and then it sets up roughly a week later, the second battle of trenton. where washington does not necessarily want to fight, but his hand is sort of forced by a militia group. the philadelphia associate years which go over a little early without orders. in washington decides to reinforce them. they hold a key bridge against all odds. half the regiment may be a lesser little bit more it's really hard to tell, stays with washington. the other group is exhausted. that group that stays by the battle of princeton and they

change the course of history ten crucial days completed change the course of the battles. it's the marble headers, they make a difference. but the story does not end there. what i mean by that is it's a marblehead or once again saves the army. first i want to go through several characters of the book so you get a feel for what this book is about. john glover. john glover is a self-made man he is a cobbler and also a bartender. with the money he makes from

bartending is able to buy a ship and it more ships and becomes a very wealthy man within marblehead through trading. an marblehead fortunes are made on fish. caught is the and marblehead. it is a of the economy massachu. they fish the grand banks are se most treacherous waters in the world at the time. it's i see there's thousands of miles away from boston they sale up there they gather fish and it is a life-and-death situation at times against these giant waves, against storms. but they are working together. marblehead is a diverse

community. it has native americans they can have free african-americans. it has hispanic americans. these individuals are ahead of my time. no progressive talent for their time. many of the men in the indispensable's are ardent abolitionists. they were at the forefront of american civil rights before there were civil rights. they are pushing for the abolition of slavery. these crews are diverse that are working together. it's also a situation where the crown is interfering with their lives. they're interviewing with their lives there john is pressed by the reddish navy.

you are going to be a member of the royal navy you are effectively a slave for life. that individual is taken aboard a royal navy ship and made a member of the royal navy for life. there is no freeing that individual unless they escape and some did. this is a factor that causes a break from great britain. it's one of the factors predict sessa regulation, enterprises are regulated by the crown 3000 miles away. in 1775 something would be established for the crown would literally not allow the marble headers which caused a great deal of resentment.

their government was changed. all of these issues a political change within the colonies within marblehead. marblehead would become that mainspring of the revolution. it was the marble headers that would play a critical role in this. but in 1773 and 74 the ships also brought home with it a virus. that changed america and change the town for the town would be divided politically. a virus was smallpox. people attend would be infected. the patriots in the town came up with a novel plan to create an inoculation hospital to publicly deal with the virus itself. which was causing these political fissures and causing massive death. if you're familiar with

smallpox it would cause pustules across the face in the back to scar people and it would kill you in many cases. it was highly contagious. they set up test houses to contain the virus. the inoculation hospital which was cutting heads for the time was set up by john glover, daniel bond and many of the other main characters in this book. the loyalists were not on board yet. and as the hospital started to produce results, it also produced some infections. which the loyalists used to their advantage to incite the mob. dozens of a man rode on boats to cat island where the inoculation hospital was in place and they burn it to ground with the people inside. remarkably nobody was killed.

but the loss of the hospital casa john glover and the other patriots in the town over 2000 pounds in damages. they put out for the share to get the men who had done that. they seize those individuals and brought for trial. the loyalists in the town use the situation of the virus to incite the mob and they attacked the jail with hundreds of individuals. they broke into the doors of the jails with axes and crowbars and freed the two men. and at that point the main characters of the book, their houses are surrounded by the angry mob. which are bent on potentially killing them all. john glover came up with a novel solution to deal with the problem. his version of self-defense was to wheel a canon inside the foyer of his house.

i recall find the original papers from his family i will fix and was his quote. as the mob circled the house ready to kill him he order the doors thrust open and the cannon was there in the foyer facing the mob. he had a torch in his hand and he told them to disperse and they did. he made his stand and it was emblematic of how john glover would conduct himself to the rest of the war. and it is here they are bringing in the main supplies of gun powder through their contacts with pain, prior to the revolutionary war and as the war moves forward john glover's involved in concorde is involved in the other

battles and he also has general washington prior to the battle of bunker hill and it is here that john glover forges a very special relationship with the commander-in-chief and informs a level of trust. and his trust it is general washington who looks upon john glover to solve a problem for him. gun powder is essential as john adams says the colonists had plenty of guns. they had no gunpowder. and that british and they tried to disarm us through gunpowder. it would be the contacts that the marble headers had was spain that brought in that crucial gunpowder. would also be a novel way washington would try to capture more gunpowder by attacking the british stores and halifax.

