On an October afternoon in 1777, six hundred cold, hungry Americans waited behind a half-finished wall of mud and timber. Across the field marched two thousand Hessians, drums beating, flags bright in the smoke. The British expected an easy victory. What they got instead was one of the bloodiest, fastest defeats of the war. For forty minutes at Fort Mercer—better known as the Battle of Red Bank—the outnumbered defenders shattered the enemy, sank two British warships, and bought George Washington the time he needed to get his army to Valley Forge.

But there’s more to this story than cannons and courage. It’s about forgotten heroes, Black and Native soldiers written out of history, and a recent discovery that’s forced us to face the battle’s human cost all over again.