James Monroe in Trenton
Continued from here.Â
241 years ago on the night of December 25th, 1776, James Monroe was an eighteen year old with a mission. His regiment, the 3d Virginia, commanded by Hugh Mercer, was chosen by General George Washington to go on a scouting mission across the Delaware river to seek out Hessian forces. The 3rd Virginia’s numbers at that moment were down to only twenty-five (or 1/3) of the men in the regiment due to illness; Monroe was one of them. Captain William Washington, a distant cousin of George Washington, was head of the expedienciary group across the frozen river.
Before leaving, Captain Washington implemented his trust in the teenager to be his second-in-command. Monroe was already with the rank of lieutenant–were the Captain to fall, Monroe to was to lead the men on. They left around ten at night, trekking through the sleet and new fallen snow many miles outside of Trenton and little street that would provide them with full utilization and view of the Hessians from their position. By the end of the night, there would be two men of their regiment of which would fall.Â
Along their way, the soldiers of the 3rd Virginia grew rather rambunctious in nervous energy, talking with increasing volume to one another. The Captain ordered them to lower their voices, for they were traveling through an area of tory homestead and to wake them was to release their mission to the British. In the home of one named Dr. Ryker, his dogs began to bark loudly alerting the owners of the home that something was amiss. From the top window, still in his night clothes the man began shouting at them in the dead of night begging them to quiet because they were waking others. The man believed the soldiers he saw below his window were the British and as a closed patriotic man he felt will to shout at them.Â
Ryker asked them of which forces they were from and after seeing their uniforms was stunned. Monroe burst ahead to the window, ahead of his rebels and quickly explained to the man that they were soldiers of the Continental Army and were on a mission by George Washington into Trenton. The Doctor shut his window and went downstairs to let them in from the cold, wet and dreary night. Ryker inquired to Monroe’s age, rank and after giving the 3rd Virginia a few supplies offered up his services as a doctor in the army for the night. At first, Captain Washington refused because he believed that his man may compromise their state of being, location and would lead to further casualties were he to be shot or captured (he was unarmed). However, Monroe was able to convince the older man to allow the Doctor on the mission and with reluctancy Ryker was allowed on to tag along. At the end of the night, neither of them knew their lives would be saved in mere moments by the patriot doctor they had allowed with them.Â
They began to march again out into the cold and reached Trenton before the rest of the army and before sun-up. The men were tired, weak and frozen by the time of day-break when General Washington gave order for the men to assault the Hessians in their sleep. Captain William Washington at the 3rd Virginia led the first barrage at the Germans who charged to take control of the Hessian operated canons at the fort. When they made contact and fighting started, the Captain was able to lead his men and take over the Hessian canons while the soldiers held off the Germans with bullets and bayonets. They led a sucessful race into the town. Monroe’s company drove in Hessian pickets, and seized two of their cannons on King Street while also capturing their crews.Â
However, in the process of this, Washington received wounds to both hands during the action and fell. Monroe’s Captain was soon carried from the field. The teenager, noticing his leader had fallen took charge due to his rank as second-in-command and rallied the men to lead on another attack of the Hessians furthering from the canons into the forces. While leading his men at a a sprint, a German gun aimed at a distance fired noticing at clear that he was the leader. The bullet whizzed through the air from the musket it had been shot from and tore through the flesh of the lieutenant’s shoulder. Immediately Monroe fell to the ground. The bullet had ripped through the muscle of his left shoulder, just below his collar bone, just above his heart, and struck the major artery: the Brachial Artery, or, the largest blood artery in the upper arm. Rupture of the Brachial Artery takes fourteen seconds for the individual to become unconscious and only a minute and a half for the person to loose enough blood to perish.Â
The boy began to bleed out quickly, with much speed as blood poured from the wound and he began to choke. Of course, it is unknown what he thought of in his supposed last moment, perhaps, he knew that like his parents, he had always been destined to die young and obscure. Dr. Ryker, at a distance had noticed that he had fallen and ran from off the field to aide him. Monroe was in a dizzy conscious when Ryker dropped to him. Without having any tools for use, to stop the flow of blood, the Doctor took his finger at stuck it into the bullet hole in his effort to stop the bleeding with his fingers. Monroe was now slipping out of consciousness from the pain and unable to stay awake any longer as the the loss of blood made him dreadfully weak and unable to move. With the assault on Trenton occurring behind them, Ryker swiftly was able to clamp off the artery as Monroe clung to whatever life in him he had left.Â
The boy was terribly pale and feeble by the time Ryker was able to pull him off the battle field to an area where William Washington, with severe wounds to his hands, now rested as he was being aided by him as well. In the nick of time, Ryker was able to save Monroe as a doctor who wasn’t supposed to be accompanying them at all. As stated in his autobiography, the bullet had passed straight through him creating a large scar in his right breast and his back where the exit path lay. It took Monroe a day and a half before he finally woke up in agony. His wounds had been stitched up with sutures and he lay in bed for a week before being moved to the house of Henry Wyncoop where he stayed recuperating for the duration of eight and a half long weeks.Â
Due to his bravery in leading his men and for his wounds, Monroe was given by congress the rank of captain and William Washington that of major. Besides honor, he also received a second painting of him by a revolutionary war artist:
In this painting, John Trumbull’s painting of the Capture of the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton James Monroe can be seen in the far corner nursing his wounds in the arms of another; possible William Washington.Â
The the famous Delaware Crossing painting spoken of, the German-American artist most likely placed Monroe in the painting with all the other diverse figures to represent the sacrifice young boys, such as James Monroe, did in order to serve the cause they believed was right as well as the wounds they gained fighting for their country, liberty and freedom.Â