The Indispensables

Fraunces Tavern Museum

In this lecture, recorded August 19, 2021, Patrick O’Donnell discusses how the Marbleheaders repeatedly altered the course of events during the Revolution—from forming the elite Guard that protected General Washington to ferrying Continental forces across the Delaware River on Christmas night of 1776. White, Black, Hispanic, and Native American, this uniquely diverse group of soldiers set an inclusive standard the US Army would not reach again for more than 170 years.