The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the DelawareOn 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 Washingtons 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 countrys first diverse units, they pulled off an American Dunkirk and saved the army by transporting it