The Indispensables: How the Marblehead Regiment Saved Washington’s Army
The Not Old - Better Show
Paul Vogelzang
5 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Indispensables: How the Marblehead Regiment Saved Washington’s Army
The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series
🎧 They didn’t just serve Washington—they saved the Revolution. Listen now:
👉 https://apple.co/3FAbebT
🪖 They weren't just soldiers. They were fishermen, craftsmen, abolitionists, and immigrants.
🫱🏽🫲🏼 Black, white, Native American, and Hispanic—united not by uniform, but by purpose.
🎙️ On the latest episode of The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates series, I sat down with acclaimed military historian and author Patrick K. O’Donnell to uncover the nearly lost story of The Indispensables—a Marblehead, Massachusetts regiment that quite literally carried the Revolution on their backs... and in their boats.
Patrick O’Donnell will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up and the title of his presentation is The Indispensables: How the Marblehead Regiment Saved Washington’s Army. Check out our show notes today for more details, but we have Smithsonian Associate Patrick O’Donnell today!
🌊 From rowing Washington across the ice-filled Delaware on Christmas night...
⚓ To creating the foundations of the U.S. Navy...
🧪 To leading one of America’s first public health responses to a deadly virus outbreak...
…these soldier-mariners defined what it means to serve a country still being imagined.
📚 Patrick’s storytelling is immersive, human, and deeply researched—bringing back voices that history left behind. Including the “canceled” Revolutionary War-era doctor who was shunned, then went on to save the entire Continental Army.
🇺🇸 This isn’t just a story of battle—it’s a story of character, community, and what happens when ordinary people do extraordinary things.
If you believe in the power of history to teach us something about the present… this one’s worth your time.
🔗 Listen now: https://apple.co/3FAbebT
💬 And if you’re moved by the conversation—drop a comment or share with someone who’d love this.
NotOldBetter #SmithsonianAssociates #AmericanHistory #Leadership #Veterans #MilitaryHistory #RevolutionaryWar #PatrickODonnell #LifelongLearning #AgingBoldly #DiversityInHistory
For more details, please check out Smithsonian Associates:
https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/indispensables
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, |
| 0:05.2 | Smithsonian Associates interview series on radio and podcast. |
| 0:12.1 | The show covering all things health, wellness, culture, and more. |
| 0:16.3 | The show for all of us who aren't old, were better. |
| 0:19.2 | Each week we'll interview superstars, experts, and ordinary people, |
| 0:23.5 | doing extraordinary things, |
| 0:25.3 | all related to this wonderful experience of getting better, not older. |
| 0:29.6 | Now here's your host, the award-winning Paul Vogelzang. |
| 0:33.6 | Thank you. Welcome. |
| 0:48.3 | Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series. I'm Paul Vogel saying. |
| 0:56.4 | And they called them the indispensable. But odds are, unless you're from Marblehead, Massachusetts, |
| 1:02.8 | you've never heard of them. This wasn't just a regiment. This was a brotherhood of white, |
| 1:09.7 | black, Native American, and Hispanic soldier mariners years ahead |
| 1:14.2 | of their time who didn't just fight the revolution. |
| 1:17.5 | They saved it. |
| 1:19.9 | They pulled George Washington from the jaws of total defeat in Brooklyn. |
| 1:24.4 | They braved ice, sleet, and cannon fire to row his armies across the Delaware |
| 1:30.0 | on Christmas night. And yes, they built the beginnings of the U.S. Navy often while their homes |
| 1:36.3 | and families were under threat. Today on the Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates |
| 1:41.6 | Interview Series, we welcome back best-selling author and combat historian, |
| 1:46.2 | Smithsonian Associate Patrick O'Donnell, whose new book, The Indispensibles, tells this electrifying, |
| 1:52.7 | little-known story. Patrick O'Donnell will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up, |
... |
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