I'm somewhat confused at this question, but will give my best to answer it.
Spartan soldiers helped save retreating members of the Greek army:
against a force of three hundred Persian troops - this surely is false, as there never was a three hundred strong Persian force.
against the strength of the Athenian navy - this doesn't make much sense either, as the Athenian navy was Greek, so there's no reason for Spartan soldiers to defend greeks against the Athenian navy.
at the Battle of Marathon - the Spartans were not involved in this battle as they were celebrating a religious festival at the time.
The most likely answer is therefore at the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small Spartan contingent of soldiers stayed to defend the frontiers of their borders in order to enable the rest of the army that was with them at the time, to retreat.
Critics of the Articles of Confederation argued that it was far too "weak" in the sense that it didn't give the federal government enough power over the states. This became especially evident after Shays' Rebellion, which proved very difficult to put down.
