Wikipedia

John Glover (general)

For other people named John Glover, seeJohn Glover.

John Glover(November 5, 1732 – January 30, 1797) was an American fisherman, merchant, politician, and military leader fromMarblehead, Massachusetts,who served as abrigadier generalin theContinental Armyduring theAmerican Revolutionary War.[1][2]He is most famous in American history for his role in helping found what would become theUnited States Navy,[3]along with hisregiment rowing Washington across the Delaware,theBattle of Long Island,and leading one of the first integrated regiments in the American Revolution.[4]

John Glover
BornNovember 5, 1732
Salem,Province of Massachusetts
DiedJanuary 30, 1797(1797-01-30)(aged 64)
Occupation(s)Military general, Massachusetts politician, Cordwainer, Fisherman, Rum trader, Merchant
Spouses
  • Hannah Gale
  • Frances Fosdick
Signature

Early life

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Glover was born inSalem, Massachusetts,the son of a house carpenter. When John was four years old, his father died. Shortly thereafter, his mother and three brothers moved to the neighboring town of Marblehead.[5]As a young man, Glover became acordwainerand rum trader and eventually a ship owner and international merchant.[6]He married Hannah Gale in October 1754.[7]

Following theBoston Massacrein 1770,Committees of Correspondencewere formed. Marblehead elected Glover along with future revolutionistsElbridge GerryandAzor Orneto committee posts.[8]After theFirst Continental Congresspassed the non-importation agreements sanctioning trade with the British, Glover was elected to enforce the embargo as a member of the committee of inspection.

In 1773, there was a deadlysmallpoxoutbreak in the town of Marblehead. John Glover along withAzor OrneandElbridge Gerrypetitioned the town of Marblehead for a hospital to be built onCat Island.[9]After the town voted against it out of suspicions, they took it upon themselves to privately build the hospital on the island after receiving permission fromSalem.[9]Known as theEssex Hospital,it was successful in treating majority of the patients. However, many of Marblehead's citizens were still uneasy about it, forcing it to close, with a few locals eventually burning it down.[10]

Military career

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Glover was active in the militia for many years before the Revolution, with his earliest service dating back to 1759.[11]In 1775 he was elected lieutenant colonel of the 21st Massachusetts Regiment from Marblehead, and became commander of the unit after the death of ColonelJeremiah Leein April 1775.

American Navy

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Model in theU.S. Navy Museumof first Navy shipHannah,owned by Glover and named for his wife.

Glover marched his regiment to join thesiege of Bostonin June 1775. At Boston, GeneralGeorge Washingtonchartered Glover's schoonerHannahto raid British supply vessels, the first of manyprivateersor warship authorized by Washington. For this reason theHannahhas been occasionally called the first vessel of theContinental Navyor its later successor theUnited States Navy.[12]

Leader of one of the first integrated American Regiments

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The Marblehead militia or "Glover's Regiment" became the14th Continental Regiment.John Glover was able to raise a regiment of 500 men composed of both his militia and Marblehead mariners, and termed by Washington as soldiers “bred to the sea.”[13]This regiment became known as the "amphibious regiment" for their vital nautical skills. It was composed almost entirely of seamen, mariners and fishermen.[14]Many of these men of were Native Americans, Jewish, African-Americans, and Spanish forming the first integrated units in the newAmerican military.[4]The regiment's muster rolls listed one-third of the men as dark complexioned. A Pennsylvania general was shocked by the “number of negroes” treated as equals in Glover's Regiment.[15]Most of the regiment lived in Marblehead, and came together before the war, fishing in the Grand Banks. At sea, everyone worked toward a common goal, and an individual's background did not matter, a philosophy carried over to the regiment.[4]

Battle of Long Island

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After Washington lost theBattle of Long Island(akaBattle of Brooklyn) in August 1776, Glover's Marbleheaders evacuated the army across theEast RivertoManhattan Islandin a surprise nighttime operation, saving them from being entrapped in their fortified trenches onBrooklyn Heights.[16]In subsequent actions of theNew York campaignthe regiment fought well against the British atKip's Baywhen the Redcoats invaded, landing on Manhattan andPell's Point.

Battle of Trenton

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John Glover's regiment rowed George Washington's troops across the Delaware leading to a victory at the Battle of Trenton

The last action of the regiment was its most famous: ferrying Washington's army on confiscated river coal ore boats from upstreamacross the Delaware Riverat night for a surprise attack onHessian forcesat theBattle of TrentoninNew Jerseyon the morning of December 26, 1776.

