Editor's Note —This is a weekly Patch feature. YARDLEY, PA —When the Delaware River freezes, Yardley Photographer Josh Friedman recalls one of the major moments that led to the birth of a nation.

Emanuel Leutze’s enormous 1851 painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” depicts the general’s journey on Dec. 25, 1776, as he launched a surprise attack on hundreds of Hessian troops ...