Six Winter Days

DAY ONE: SUNDAY, DEC 29, 1776.

George Washington decides to go back to New Jersey after the first Battle of Trenton. His generals can’t believe he’d do such a foolish thing. Capt. Warren Murphy, 40, with the First Pennsylvania Rifleman, holds his tongue, not one to argue with generals.

Washington is adamant. His reason: the army is going home when their enlistments expire on Wednesday. He’s going to get another fight out them if he has to march them to New York on Tuesday. Murphy volunteers to go back to Trenton and send word to the men over there to stay put.

Day ONE, still: Isaac (17) and Toby (14) are brothers. They live near Princeton, NJ. Isaac wants to fight the rebels.

Their mother, Maggie, wants them to get out of the war, no fighting. A British solder, Corporal Lawrence, bursts into their house and threatens Maggie and the boys. Maggie kicks him out the door. She sends the boys on a journey to Allentown, PA to live with her sister until it’s all over.

DAY TWO: MONDAY, DEC 30, 1776

The American army is across the river at Trenton. Murphy proves he knows what he’s doing, working with incompetent officers.

The boys trudge westward. They get to the Princeton Bridge and play a game of "War" underneath it, as they did when they were children. Done with the game, they walk across the bridge into adulthood. Now they’re in a real war.

DAY THREE: TUESDAY, DEC 31, 1776, NEW YEAR’S EVE

As Isaac naps, Toby practices firing his gun at a lonely leaf on a winter tree. He’s a good shot. Lawrence, the British bad guy, hears. Isaac has to use some string in their backpack to get Toby out of the trap.

Day THREE, still, New Year’s Eve, 1776

Isaac and Toby collide with an outpost of American Soldiers at "Five Mile Run," five miles from Trenton. Isaac runs underneath the horse of Sgt. Swanson. Swanson speaks with a thick German accent.

They go back a ways. They take a crossroad and turn right onto the Quaker Road, the back road to Trenton. Isaac gets stuck in the mud at a swamp. Toby’s on the other side of the road. It’s dry terrain there.

A gunshot shatters the stillness of the night. The boys stare at a figure coming toward them, closer, closer…

It’s Anna, seventeen, wearing baggy men’s pants and a hat. She marches them into her house by the swamp. Momma’s there. Momma speaks with a thick German accent.

Momma reluctantly feeds the boys. Isaac goes outside with Anna to get some water. Inside, Toby, too young to know any better, blurts out to Momma that they’re Tories. Momma damn near kills him. The boys stay the night. Anna sneaks a kiss to Isaac at midnight. Isaac is too stunned to say "Good night." Anna giggles.

DAY FOUR: WEDNESDAY, JAN 1, 1777

Murphy hears about two "locals" who came into camp. He confronts them. From their names, he recognizes them as his sons.

Murphy is sorry, but he has too much to do to explain. He’ll take the boys up to "Five Mile Run" tomorrow, because he can’t leave them alone. Later, he’ll get them home.

DAY FIVE: THURSDAY, JAN 2, 1777, 2:00 PM

Murphy and the boys arrive at "Five Mile Run." Swanson recognizes Isaac, "Ach du yungen." British solders come down the road. The battle begins.

It’s a running battle. Murphy rides back time and time again to give orders. Col. Edward Hand, in charge, directs the battle brilliantly at the front. Isaac and Toby are with Sgt. Swanson and Col. Hand.

Isaac shoots, misses all the time. Toby refuses to fire. Toby’s a good shot, but he doesn’t like to kill people.

The boys almost make it to Trenton, when …

Isaac gets shot. Toby is frantic. British only yards away are coming fast. Toby and Isaac are alone, no Americans around. Toby finally shoots. He’s learned to kill, out of necessity. He doesn’t kill any more.

The battle isn’t over. The Americans cross the Trenton Bridge. The British charge three times and are decimated. They try to cross the creek on the Americans’ right, but Col. Hand is there. Disaster for the British.

No problem. British General Charles Cornwallis boasts that he’ll "Bag the Fox" in the morning.

The fighting stops for the night.

Washington questions the boys. They report that one side of the road at the swamp is dry ground. Washington will take the back road tonight.

Murphy tells the boys he didn’t just leave them. It was a mutual thing. He sends money to their mother. He knew they would be taken care of. He didn’t know it would affect them so much, especially Isaac.

DAY SIX: FRIDAY, JAN 3, 1777, 2:00 AM

It’s misty and cold. The mud has turned hard. The Americans put cloth around the wheels of the cannon to muffle the sound of movement.

The army marches east, toward Princeton.

Men sleep as they walk. Men behind crash into them. The snow turns red from the bloody feet of the soldiers ahead.

The boys, Murphy, and Sgt. Swanson divert to Anna’s house. Swanson is Anna’s father. Momma "fixes" Isaac, sews him up. Isaac and Anna sneak another kiss.

Washington straightens out the troops at the swamp. He puts the regulars in front. They’ll hit first. Militia and the wounded in the rear. Take out the Princeton Bridge.

Murphy and the boys are in the rear with the militia. They should be OK there.

But they’re not. The militia get hit first.

And it’s bad.

Murphy also hasn’t killed anyone yet, even coming down from Boston. But Isaac’s in deep trouble with a British bayonet about to plunge. Murphy rises to the occasion.

Washington alone saves the Revolution. George Washington becomes the greatest combat commander in American history because of what he does now, DAY SIX, Jan. 3, 1777.

More blood, cannonballs, and shooting, but the battle of Princeton is over.

Well, not quite. They still have to take out the bridge.

Toby dances among the logs, jokes, and salutes the bridge of his childhood as it gets dismantled. The British appear behind. Lawrence fires at Toby. The bridge collapses.

Toby falls into the freezing Stony Brook Creek.

Murphy and Sgt. Swanson fire. Some British fall, but not Lawrence. Isaac gets a gun and makes the shot of his life.