Book excerpt: This work chronicles the story of 400 young men who willingly and knowingly sacrificed themselves to save the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. Holding back 20,000 British and Hessian soldiers, they allowed their comrades to retreat and may have saved the Revolution from immediate defeat. This exhaustively researched account introduces the reader to the background of the battle and the stories of the individuals who fought that day, and includes biographies with extensive quoted material in addition to a general historic overview.