sailors among john glover's famed marblehead boys who helped to evacuate washington's army from brooklyn heights in august 1776. the same heroes would row the commanding general across the delaware on christmas night four months later. in emanuel leutze's iconic painting a new hampshire officer's slave named prince whipple stands beside washington. at valley forge, washington welcomed rhode island's offer of black troops entrusted to the command of john lawrence, a radically minded young south carolinian who dissented from his region's prevailing views on race. clearly moved by the effusive lines of verse directed his way by the first of her race to have a book of poetry published. in the spring of 1776, washington saw to it that ms. wheatley's poem appeared in "the pennsylvania" magazine. this was remarkable enough. still more improbable was the general's invitation to "miss phyllis," as he addressed her to call upon him at his army headquarters in cambridge, massachusetts. quote, i shall be happy to see a person so favored by the muses, wrote washington, and to whom nature has been so liberal