he needed a ship or ships to do that operation. so we turn to john glover to create a navy. in the navy, which is really preposterous is to take basically a fishing vote that john glover had, which is about 74 tons. and somehow take on the greatest navy of the world at the time the royal navy. that is exactly what they did. they attacked british ships. in the story of the navy is extraordinary. some of the most colorful captains in american history. the red dragon that is a giant cloak as an incredible sense of humor. martindale who decides to outfit a ship with six guns but spend a lavish amount of money. but as soon as the ship gets out of court he's immediately captured by the british. he sells out his to the

british at trial. martindale is really amazing story. they put his crew in irons they impressed and royal navy vessels. he is free to some of his officers. he makes his way to maine where he is imprisoned as well by the british navy. but somehow escapes on foot and makes his way down the east coast all the way to washington. spinning tales -- grand tales of his heroics in the process. and goes on to fight again but is lost at sea. there are so many amazing stories within the navy itself, they attacked canada without authorization. there is a mutiny, one of the first in united states history. but they also capture critical

partnerships at the right time at the right place. another individual i would like to talk about is doctor nathaniel bond. harvard trained resurrection us. a resurrection us is a body snatcher. doctor bond -- mike there's a critical shortage of cadavers at the time. people -- doctors would rated graveyards to snatcher bodies to work on them to find out their anatomy. but doctor bond is really an extraordinary hero. he is on cat island, working on the inoculation. it is here that he saved many marble headers. he is at the forefront of smallpox. it is his specialty it is his expertise. doctor bond is a member of the marblehead regiment and trains with them, drills with them. he participates in the battle

of lexington and concorde. according to his hippocratic oath which he follows very seriously he treats the british soldiers that are wounded he is canceled. the patriot in the town believe he is now a loyalist. and his house is surrounded. and he writes an extraordinary letter which i have here in my hand. the original parchment that begs for his life. there are thousands of people are when kill him in any moment. please send a detail of men to a court-martial so we can reveal the true acts of what happened. he can find in his true friends, joseph warren and they have the court-martial per the facts are revealed. doctor bond is exonerated from

fake crimes, he did not do anything wrong he just helps people which is what he was supposed to do. but instead of melting away and not being happy with the situation he decided to fight. he joined the marblehead regiment as their surgeon. doctor bond then goes on to be a company commander. he fights through all the major battles of the american revolution. extraordinary in and of itself. at the battle of trenton what about half that regiment goes back to marblehead they may have a reason for going back. marblehead at the time is economically devastated. many of their wives are starving. they go back to protect their wives, their loved ones and their families. the doctor stays on along with many other men. they continue to stay on

washington himself that asked doctor bond to inoculate the army. at the time the virus was killing nearly 20% of the army. he was being devastated by it. and doctor bond sets up all of the inoculation facilities. he supervises and manages the entire process. and inoculates the army. one claims is washington's greatest strategic decision to inoculate the army. they are able to fight and continue the battle. but for it, the man who was initially canceled the man who was initially labeled a loyalist dies. perishes from his own basically inoculating the army. those are some of the characters in the book. along with forgotten founder,

my favorite word for him is rumple terrien. kind of in ornery guy that was birdlike, skinny. he was the intellectual mainstream and many ways of the early revolution. he leaves and republicanism with a small are. it is service to country over self. and he takes abstract concepts and really makes in reality. it also takes one of the largest trading fleets in the colonies which he and his family owned and converts them in supply lines. as i mentioned earlier the necessary was gunpowder. all the major operations that the british were conducting at the early part of the war were to take in disarm americans.

