General William Howe sat calmly in his plush chair, taking in all that the Christmas festivities had to offer. The table was set, the turkey roasted. All of his soldiers were finishing their activities to return to the table for the feast. His relaxation was broken by a call from his servant.

“Quick, come here!” his servant said in a nervous but quiet voice.

“Yes, what could be more important than the feast about to begin?” William said with disdain.

“I got a note. It was from one of the scouts outside the town!” The man handed the general a small, folded up slip of paper.

“Very well then,” the general said as he took the slip of paper. “Grab a seat at the table!” he said to his servant. He unfolded the note and began reading it.

General, I am very surprised at what I saw on the other side of the Delaware. Washington and thousands of troops are camped there. Some man was blathering some speech about liberty and freedom. Washington's troops have a higher morale than ever. To make matters even worse, the army is planning to cross the Delaware tonight, and attack our emplacement. They plan to take Trenton tonight, and surprise us in the middle of the festivities. Prepare your troops, general!

He nodded his head and grunted. “Tonight, Washington?” he whispered. “You will be getting a beating”. He quickly walked up to the feast table to address his troops. “My men, we are going have to let the turkey go cold tonight. Washington and his men are crossing the Delaware to attack this establishment tonight. If we want to win the war, this might be the night. I want sharpshooters to hide themselves along the shore. They think that they are catching us by surprise, so stay hidden and get as many soldiers as you can before they reach the shore. Get ready now!”

The soldiers grunted and groaned, angry at having to get ready to fight in the middle of their feast. They got there crisp red coats on, rifles loaded, and began to sneak behind the rocks along the Delaware. General Howe was confident that he could beat the Patriots at their own game tonight.
****
Private Johnny rowed the rowboat to the lobsterbacks' barracks. He had quite the load on his shoulders. His rowboat carried General Washington, and he needed to keep everything covert so the attack was a complete shock. When they reached close enough to the shore, they heard musket shots from behind the rocks.

“Well, they guessed our arrival after all,” General Washington said as he raised the flag on his ship, his head up in pride”. Him in such confidence was awe inspiring. He must have been inspired so much himself that he hardly noticed the musketball flying toward him. I did a double take when I saw General Washington laying dead on the floor of the rowboat.

Shouldn't they be Hessian mercenaries (if I remember correctly) not Redcoats?
(I know its probably alternate history something though)

I think I read that. But oh, well, only a minor knit-pick in an exceptional first chapter. Keep it up, BL!

After I looked a bit, they are supposed to be Hessians. Oh well, I guess I can get away with it since it is alternate history . I am glad you guys like it? Does anyone know what went wrong in this chapter (other than Washington)?

After Washington was shot, the battle went downhill for the Patriots. The Hessian soldiers ended up chasing away or killing most of the Continentals in the battle. Cornwallis was encouraged by the news that the army was leaderless, he decided to strike the troops still encamped at Valley Forge. The attack was expected however, and the troops were as prepared as they could be. When the attack began, the soldiers knew they couldn't fight the superior forces of Cornwallis' troops, so they retreated. Cornwallis made chase, and the soldiers began scattering into the deeps of Pennsylvania.

When, the news of the Continental Army leaderless and the army scattered or being chased through Pennsylvania got to the leaders of the revolution, they felt very discouraged. They knew that somebody needed to lead the army, but nobody could find where the army was going. They could only hope that the army would not dissolve the army...
*****
Marquis de Lafayette was sitting comfortably in a small tavern, plotting out a strategy for his troops to support Washington's in retaking New Jersey. He was however being worried about not hearing from him yet about the outcome of his strike at Trenton.

“Would you like some more soup?” the tavern keeper asked.

“Yes, please,” the general replied. As the owner poured more soup, he saw a dirty, exhausted soldier walk through the door. “Well, excuse me! How unkempt can a soldier be? You should be ashamed,” he said with a hint of authority.

“Sir, I am sorry. Washington is dead and Cornwallis is chasing us through this region. The army is about to completely dissolve, and-”. The soldier collapsed on the floor and took deep breaths.

“I am sorry, excuse my earlier comment. My worst fear has come true. Tell the army to regroup, I need to take control,” Marquis said.

“Yes, sir,” the soldier said as he left the tavern. The general was about to become the Continental commander in chief.