Emerging Rev War Bus Tour: Victory or Death!

“I remember all the accounts there given of the battle fields and struggles for the liberties of the country, and none fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the river; the contest with the Hessians; the great hardships endured at that time, all fixed themselves on my memory more than any single revolutionary event.”
– Abraham Lincoln, Trenton, NJ, February 21, 1861

The Civil War generation of Americans knew the story of George Washington and the Revolutionary War very well. Their letters and writings often harkened back to the days of 1776. However, now almost 250 years, the stories and battlegrounds of that war are often overlooked or forgotten.

Here is your opportunity to visit some of the most important and overlooked battlefields in the United States. Emerging Civil War’s sister site, Emerging Revolutionary War, is offering a special two-day tour of the Trenton and Princeton battlefields.

In ten days, George Washington orchestrated an ingenious military campaign that shocked the British empire and saved the Patriot cause in the American Revolution. Frederick the Great remarked that the campaign was “the most brilliant of any recorded in the annals of military achievement.”

Join us to follow in the footsteps of such men as Washington, James Monroe, and Alexander Hamilton. The tour, led by Emerging Revolutionary historians and authors Mark Maloy and Rob Orrison, will visit the site where Washington contemplated defeat on the banks of the Delaware River and wrote that he believed “the game is pretty near up.”  We will visit the iconic spot where Washington and his ragged band of soldiers crossed the ice-choked Delaware River with the password of “Victory or Death” We will see the streets in Trenton, New Jersey where the battle raged, and where Colonel Henry Knox remarked the scene was “not unlike that which will be when the last trump shall sound.” We will stand by the small creek where the American cause hung in the balance and where Washington made one his boldest moves of the war by ordering a daring overnight flank march. We will conclude the tour on the fields just south of Princeton, where Washington himself led a charge against British regulars and personally helped secure America’s independence “with a thousand deaths flying around him.”

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to see these incredibly significant sites of American history. Even Civil War historian James McPherson has said that “of all the pivotal moments in American history, none was more important” than this campaign.  Though small battles in terms of numbers, the events changed the course of the war and world history. British historian George Otto Trevelyan stated that “It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater or more lasting results upon the history of the world.”

The tour will take place November 12-14, 2021.  The tour will start on Friday evening at our host hotel, Hyatt Place Princeton. Mark Maloy will do a book talk and give an overview of the campaign. Saturday we will tour sites in Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey.  Sunday morning we will tour Princeton.

Tour fee is $150 per person. The fee includes Friday night book talk, all day tour on Saturday (including lunch and transportation), and half day tour on Sunday (including transportation). Lodging is NOT included in the tour fee. Our host hotel is the Hyatt Place Princeton and there is a room block for $135 a night.

Hotel is located at 3565 US-1, Princeton, NJ 08540.  For reservations, contact 609-720-0200.  Click here to purchase tickets.  We are expecting COVID restrictions to be relaxed by mid-November but will offer refunds if COVID restrictions force a cancellation.

We hope you make plans to join us November 12-14 to visit the sites with us.  Seating on the bus is limited, so buy your tickets early.