Book Review – Newt Gingrich & William R. Forstchen’s “To Try Men’s Souls”
The other day I finished Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen’s American Revolutionary War story, To Try Men’s Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom.
While the book’s lengthy title implies that it covers a large portion of the War for Independence, To Try Men’s Souls primarily focuses on Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River and the surprise attack on Hessian troops in Trenton, New Jersey. Despite it covering just that one segment of the war, the book does an excellent job telling the tale and showing just how much soldiers sacrificed to pull off the surprise attack.
Throughout school those many years ago, the American Revolution was frequently discussed in history / geography / social studies classes. However, those classes never went into detail about the troops or battles. We were just taught a few key facts here and there, such as Thomas Paine’s article Common Sense being a key factor for pursuing independence, the “Indian-style” attacks used by American forces, and some general tidbits here and there about the war.
It was the American Revolution that made us into an independent country, but, oddly enough, the details of the revolution and battles were rarely discussed in the classrooms. It wasn’t until reading books outside of the classroom where I finally started learning the details of one of if not the most important time period in American history.
As it was stated earlier, To Try Men’s Souls primarily focuses on the Christmas evening crossing of the Delaware River and surprise attack on Hessian troops stationed in Trenton, New Jersey at dawn on December 26, 1776.
You have to remember that the American forces were looking very bleak by Christmas of 1776. The previous months had been one forced retreat after another as the British and Hessian forces pushed them south out of New York City and New England. While the Americans had previous success at the start of the war, the last few months saw one failure after another as the army dwindled down to just a few thousand soldiers still in fighting condition.
Soldiers were starving, lacking anywhere near adequate clothing, not being paid, and the vast majority were even without proper footwear. In the freezing winter, more than two-thirds of the soldiers were forced to wrap their feet in loose fabric or walk completely barefoot. The paths and roads often turned red from blood as ice and other conditions ripped and tore open the soldiers’ unprotected feet. While the soldiers were starving and without proper clothing and shelter, Congressmen were warm, well-fed and cozy in their lodgings in Philadelphia (sound familiar?).
To make matters worse, the enlistments for most soldiers was set to expire at the start of 1777. The American military was set to destroy itself by then end of 1776 if something drastic didn’t boost their morale and save their fighting spirit.
Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851)
The miracle that the country needed was General George Washington’s superior leadership and his bold military attack on Trenton, New Jersey. Unfortunately for his men, reaching the town of Trenton meant crossing the icy Delaware River in the middle of a frigid nor’easter winter storm, battling freezing rain, sleet, snow, ice-covered roads, and nearly hurricane-force winds.
While the Delaware River receives all the fame, as we learn in To Try Men’s Souls, Washington’s army had to cross two more frigid creeks flanked by steep ravines while marching to Trenton. The men were pushed to their absolute limits as they marched forward to victory.
“Victory or Death.”
That was the password for Washington’s surprise attack against the enemy forces at Trenton. In many ways, the slogan showed just how much was riding on this attack. Failure to the Hessian troops (far superior and more brutal than the British) meant certain death either in battle or in an attempt to surrender. Washington’s men were well aware of previous massacres conducted by the Hessians earlier in the war. Failure also meant the ultimate death of the rebellion and fight for American freedom. Also considering the upcoming expiration of thousands of soldiers’ enlistments, almost the entire fate of the revolution was riding on this one military assault.
As we’re aware by history, Washington’s assault was a smashing success in several ways. First of all, not anywhere near his total assault force participated in the attack itself. Other generals were blocked by heavier ice blocks or weather conditions and were unable to participate in the attack. Second, the Hessians were completely surprised and unable to mount a defensive stand, resulting in high casualties and many more surrendering to the “inferior” American forces. Third, the entire American force, shoeless, starving for food, hungry for revenge, was virtually untouched throughout the attack with only a handful of American casualties.
To Try Men’s Souls is a must-read for anybody interested in the American Revolution, warfare, or being a successful leader. This is a story about guts and courage when facing the harshest of conditions, taking a calculated risk with literally everything riding on your shoulders. The book itself is well-written and easy to follow.
One of the best things about To Try Men’s Souls is that it puts you in the perspective of the American soldiers along with General Washington as he made those hard decisions. It easily puts you in a more realistic perspective on what it was like to cross the icy river and march along with ice-covered roads in the middle of a horrendous winter storm.
At least for me, To Try Men’s Souls gave me a better history lesson about what happened the night of December 25th and morning of the 26th back in 1776. What little was glanced over in the classrooms was certainly outshined by this fantastic novel.
