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.