On Christmas Day, 1776, the Americans had suffered a series of defeats since the debacle on Long Island. Washington’s army had grown tired of retreating. Washington desperately needed to motivate his men to re-enlist at the end of the year. By June 1775, the Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, had pushed a port town a little more than 300 miles north of Washington Crossing to the brink. 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. [14] In subsequent actions of the New York campaign the regiment fought well against the British at Kip's Bay when the Redcoats invaded, landing on Manhattan and Pell's Point. Battle of Trenton [ edit ] John Glover's regiment rowed George Washington's troops across the Delaware leading to a victory at the Battle of Trenton

Rendered unemployed and angry by the strict trade measures imposed by British Parliament, virtually every able-bodied man in Marblehead, Massachusetts, rallied to fight against their common enemy. (Accounts vary significantly as to exactly how many men the group included at its inception.) The Origins of the Marbleheaders

Winter Soldiers

But the disease spread from house to house, afflicting nearly every family in town. Businesses closed, the ferry to Salem stopped running and people fled Marblehead. All loose dogs were killed. After the Boston Massacre Glover was elected to the Committee of Correspondence. He was lieutenant commander of the militia when Col. Jeremiah Lee died in April 1775. Shortly thereafter, Glover’s Regiment marched to the Siege of Boston. Founders Online: From George Washington to the Citizens of Marblehead, 2 Novemb …". founders.archives.gov.

By the next year, the modest militia had become the 14th Continental Regiment of George Washington’s army—and one of the few integrated regiments in the entire army. On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced capture or annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The British had trapped George Washington’s forces against the East River, and the fate of the Revolution rested upon the shoulders of the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Serving side by side in one of the country’s first diverse units, they pulled off an “American Dunkirk” and saved the army by transporting it across the treacherous waters of the river to Manhattan. AII in All: Despite Item #1, it is generally known that anyone living in Marblehead is a magnificent person if they just know what every Marbleheader should know.It became the 14 th Continental Regiment, known by the generals as an amphibian regiment. Winter Soldiers He got some help from Thomas Paine. On December 19, Washington had Thomas Paine’s words from Common Sense read to the men: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Around 6:00 PM on Christmas night, the Marbleheaders began shuttling soldiers, artillery, and horses across the river. The process would continue into the early morning, much of it in the face of a relentless Nor’easter. After the battle, the Marbleheaders led a significant portion of the return crossing, which was more fragmented than the initial effort and even slower-going with about 900 Hessian prisoners in tow. Glover marched his regiment to join the siege of Boston in June 1775. At Boston, General George Washington chartered Glover's schooner Hannah to raid British supply vessels, the first of many privateers or warship authorized by Washington. For this reason the Hannah has been occasionally called the first vessel of the Continental Navy or its later successor the United States Navy. [10] Leader of one of the first integrated American Regiments [ edit ]

John Glover’s Regiment of Marbleheaders accomplished an amazing feat on the night of Dec. 25, 1776. They ferried 2,400 men, plus horses and artillery, across the Delaware River in a blinding snowstorm. The Marblehead militia was formally adopted as a regiment of the Continental Army in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 22, 1775, with 10 companies totalling 505 officers and men. On July 1, Glover received a colonel's commission from the Continental Congress and the unit was designated the 23rd Massachusetts Regiment. In mid-December, Glover's regiment left Cambridge and returned to Marblehead and Beverly at the end of their terms of enlistment. The unit was reorganized as the 14th Continental Regiment on January 1, 1776.

Washington and Glover

John Glover and his family lived in Marblehead, MA where he built a house in 1762, now known as the John Glover House, a National Historic Landmark. The General Glover farmhouse, in Swampscott, MA, and also built in 1700s, is where Glover lived beginning in 1782 after retiring from the military. While living here, he served as a local selectman and Massachusetts State representative. The house still stands today in Swampscott, MA but threatened by demolition. [21] Memorials and legacy [ edit ] In 1773, there was a deadly smallpox outbreak in the town of Marblehead. John Glover along with Azor Orne and Elbridge Gerry petitioned the town of Marblehead for a hospital to be built on Cat Island. [7] 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 from Salem. [7] Known as the Essex 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. [8] Military career [ edit ] Olson, Kris (2022-08-10). "140 housing units proposed for former Gen. Glover House property". Marblehead Current. The Marblehead, Massachusetts, unit was originally formed in January 1775 after a town meeting voted to reorganize the militia, stripping the existing Tory commanders of their military powers and assigning Jeremiah Lee as the regimental commander. John Glover was elected second lieutenant colonel. The regiment armed itself in part using captured weapons and powder seized during a night time raid of HMS Lively led by Samuel Trevett in early February. [1]

As a ship owner, he had felt British oppression. The British Navy impressed his sailors and searched his ships for smuggled goods without warrants. Plus he had to deal with corrupt British customs officials. So in 1759, he joined the Marblehead militia. The rioters had public sympathy on their side, and town officials charged only a handful with rioting.A large number of Marbleheaders marched to Salem and surrounded the jail. At the signal they broke open the doors, overpowered the jailers, freed the prisoners and carried them home in triumph. Several days later the sheriff gathered 500 citizens to march to Marblehead and recapture his prisoners. The Marblheaders organized a mob equally as large. At that point, the hospital owners decided to abandon the prosecution and the sheriff disbanded his posse. Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Glover, John". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.