Saratoga campaign

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Glover depicted inJohn TrumbullspaintingSurrender of General Burgoynein Saratoga, New York, with Glover depicted 4th from the right.[17]

After Trenton, Glover went home to tend to his sick wife and look to business affairs. He turned down a promotion to brigadier general in February 1777, but rejoined the war and accepted the promotion after a personal appeal from General Washington. As commander of a brigade made up of four Massachusetts regiments, he served in the successfulSaratoga campaignwithGeneral Schuyleralong theHudson Riverin the summer and fall of 1777. He would later join the attack on the British encampment withGeneral Gates,leading to the surrender and capture of 5,791 of soldiers of the British Army under the command ofGeneral John Burgoyne.[9]General Glover was assigned to escort the prisoners back toCambridge, MA,where his regiment was greeted all the way back with victorious cheers by spectators along the road.[9]

West Point and Battle of Rhode Island

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In the winter of 1778, his brigade joined Washington's encampment atValley Forge.In June of that year, Washington assigned him the command ofFort Arnold,atWest Point,where he surpervised the construction of the forts and redoubts in the area.[9]In the following years he would take part inBattle of Rhode Island,where he was able to muster two entire companies in Boston and Salem, with the majority of the volunteers from Marblehead to help reinforce the effort to take back Rhode Island.[9]For the remainder of the war, he was stationed back along the Hudson River atWest Point,guarding against British moves up the river from New York City.

Retirement from military service

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After Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown in October 1781, it would take two years for a peace treaty to be signed, so the army was not yet disbanded. During this time, General Glover was ordered to Massachusetts to take charge and muster recruits. In July 1782, General John Glover retired from the army, due to his failing health and was placed on the half-pay established by a resolution of Congress.[9]

Later life

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Historic photo of 1700sGeneral Glover HouseinSwampscott, MAwhere he retired after his military service

Hannah, Glover's first wife, died in 1778. He married again, in 1781, to widow Frances (Hitchborn) Fosdick, a relative ofPaul Revere.[18]John Glover moved to theGlover Farmin 1782, on the current day border ofMarbleheadandSwampscott.He had purchased it the year before in 1781 from the state, who had confiscated the property from aBritish loyalist.[19]In 1784, theMarquis de Lafayettevisited Glover, who fought with him in the American Revolution during which they "had shared the hardships and victories of the battlefield as well as the friendship of Gen. George Washington."[20]

Political career

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Glover served in local offices including six terms as a town selectman, delegate to the state convention that ratified theU.S. Constitution(1788), and two-term member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives(1788-1789). During his 1789 tour of the United States,President George Washingtonmade a detour to see Glover and thank the residents ofMarbleheadfor their service during the war.[21]

Death

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Glover died on January 30, 1797, after contractinghepatitis.He was buried in a brick tomb in Marblehead'sOld Burial Hill.[22]His death is now commemorated annually byGlover's Regiment,with a memorial lantern procession to his tomb and a three-volley gun salute.[23][24]

Historic residences

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John Glover House,inMarblehead, MA,built in 1762 and a National Historic Landmark
The 1700sGeneral Glover House& Farm inSwampscott, MAas it appears today
Glover's farmhouse in Swampscott, MA later converted into theGeneral Glover Inn

Glover and his family lived in house he built in 1762, now known as theJohn Glover House,aNational Historic Landmark.TheGeneral Glover House,originally built in what was thenSalem,and now inSwampscott,was also built in the 1700s, and it is where Glover lived beginning in 1782 after retiring from the military. The house stands today but was threatened by demolition in 2024,[25][26]resulting in a preservation effort Save the Glover to prevent the loss of Glover's final home.[27]

Memorials and legacy

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Glover's Regiment

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Glover's Tomb atOld Burial Hill,Marbleheadduring Glover's Marblehead Regiment annual commemoration memorial march[33]

In honor of General Glover's legacy, founded for the bicentennial, and continued to this day,Glover's Marblehead Regiment,a dedicated group of re-enactors take part in special events throughout the year commemorating the achievements of Glover and his regiment.[23]

Paintings & Portraits

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The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776,depicting Glover 2nd from the right, byJohn Trumbull.[34]

