Chapter One: Pure Luck or God's Hand
Chapter Two: The American Revolution – Darkest Hour
Chapter Three: The Civil War – Moment of Decision
Chapter Four: World War II – The Tide Turns
Chapter Five: The Cold War – Brink of Armageddon
Chapter Six: The Hand of Providence in America's Wars
Appendix: War and God in My Own Life

Chapter Two: The American Revolution – Darkest Hour
In December 1776, the phrase "Revolutionary War" would have seemed overly grandiose to describe
what was happening in the American colonies. An armed conflict was in progress but seemed to be
drawing to an end. In late August, a British army of over 30,000 troops, under General William
Howe, landed in New York to quell an "uprising." Opposing Howe were an assortment of local militia
units from various colonies under the command of George Washington, a newly appointed general with little experience. Howe's army of British regulars and Hessian mercenaries did its work effectively. The
rebels were routed out of New York and then pursued and depleted across New Jersey. The loyalists
throughout the state began rallying to the winning side. Washington pulled the remnant of his beaten
force across the Delaware River in December, leaving all of New Jersey to the British. By January,
most of his few remaining troops would see their one- year enlistments expire. Also, the river would freeze solid, allowing Howe's forces to continue the advance on Philadelphia, which the colonial
congress had already evacuated. The "rebellion" was about to be over. In this last desperate hour, Washington conceived a plan, which at best could be considered a pure gamble. He would re-cross
the Delaware and strike the Hessian garrison at Trenton. He would risk what was left of his "army" by
taking this last chance to turn the tide. He was doing what he thought he had to do, but was in fact
unknowingly placing his own fate and that of an uncertain nation in the hand of God.