware River into Pennsylvania while the British pursued complacently, confident that General Washington would soon capitulate. On Christmas Day and the day following, American forces regrouped and launched a surprise counterattack on Trenton, giving new life to the Revolutionary cause and changing the course of the war. The First Battle of Trenton followed Washington’s nighttime crossing of the Delaware at McKonkey’s Ferry, present-day Washington Crossing, and a nine-mile march to the edge of town. Early on December 26, American troops caught the British-paid Hessian garrison at the Trenton Barracks by surprise and soon forced its surrender. Washington then withdrew most of his troops across the Delaware into Pennsylvania to plan his next move. A week later, when an advance British contingent entered Trenton, Washington successfully defended the South Broad Street crossing of the Assunpink Creek in the Second Battle of Trenton, buying valuable time to prepare another successful surprise attack on the main body of British troops at Princeton the following day. This series of engagements at Trenton and Princeton dramatically boosted American morale and showed the vulnerability of the British Army to fast-moving and well-chosen assaults by Washington’s troops.