Books & Literature

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  • A Memoir of General John Glover, of Marbleheadby William P. Upham (1863)
  • History and Traditions of Marbleheadby Samuel Roads (1880)
  • Gen. John Glover and his Marblehead regiment in the Revolutionary War: A paper read before the Marblehead Historical Society,by Nathan P. Sanborn (1903)
  • Glover's Marblehead Regiment,Frank Augustine Gardner, (1908)
  • General John Glover and His Marblehead Mariners,by George Bilias (1960)
  • Washington's Savior: General John Glover and the American Revolution: General John Glover and the American Revolution,by Richard A. Brayall (2013)
  • George Washington's surprise attack: a new look at the battle that decided the fate of America,Thomas Tucker, (2013)
  • The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware,by Patrick K. O'Donnell (2021)
  • Saving Washington's Army: The Brilliant Last Stand of General John Glover at the Battle of Pell's Point, New York, October 18, 1776,by Phillip Thomas Tucker (2022)


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In the 2000 television movieThe Crossing,the part of Glover is a pivotal character, and played bySebastian Roché.[36]

Notes

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  1. ^O'Donnell, Patrick."Glover and the" Indispensables "Save Washington's Army".American Heritage Magazine.69(2): 6.Retrieved10 October2024.
  2. ^Billias, George (1960).General John Glover and his Marblehead Mariners.Henry Holt and Company.
  3. ^Dowdell, Vincent."The Birth Of The American Navy".U.S. Naval Institute.
  4. ^abcLandrigan, Leslie (2013-12-25)."The Red, Black and White Men of Glover's Regiment Take Washington Across the Delaware".New England Historical Society.
  5. ^Billias p.17
  6. ^Billias p.18
  7. ^Billias p.21
  8. ^Billias p.33
  9. ^abcdefgRoads, Samuel (1897).History and Traditions of Marblehead(3rd ed.). Marblehead: Messers N. Allen Lindsey & Co.
  10. ^Harris, Gordon (2022-01-02)."The Marblehead smallpox riot, January 1774".Historic Ipswich.
  11. ^Billias p.60
  12. ^"John Glover".American Battlefield Trust.
  13. ^"John Glover: Sailor, Soldier, Patriot (U.S. National Park Service)".nps.gov.
  14. ^Wilson, J. G.;Fiske, J.,eds. (1900)."Glover, John".Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.New York: D. Appleton.
  15. ^Tucker, Phillip Thomas (2016).George Washington's surprise attack: a new look at the battle that decided the fate of America.New York, NY.ISBN978-1-5107-1973-6.OCLC969381161.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^"Glover's Regiment Crossing Delaware".25 December 2013.
  17. ^"Surrender of General Burgoyne | Architect of the Capitol".aoc.gov.Retrieved2024-08-26.
  18. ^"The Hitchborn Family - Paul Revere's Ride".erenow.org.
  19. ^"Marblehead Magazine Timeline".
  20. ^Peterson, Pam."Lafayette's first visit to Marblehead".Wicked Local.
  21. ^"Founders Online: From George Washington to the Citizens of Marblehead".founders.archives.gov.
  22. ^Billias p.200
  23. ^ab"Glover's Regiment".
  24. ^"Glover's Marblehead Regiment 1 | Old Burial Hill".oldburialhill.org.
  25. ^Pauls, Emily (2023-02-15)."New housing coming to Vinnin Square".Marblehead Weekly News.
  26. ^Pierce, Benjamin (2023-09-13)."Towns unite in attempt to preserve Glover Farmhouse".Marblehead Weekly News.
  27. ^Borghi, Brianna (2023-11-28)."Group hopes to save 250-year-old farmhouse with link to Revolutionary War general".WCVB.
  28. ^Gazetteer of Lamoille and Orleans Counties, VT.; 1883-1884, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887
  29. ^Roberts, Robert B. (1988).Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States.New York: Macmillan. p. 400.ISBN0-02-926880-X.
  30. ^McNamara, John (1991).History in Asphalt.Harrison, NY: Harbor Hill Books. p. 113.ISBN0-941980-15-4.
  31. ^"Smithsonian American Art Museum, General John Glover, (sculpture)".siris-artinventories.si.edu.
  32. ^"St. Paul's Church National Historic Site".npshistory.
  33. ^"14th Continental Glover's Marblehead Regiment".gloversregiment.org.
  34. ^"The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776".Yale University Art Gallery.
  35. ^"Abbot Hall Art – Marblehead Historical Commission".
  36. ^VideoonYouTube,The Crossing,opening credits, retrieved January 3, 2018

References

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