the Americans were losing their life-and-death struggle against Great Britain for independence, and were losing badly. Their rag-tag army was in retreat. Their small navy had been swept from the seas. Congress was in a panic. The fate of a fragile nation, the fate of the Revolution, was hanging by a thread. Prospects looked very grim for the rebels.

In the spring of 1779,

Meanwhile, across the ocean, the twenty-five (or so)-year-old

Ryan and his Irishmen were indifferent to the war. They ran a profitable operation, smuggling French brandy, Dutch tea, arms, and other assorted materials between Dunkirk and Dublin.

Ryan was the master of the fastest ship on the water, too, named Friendship.