The Winter Patriots

As a middle and high school history teacher, this short will not only captivate students in classroom across America - it has the power to encourage viewers of all ages to deeply appreciate our nation's founding. Beautifully filmed with dynamic action shots, compellingly clear visuals (to include maps), and historically accurate material culture, this well-researched, narrated gem won't become outdated in digital or educational realms anytime soon. Teachers can utilize this short to support a variety of objectives and outcomes. Educators should preview the short to assess for valuable keywords, character case-studies, and lesson activities. I highly recommend "The Winter Patriots" to anyone who wants to be inspired by the courage and character of those who fought for our nation's independence.

Despite officially declaring our independence from Great Britain things were not looking that good in December of 1776 for the nascent USA. It was that time so depicted in that immortal painting of Washington crossing the Delaware River from Pennsylvania back to New Jersey where Washington pulled a couple of rabbits from the hat and defeated the British with their paid Hessian troops from the Hanover holdings in Germany at the Battle of Trenton.

Only a crazy guy who only made it with a third of his forces over the Delaware would have pulled a play like that. But Washington took a gamble on a longshot, he went for broke and it paid off.

The documentary is well done and the military moves of both sides are nicely explained so that more than a military cadet taking a class in tactics can understand.

Fine film and it certainly explains for today's audience why Washington was held in the esteem he was back in the day.