and take our vital supply of gunpowder. without gunpowder no revolution could be thoughts. it's scary that comes up with the concept pretty swung the first in writing that talks about foreign alliances and other marblehead others to forge the alliance with spain. it is through his contacts that last 30 ass that have gone on for 20 or 30 years. it forge the bible relationship to bring in the colonies. gerrymandering is named after him. bill of rights the electoral college all these things are part. the last am going to talk about very quickly is the diverse members of this unit. in many cases we only know them by their first name. in some it's a roman name it's

cato for these are extraordinary individuals. the regiment is not necessarily, strength is there diversity of their greatest strength was there unity. there working together as a team manual soda, cough would cato prince, looked at their pension files these men died penniless. as most epic and great operations of the war. bringing the marblehead regiment the army to safety. they're all extraordinary what

they did. diversity and model we would not see tragically for over 170 years in america's armed forces. these are the men that were in, men and women cover some incredible women in this book as well. they were at the right place at the right time. the sacrifices they made us separate. marblehead alone has 600 widows the end of the american revolution. it is that story was that sacrifice was the reason i wrote indispensable's. and that i think most americans do not necessarily

appreciate. our founding story is our greatest story. it is marble headers change the course. thank you very much and happy to take questions. a great introduction to this book. the question i like michelle did a diverse group become a cohesive unit think of modern soldiers acting as one. how are they successful? how did they make that happen? to make a lot of it has to do with what happened prior to the revolution. and many cases, many of these men were on fishing boats where life and death decisions had to be made within seconds.

and the color of your skin or race was irrelevant. it's about trust. this trust and teamwork was forged over time. they forge bonds of friendship, they were bonds of family to where they literally, many of the men in this unit were very interconnected with familiar tides and best friends. there is no desertion. i found a couple of examples which is unheard of for the 18th century as those connections with family and community that tied them together. another question coming in from elizabeth hickey. what happens next?

after the they return home? become privateers, become odyssey one example. he tells more about the afterlife? >> is a complicated story. half the unit may be happy and it stays with this is an extraordinary moment. after a right before the battle washington uses his great or teary abilities to beg and plead the army to state. many step forward and serve. many of them are marble headers. betty of them die including doctor bond. john glover along with other members of the marblehead regiment return home to

marblehead. he forms is part of a new brigade they form a new regiment. they take to the sea and the great captains of the greatest fighting captains of the revolutionary war. credit scenes of shit to ship fighting. the ultimate repairs on the fly it's really quite extraordinary story of american ingenuity.

many of them become privateers. unlike washington's navy where they were members of the army that were literally at sea they are slightly different but working in the employ of the massachusetts government in many cases. many of them die including the son who dies at sea. many of them are never seen again. spoke another question that has commenced a little specific but there's a great story. justin cherry is another fellow the washington library that asks about the average age of the regiment. what you tells about that? are the young, are they old, is our wide range? >> i was able to take the muster rolls that existed. it is fragmentary. the average age was around 24

for many of the men. but it varied. their office so older men and younger men. the book also captures a story of boy soldiers. and in many cases they were drummer boys. music was a very important part of being able to communicate 18th century battle. he needed to relay orders. many of the younger members were musicians, drums or pipers they went to war with their fathers. we have some really extraordinary stories of father and son teams in the book. stress a good question about the recognition. i was so your book is a good example of how centuries later we can still discover the service. what kind of recognition did these received during their

lifetime? >> most of these men and women received zero recognition. in fact said them were bankrupt after the war. what you see in the pension file applications after the war, if they were lucky enough to even make it that long, they are penniless. this is especially true for the soldier mariners of color. they are extremely impoverished. grover himself is racked with ptsd. we can divine that the letters to washington or he is not able to sleep marblehead was a source of great wealth in massachusetts prior to the war. it was the second largest city it's really reduced to a shell after the war. an individual families are greatly impoverished. in the book itself in 1777-76

