colonel johann rall led the hessians in the battle of trenton.
colonel johann rall led the hessians in the battle of trenton.
who led the hessians in the battle of trenton?
colonel johann rall
at the battle of trenton, parker had the honor to receive hessian colonel johann rall's sword of surrender and he alone holds a sword in the painting, "the capture of the hessians at trenton, december 26, 1776" by john trumbull.









































parker resigned from the army on july 12, 1778 and became a member of the virginia house of delegates for 1778, 1779, 1782 and 1783. during cornwallis's virginia campaign in 1781, the notorious colonel tarleton ransacked his home.
josiah parker
at 8 am, the outpost was set up by the hessians at a cooper shop on pennington road about one mile north-west of trenton. washington led the assault, riding in front of his soldiers. as the hessian commander of the outpost, lieutenant andreas wiederholdt, left the shop, an american fired at him but missed. wiederholdt shouted, ""der feind!"" (the enemy!) and other hessians came out. the americans fired three volleys and the hessians returned one of their own. washington ordered edward hand's pennsylvania riflemen and a battalion of german-speaking infantry to block the road that led to princeton. they attacked the hessian outpost there. wiederholdt soon realized that this was more than a raiding party; seeing other hessians retreating from the outpost, he led his men to do the same. both hessian detachments made organized retreats, firing as they fell back. on the high ground at the north end of trenton, they were joined by a duty company from the lossberg regiment. they engaged the americans, retreating slowly, keeping up continuous fire and using houses for cover. once in trenton, they gained covering fire from other hessian guard companies on the outskirts of the town. another guard company nearer to the delaware river rushed east to their aid, leaving open the river road into trenton. washington ordered the escape route to princeton be cut off, sending infantry in battle formation to block it, while artillery formed at the head of king and queen streets.
battle of trenton