It floated over them from the southwest, as silent as a cloud on a winter day. Between 2500 and 3000 feet across, it looked like a circular shield slowly rotating in the sky. Below, men reacted as their natures demanded. Some stood and stared. Others rushed about in near panic. Officers tried to calm their men and return order to the ranks.Moving against the slight wind, it took its position above the battlefield. It hung there, like a great wheel, slowly rotating. Lights from windows, brighter than any candle, shown out on its underside.

Below frightened men watched in alarm. The defeated, huddled in close masses surrounded by the victors. Until just a moment ago they trembled with the thought of being at the mercy of the Americans. The victors, cold, hungry, but filled with the thrill of first victory, forgot their charges and looked up at thing in the sky.

“General Washington, what shall we do?”

“We must leave Trenton. Take the hessians under guard and have the men return to the river, Mr. Hamilton.”