i bring out the women of the town and marblehead. beverly is also an important part of this book as well. one of the companies led by captain brown is beverly and they have their base there. they literally riots. and the women of the town take up muskets and raid the food stores of the town because they are starving. this is a gritty, gritty war. it is a civil war where americans are pitted against americans. they are impoverished to different war than most people read in their grade school history books. >> another question coming up from the audience. i'm excited to hear your thoughts on this one. from kamala about how did glover manage to bring together so many different people in this regiment? can you talk a little bit are

there thoughtful and deliberate things somebody like glover needs to do in order to make this happen? or did it come out of the community from which he came? >> and think it comes out of the community. there was no effort to coerce people to serve. i think that's an important element of this book. they willingly served. and in many cases it is the poorest members of the community as well as the elite members of the community are all serving together side-by-side. you have got literally glover, gary, jeremiah lee for instance, these are exceptional jeremiah lee in particular was one of the wealthiest men in the colonies. he is initially their colonel. serving with the other members of the community which are not well off at all. and they are not doing it

under coercion. they are doing it because they feel it is their duty. what i find really extraordinary is the amount of sacrifice as the war progresses. the community itself is bankrupt. there is a tremendous amount of pressure to return home to give up the war. most of these men or many of these men continued their service against all odds. which i find is extraordinary. it's great opportunity to ask the george washington questioner for they share an intimacy did have a candid and frank relationship with one another? >> that relationship is an

important one is why the marble headers are the indispensable ones in early 1775 takes over the headquarters it's the marble headers that are in some ways the first two to guard the headquarters he forms a very intimate relationship of trust with john glover and with the adjutant of that unit at the time, caleb gibbs. who later becomes in charge of the commander-in-chief's daughter. this relationship is incredibly important. washington can trust these men

of the most crucial inflection points of the war. in places entitled trust on the shoulders of the marblehead. you bring us across the river and chooses don't worry about that my boys have got it. glover had the confidence in his men and washington had confidence in the marble headers. as i said earlier, i've washington was in dispensary man at the revolution was the marble headers were the indispensable men of the revolution. >> margo has a great question. about the training, what comes into shaping the ability of this wonderful regiment?

was it life experience? was it fishing was at the experience coming in long before the war broke out? how are they taught there was more to it to effectively be the regiment they became. he met the man had undergone training as a militia unit prior to the war. they would train in the grounds, in and around marblehead. it was not necessarily taken very seriously because they've got to the tavern "after words" and drink punch and grog after the training. but it really forge these men is what was said is arguably the greatest fighting unit to take arms for the knighted states. their experience prior to the war fishing in the grand banks.

from the royal navy from impressment but also mother nature and some of the greatest sees at the time. the grand banks were unforgiving. every year hundreds of men die from the sea. these hard men were very, very tough. also some very hard drinkers to but that's another story. they were very tough individuals. we talked about some water crossings when involved in other campaigns in the south and the southern campaign of the war. glover would operate from the

north primarily. there is a handful of individuals that may have effectively served in the south and other units because they traveled that way. for the most part they did not operate in the south. but the story of the marblehead men is really unique in terms of the special operations units. were they for instance conducted raids against the british. a couple weeks before the battle of brooklyn were several men had died or perished as they drove their ships, flaming ships directly into what was effectively british battleships. in one of those marble headers perished several perished in the process. it's really extraordinary

story of heroism. >> another question i'm curious to ask this might be my last opportunity because running out of time together. justin posted a question early on i'm excited here thoughts about, about leadership he asked about leadership quality washington had we might learn from bird ask you to expand that a little bit. not just washington but other figures including glover. is there a leadership trait of individuals who are willing to sacrifice their very lives and their fortunes for their cause, for their country. it is mind boggling in many ways to to describe this

at the end of the war many of these individuals were penniless and they were broken men. physically as well as emotionally and to thank is and allowing me to really conduct research on one of the finest facilities in america and i've never found a better place than here. it's a special place and i'm just extremely grateful for the opportunity to be here to

conduct research and to write the book. >> the book is "the indispensables". this is the official look release and so thrilled to have you here to talk about this book. buy it now. we have available and thank you so much for being here with us tonight. patrick o'donnell. >> thank you. it's an honor kevin, thank you.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