^“Washington’s Crossing”, by David H. Fischer, which is a fantastic, readable exposition of the planning  and crossing of the half-frozen Delaware River on Christmas day in 1776, is so well done that when I finished the audio book I read the hardback edition. To give background to the story Fischer details the training of the Continental Army soldiers, the German Hessian mercenaries and the British regulars. Most of the European soldiers were in their army for a career, expecti...