Not everything turned out to be as holly, jolly as the 1914 Christmas Truce.

While most people worldwide take a break from their hustling and bustling lives to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year, many soldiers on the battlefront, unfortunately, continued to fight tooth and nail to live another day and defend the peace of those staying at home.

Several significant military actions have occurred during the holidays, including these seven major battles on Christmas Day.

1776 The Daring Cross of the Delaware River

Unabated by the holidays, General George Washington pulled off a Christmas surprise to the Hessians, the German troops hired by the British Army during the American Revolutionary War stationed in Trenton, New Jersey. Washington reasoned that most German mercenaries would be laid back as they commemorated the holidays with all-night revelries—a perfect opportunity to rally his men forward, who was suffering from low morale after consecutive defeats. In addition to the upcoming winter storm, he thought that the enemy would be completely unprepared, and so, late Christmas night, the General led his troops of around 2,400 Continental soldiers and daringly crossed the frigid Delaware River. They arrived at the next day’s dawn and saw a vulnerable Hessian who was most of them still nursing a hangover. In less than two hours of the skirmish, the Continentals defeated the colonists and captured more than 1,000 enemy troops.

washington cross delaware river on christmas
Emanuel Leutze depiction Gen. George Washington’s attack on the Hessians at Trenton on December 26, 1776. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Although relatively minor, the victory Washington and his men achieved on that festive night had boosted the overall morale and renewed the faith in the battle for independence—that the dream was, after all, possible.

1864 The First Battle of Fort Fisher

From fending off the country from colonists to fighting against brothers a century later, divided American soldiers saw little-to-no truce during Christmas—the most famous of which was during the First Battle of Fort Fisher.

For most of the war, North Carolina’s Fort Fisher saw little action until the Christmas of 1864, when the Union decided to capture the last standing port of the Confederates that held vital trading routes on the Atlantic Ocean. Known as the Gibraltar of the Confederacy, the fortress was almost impenetrable. Even a warship loaded with explosives did not take the walls down only alerted the Confederates of the attack. The Union soldiers tried again on Christmas Eve, consecutively bombarding the stronghold fort with heavy cannons, which again failed. The latter attempted heavy firing in the northern portion the following morning so troops could land and attack ashore—but this one also did not work, as the fort remained unscathed.

fort fisher cannon
A Confederate cannon at Fort Fisher, 1865. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Disappointed, the Union finally decided to retreat. This became the most decisive battle of the Civil War, fought in North Carolina and a massive failure for the Union. Nonetheless, the second attempt went well for the North. Waiting off a freak winter storm weeks later, on January 12, 1865, the Union launched another attempt to penetrate the stronghold Fort Fisher, which was successful and ultimately cut off the Confederates from accessing global trades and supplies, catapulting to the end of the Civil War three months later.