Patrick K. ODonnell - The Indispensables

Delaware River, Christmas Day, 1776

Trailing blood in the snow, the largely shoeless army marched to the boats at night in the midst of the storm as sleet pelted their bodies. At the Delawares edge, the Marblehead men packed General George Washingtons army into the vessels. They began crossing the fast-flowing, ice chunkfilled riveran impossible task for even the most experienced sailors. With the morning rapidly approaching, every moment counted to maintain the element of surprise against the Hessian garrison at Trenton. Despite the odds, Colonel John Glovers soldier-mariners pressed on.

In the winter of 1776, a pall of gloom and the prospect of capitulation hovered over the nascent United States. The Continental Army had endured one crushing defeat after another. The ragtag fighting force had attenuated from over eighteen thousand strong to several thousand men. With most enlistments set to expire on December 31, 1776, it would shrink to mere hundreds, largely barefoot and starving. As Washington direly confided in a letter to his brother, I think the game is pretty near up.

To turn the tide, the commander in chief staked the entire war on a desperate gamble, engaging in some of the most difficult maneuvers of the Revolutionary War: a night attack, an assault river crossing in the middle of a noreaster, and a strike on the British-controlled town of Trenton. The ominous countersign Victory or Death marked the gravity of the operation.

In these extreme circumstances, Washington turned to the only group of men he knew had the strength and skill to deliver the army to TrentonJohn Glovers Marblehead Regiment. The indispensable men miraculously transported Washington and the bulk of his army across the Delaware in the heart of the raging storm, without a casualty. Two sizable portions of the army not guided by the Marbleheaders failed to cross that night. But the courage and nautical talent of the Indispensables allowed the army and the mariners to play a vital role in the land battle that changed the course of the Revolutionary War. Through their own initiative, without orders, the Marbleheaders captured a crucial bridge at Trenton that sealed the fate of the battle as a decisive American victory.

On numerous occasions, the American Revolution would have met an early, dramatic demise had it not been for the SEAL-like operations and extraordinary battlefield achievements of this diverse, unsung group of men and their commander. Their powerful ideas and influence shaped the Revolution and a young country. Marbleheaders formed the origins and foundation of the American navy, and Marblehead captains smuggled or seized crucial suppliesincluding precious gunpowder, an absolute necessity, without which the Revolution would cease to exist. The creation of a navy contributed to the formation of a sovereign and independent country.

Prior to the Revolution, Marblehead faced a deadly epidemic spurring profound political divisions that would play a role in the Revolution. Experience gained from that event would have an impact on one of George Washingtons most consequential decisions: to inoculate the army. When a virus threatened the Continental Armys very existence, an uncelebrated Marblehead fighting surgeon would rise to the occasion and save the troops.

Marbleheaders played a leading role forging an elite unit: the Commander in Chiefs Guard or Life Guardwho protected Washington. A motley group of mariners from Massachusetts, the Indispensables, had pasts checkered by smuggling and privateering. A more diverse collection of individuals than any other unit in the Continental Army, the Marblehead Regiment included free African Americans and Native Americans within its ranks, making it one of Americas first multiethnic units. This inclusiveness and unity, which tragically would not be seen again in Americas armed forces for nearly two centuries, created a dynamic military unit that produced remarkable results. This book is a Band of Brothersstyle history of the events and people who spearheaded and shaped the pre-Revolution and the Revolution. Rather than providing a regimental history, The Indispensables focuses on their actions and humanizes these extraordinary individuals. This narrative is a microcosm that reveals a broader storyat sea, on land, and, to a lesser extent, on the home front and in the legislature. At numerous inflection points within the Revolutionthe Battle of Brooklyn, Pells Point, Trenton, and othersthe Marbleheaders were at the right place at the right time to change history forever.