The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware

A unique program brought to you by the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy comparing and contrasting WWII History with the American Revolution, based on Patrick O’Donnell’s latest book.

A crossover conversation with bestselling author Patrick O’Donnell and the Museum’s Senior Historian, Dr. Rob Citino

A unique program brought to you by the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy comparing and contrasting WWII History with the American Revolution, based on Patrick O’Donnell’s latest book.

On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced capture or annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The British had trapped George Washington’s forces against the East River, and the fate of the Revolution rested upon the shoulders of the soldier-Mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Serving side-by-side in one of the country’s first diverse units, they pulled off an “American Dunkirk” and saved the army by transporting it across the treacherous waters of the river to Manhattan.

The Marblehead Regiment became indispensable to Washington and the American cause, from Lexington to Bunker Hill and the crossing of the Delaware, and they help set many of the standards for the future American way of war.

Patrick O’Donnell is a bestselling, critically acclaimed military historian and an expert on elite units. The author of 12 books, including WWII titles like First Seals: The Untold Story of the Forging of America's Most Elite Unit; Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc—The Rangers Who Accomplished D-Day's Toughest Mission and Led the Way Across Europe; and Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat, among others. He is a scholar and fellow at Mount Vernon’s Fred W. Smith Library for the Study of George Washington.