Christmas too wintry even for Washington as Revolutionary War reenactment foiled by river rapids, ice

Washington Crossing, PA – Christmas 2022 proved too frigid even for those hoping to emulate the Father of His Country. 

Historical actors and enthusiasts were forced on Sunday to nix their annual reenactment of General George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Christmas Day 1776. 

Extremely high and rapidly moving water made it unsafe to impossible to cross the river this year. 

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The problem was compounded by bitterly cold temperatures and packs of ice that collected around the river-crossing craft. 

“The river is flowing too fast,” John Godzieba of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, who plays Gen. George Washington, told Fox News Digital, as drift ice raced down the river behind him.

John Godzieba of Langhorne, Pennsylvania — who plays the role of General George Washington — explained why fast-moving water on the Delaware River on Christmas Day 2022 forced organizers to cancel the annual reenactment of Washington’s Delaware crossing on Christmas Day 1776.  (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)

“The men cannot generate enough power with four oars in the river to get across,” he also said.

Even desperate wartime leader General Washington would have been forced to postpone his plan by 24-48 hours under the same conditions, he said. 

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Washington crossed the Delaware in Durham boats, sturdy 18th-century cargo craft designed to haul coal. 

The boats were built to go up and down the river, but not across it.

Reenactors in modern times use expensive replicas of the boats. 

Even desperate wartime leader General Washington would have been forced to postpone his plan by 24-48 hours.

One of General Washington’s reenactment crews on Sunday spent time trying to chip a boat out of the ice pack that was gathering around the riverbank.

The scene this year was reminiscent of the overly dramatic packs of ice in artist Emanuel Leutze’s famous 1851 painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” 

Revolutionary War reenactors attempted to free a boat from ice along the banks of the Delaware River on Christmas Day 2022. Temperatures were 10 degrees colder than when Washington famously crossed the river during his attack on Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas Day 1776. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)

But it was much colder here on Christmas 2022 than it was when Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas night 1776.  

Historians believe it was 28-33 degrees on Christmas 1776. 

Two men froze to death during the attack. Only one of Washington’s three attack fleets made it across the river. 

Even so, a crowd of about 2,000 people, according to organizers, lined the river bank for speeches, marches and musters by reenactors this year.

It was about 10 degrees colder this year — ranging from the high teens to the low 20s. 

Still, a crowd of about 2,000 people, according to organizers, lined the river bank for speeches, marches and musters by reenactors this year. 

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The festivities included speeches, fife and drum corps performances, a muster of troops and cannon fire from period artillery units.

There was just no attempt to row across the icy Delaware.

Washington crossing the Delaware, near Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas 1776. George Washington, 1732-1799 — first president of the United States. From English and Scottish History, published 1882.  (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

River crossings are possible when the river flows at about 22,000 cubic feet per second, according to reenactor, tavern owner and former Air Force pilot Frank Lyons. 

Godzieba put the high threshold at 27,000 cubic feet per second.

The river on Sunday, Christmas Day, was flowing at 36,000 cubic feet per second. 

Lyon plays the role of Revolutionary War hero John Glover, who was charged with ferrying General Washington and his army across the river in 1776.

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It took a “heroic effort,” in the words of Washington confidante General Henry Knox, by Glover and his unit of seasoned Massachusetts mariners to ferry the Continental Army across the Delaware River.

It took a “heroic effort” to ferry the Continental Army across the Delaware River in 1776.

But conditions this year were even worse. 

The rapid water would have forced the boats as much as a half mile down the river. 

The Delaware River north of Trenton, New Jersey, was filled with drift ice on Christmas Day 2022. George Washington crossed the Delaware at this spot during his famous attack on Trenton on Christmas Day 1776. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)

Washington led a force of 2,400 men, plus horses, supplies and cannons, on a daring road across the Delaware River in 1776. 

The attack turned the tide of the Revolutionary War and saved the cause of American independence.

They attacked and overwhelmed a garrison of Hessian troops, fighting on behalf of the British, in Trenton, New Jersey. 

The attack turned the tide of the Revolutionary War and saved the cause of American independence.

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The Delaware River traces its source to the Catskill Mountains of New York. 

Heavy rain or snow in the higher elevations upriver create the dangerous high water in the 800 foot-wide expanse where Washington crossed the river a few miles north of Trenton.

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Reenactors have hosted Washington’s crossing ceremony each Christmas since 1953. 

They are unable to cross because of high water in roughly three of every 10 years, said Lyons.

Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.