midnight
Just before their rush , the cause of American liberty was in great peril . Just after it , the victory of Trenton was secure . So it is set down in written history , and there are a great many curious statements made by historians . This was a sort of midnight , it is said , -- the dark hour of the Revolutionary War . Manhattan Island , with its harbor and its important military and naval features , had been definitely lost to the Americans and occupied by the British . Its defences had been so developed that it was now practically unassailable by any force which the patriots could bring against it . From this time forward its harbor and bay were to be the safe refuge and rendezvous of the fleets of the king of England .