John Glover
BIRTH
Nov 5, 1732
Salem, Massachusetts
DEATH
January 30, 1797
Marblehead, Massachusetts
FAMILY
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Glover, John
(1732-1797)
John Glover was an American fisherman, merchant, politician, and military leader from Marblehead, Massachusetts, who served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is most famous in American history for his role in helping found what would become the United States Navy, along with his regiment rowing Washington across the Delaware, the Battle of Long Island, and leading one of the first integrated regiments in the American Revolution.
BIRTHPLACE:
MARKER
Birthplace of John Glover Marker
26-28 St Peter St, Salem, MA 01970
GRAVE:
GRAVE
Old Burial Hill Cemetery
91 Pond Street, Marblehead, Massachusetts, 01945, USA
5
Mary Hooper
Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Old South Meeting House | 310 Washington St, Boston, MA 02108 | MUSEUM | ||
Evacuation of Brooklyn Marker | Main Street, New York, New York, 11201, USA | MARKER | ||
Fort Sewall Marker | 8 Fort Sewall Ln, Marblehead, MA 01945 | MARKER | ||
Birthplace of John Glover Marker | 26-28 St Peter St, Salem, MA 01970 | MARKER | ||
Brookland Ferry Landing Marker | Pier 1, Furman St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 | MARKER |
DIED:
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Jan 30, 1797
Glover was born in Salem, 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. As a young man, Glover became a cordwainerand rum trade and eventually a ship owner and international merchant. He married Hannah Gale in October 1754. Following the Boston Massacre in 1770, Committees of Correspondence were formed. Marblehead elected Glover along with future revolutionists Elbridge Gerry and Azor Orne to committee posts. After the First Continental Congress 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.
After Washington lost the Battle of Long Island (aka Battle of Brooklyn) in August 1776, Glover's Marbleheaders evacuated the army across the East River to Manhattan Island in a surprise nighttime operation, saving them from being entrapped in their fortified trenches on Brooklyn Heights. In subsequent actions of the New York campaignthe regiment fought well against the British at Kip's Bay 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 Trentonin New Jersey on the morning of December 26, 1776.
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 successful Saratoga campaign with General Schuyler along the Hudson River in the summer and fall of 1777.