Crossing re-enactors get across Delaware
Mon., Dec. 26, 2005
WASHINGTON CROSSING, N.J. – Hundreds of spectators along the Delaware River saw the first complete re-enactment since 2001 of Gen. George Washington’s historic crossing.
Unlike the past three attempts, when days of precipitation pushed water levels and speeds above safety levels, this Christmas presented a more placid route from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.
Jim Gibson, portraying Washington in a full uniform replete with sword and peaked cap, and about 60 of his fellow re-enactors made it across in two longboats just as a raw mist became a steady rain.
The actual crossing took place in the dark, in driving sleet, starting on Christmas night 1776 and finishing early the next day. The sentries’ passwords: “Victory or death.”
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