VIOLENT BIRTHRIGHT: 4/8 The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware by Patrick K. O'Donnell (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.6 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 25 August 2025
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
https://www.amazon.com/Indispensables-Marbleheads-Soldier-Mariners-Washington-Delaware/dp/0802156894
On 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 Washington’s 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 country’s first diverse units, they pulled off an “American Dunkirk” and saved the army by transporting it across the treacherous waters of the river to Manhattan.
In the annals of the American Revolution, no group played a more consequential role than the Marbleheaders. At the right time in the right place, they repeatedly altered the course of events, and their story shines new light on our understanding of the Revolution. As acclaimed historian Patrick K. O’Donnell dramatically recounts, beginning nearly a decade before the war started, and in the midst of a raging virus that divided the town politically, Marbleheaders such as Elbridge Gerry and Azor Orne spearheaded the break with Britain and shaped the nascent United States by playing a crucial role governing, building alliances, seizing British ships, forging critical supply lines, and establishing the origins of the US Navy.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In today's fast-changing digital world, proving your company's trustworthy isn't just important for growth. |
| 0:06.6 | It's essential. That's why Vanta is here. Vanta helps companies of all sizes get compliant, fast, |
| 0:13.0 | and stay that way with their proprietary AI, automation and continuous monitoring. |
| 0:17.8 | So whether you're a startup tackling your first SOC 2 or ISO-27-001 or an enterprise |
| 0:24.6 | managing vendor risk, Vanta's trust management platform makes it quicker, easier and more scalable. It even |
| 0:31.3 | helps you complete security questionnaires up to five times faster, so you can close bigger deals |
| 0:36.7 | sooner. And the impact? According to a |
| 0:39.3 | recent IDC study, Vanta customers cut over $500,000 a year in costs and boost productivity by three |
| 0:46.9 | times. Establishing trust isn't optional. Vanta makes it automatic. Visit vanta.com slash go to sign up for a free demo today. That's V-A-N-T-A.com |
| 0:58.2 | slash G-O. |
| 1:04.8 | This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Baxter with the author Patrick O'Donnell. His new book, |
| 1:09.6 | The Indispensibles. |
| 1:11.6 | The diverse soldier mariners who shaped the country formed the Navy and rode Washington across the Delaware. |
| 1:17.8 | Arriving in July of 1775, straight from the Congress is George Washington to take command. |
| 1:25.9 | What was the Marblehead opinion of Washington when he first |
| 1:29.1 | arrived? Were they affectionate towards him as they became? George Washington needed a headquarters, |
| 1:37.0 | and that headquarters was at the Vassal House, and it was the Marbleheaders that were guarding the |
| 1:43.5 | vassal house. That's where they encamped. |
| 1:45.8 | And Washington develops a very unique and important relationship with the marble headers. |
| 1:50.9 | He trusts them. |
| 1:52.5 | And that bond of trust is something that will extend through the entire revolution. |
| 1:58.3 | And they guard Washington, and it's here at the vassal house that, you know, |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 26 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.