John Glover (November 5, 1732January 30, 1797) was an American fisherman, merchant, and military leader from

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attache ...

, who served as a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Early life

Glover was born in Salem, Province of Massachusetts, the son of a house carpenter. When John was four years old, his father died. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to the nearby town of Marblehead.Billias p.17 As a young man, Glover became a

cordwainer A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...

and rum trader and eventually a ship owner and merchant.Billias p.18 He married Hannah Gale in October 1754.Billias p.21 Following the

Boston Massacre The Boston Massacre (known in Great Britain as the Incident on King Street) was a confrontation in Boston on March 5, 1770, in which a group of nine British soldiers shot five people out of a crowd of three or four hundred who were harassing t ...

in 1770, Committees of Correspondence were formed. Marblehead elected Glover along with future revolutionists

Elbridge Gerry Elbridge Gerry (; July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American Founding Father, merchant, politician, and diplomat who served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1 ...

and Azor Orne to committee posts.Billias p.33 After the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Nav ...

passed the non-importation agreements sanctioning trade with the British, Glover was elected to enforce the embargo as a member of the committee of inspection.

Military career

Glover was active in the militia for many years before the Revolution, with his earliest service dating back to 1759.Billias p.60 In 1775 he was elected lieutenant colonel of the 21st Massachusetts Regiment from Marblehead, and became commander of the unit after the death of Colonel

Jeremiah Lee The Jeremiah Lee Mansion is a historic house located in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It is operated as a house museum by the local historical society. Built in 1768, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 as one of the finest Late ...

in April 1775. Glover marched his regiment to join the

siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular town ...

in June 1775. At Boston, General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

chartered Glover's schooner '' Hannah'' to raid British supply vessels, the first of many

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s or warship authorized by Washington. For this reason the ''Hannah'' has been occasionally called the first vessel of the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Ad ...

or its later successor the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. The Marblehead militia or "Glover's Regiment" became the

14th Continental Regiment The 14th Continental Regiment, also known as the Marblehead Regiment and Glover's Regiment, was raised as a Massachusetts militia regiment in 1775, and taken into the Continental Army establishment during the summer of 1775. When the Continent ...

. This regiment became known as the "amphibious regiment" for their vital nautical skills. It was composed almost entirely of seamen, mariners and fishermen. After Washington lost the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

(aka

Battle of Brooklyn The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...

) in August 1776, Glover's Marbleheaders evacuated the army across the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

Manhattan Island Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

in a surprise nighttime operation, saving them from being entrapped in their fortified trenches on

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...

. In subsequent actions of the

New York campaign The New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 was a series of American Revolutionary War battles for control of the Port of New York and the state of New Jersey, fought between British forces under General Sir Will ...

the regiment fought well against the British at

Kip's Bay Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a neighborhood on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by 34th Street (Manhattan), East 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, East 27th and/or 23rd Streets to th ...

when the Redcoats invaded, landing on Manhattan and Pell's Point. The last action of the regiment was its most famous: ferrying Washington's army on confiscated river coal ore boats from upstream across the Delaware River at night for a surprise attack on Hessian forces at the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

on the morning of December 26, 1776. The regiment was disbanded as enlistments expired at year's end. 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 successful

Saratoga campaign The Saratoga campaign in 1777 was an attempt by the British high command for North America to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley during the American Revolutionary War. It ended in the surrender of the British ...

along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

in the summer and fall of 1777 and the failed

Battle of Rhode Island The Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill) took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and Militia forces under the command of Major General John Sullivan had been besieging the British forces in Newport, Rhode Isl ...

in 1778. He was stationed along the Hudson River for the remainder of the war, guarding against British moves up the river from New York City.

Later life

Hannah, Glover's first wife, died in 1778. He married again, in 1781, to widow Frances (Hitchborn) Fosdick. He retired from the army in 1782 in poor health, and returned to his business interests. He served in local offices including town selectman, delegate to the state convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution (1788), and member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1788-1789). He retired to Glover Farm in 1782, on the border of Marblehead and Swampscott which he purchased after the war from the state from property that once belonged to a British loyalist. The house and farm property still exist today, having been converted to an Inn, and then restaurant before closing in the late 1990s and left abandoned today. He died in Marblehead in 1797 after contracting

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

and was buried in Old Burial Hill (Marblehead, Massachusetts).Billias p.200

Memorials

On November 20, 1783, he was awarded the charter for the town of

Glover, Vermont Glover is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 1,114. It contains two unincorporated villages, Glover and West Glover. The town is named for Brigadier General John Glover, wh ...

, as its prime proprietor, in honor of his service. Fort Glover in Marblehead, originally built for the Revolutionary War as the Huit's Head Battery, was named for him when rebuilt in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

. The frigate was named for him. Glover's Rock in the Bronx is a memorial to him. Glover School in Marblehead was named after him in 1916. There is a statue of Glover on Commonwealth Avenue in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The

General John Glover House The General John Glover House is a National Historic Landmark at 11 Glover Street in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It is a -story gambrel-roofed colonial built in 1762 by John Glover (general), John Glover (1732–1797), a local merchant, politic ...

is located in Marblehead. Glover Field in

Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages ...

is named for him.

Glover's Regiment

In honor of General Glover's Legacy, founded for the bicentennial, and continue to this day, a dedicated group of re-enactors take part in special events throughout the year commemorating the achievements of Glover and his regiment.

Books

*History and Traditions of Marblehead by Samuel Roads *General John Glover and His Marblehead Mariners by George Bilias (1960) *The Indispensables by Patrick K. O'Donnell (2021)

Popular culture

In the 2000 television movie ''The Crossing'', the part of Glover is a pivotal character, and played by

Sebastian Roché Sebastian Roché (born 4 August 1964) is a French-American actor. He is known for his roles as Kurt Mendel in ''Odyssey 5'', Jerry Jacks in ''General Hospital'', Thomas Jerome Newton in ''Fringe'', Balthazar in ''Supernatural'', Mikael in both ...

., ''The Crossing'', opening credits, retrieved January 3, 2018

Notes

References

* *Fowler, William M. "Glover, John". ''

American National Biography Online The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Lea ...

'', February 2000.
General John Glover and His Marblehead Mariners by George Bilias. 1903

Glover's Regiment. 1908
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, John 1732 births 1797 deaths Colonial American merchants People of colonial Massachusetts Continental Army generals Continental Army officers from Massachusetts Glover, Vermont Infectious disease deaths in Massachusetts People from Marblehead, Massachusetts American privateers Continental Navy Deaths from hepatitis