January 1777 -Glover’s Marbleheaders

They’re known as the “Three Saves of 1776”: three times during that crucial year of the American Revolutionary War when the Marblehead militia commanded by John Glover played key roles in saving the American army from disaster.

The first of the “three saves” occurred on the night of August 29-30. The Continental Army had been defeated at the Battle of Long Island and was trapped on the east side of the East River, surrounded by General William Howe’s British army and facing probable destruction the next morning. In a desperate attempt to save his army, General George Washington ordered Glover’s Marblehead men (then incorporated into the army as the 14th Continental Regiment) to row the entire army (artillery, wagons, horses, and all) across the river, without being detected by the British. Under cover of a dense fog, the “Marbleheaders” (mostly fisherman and sailors from the little town north of Boston—whites, blacks, and Indians) pulled it off. When the fog lifted the next morning, the British discovered to their dismay that Washington and his army were gone. Had the Marblehead men not gotten them over the river that night, the American bid for independence might have failed.

The Marblehead men stepped up again to save the day on October 18. Howe’s army had made a surprise landing at Pell’s Point in the rear of Washington’s army, threatening to trap it on Manhattan. Glover was the first to spot the landing and he pushed his 750-man brigade (including the 150 Marblehead men) forward, attacking the British and Hessians despite being greatly outnumbered. The bold counterattack took the British by surprise, knocking them back and buying desperately needed time for Washington. A stubborn rearguard defense by the Marblehead men allowed the Continental Army to escape the trap and retreat to safety. Save number two for Glover and his men.

The most famous of the “Saves of 1776” came on Christmas Day, when Glover’s Marbleheaders carried the Continental Army (again including artillery, horses, and wagons) across the ice-choked Delaware River in a sleet storm, setting the stage for Washington’s surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton. When the Marblehead men took the army back across the river 24 hours later, they brought 900 Hessian prisoners along with them. The audacious attack came as the American army was on the verge of dissolving. The victory (and the follow up victory at Princeton) was a much-needed morale boost that kept American hopes alive.

After their term of enlistment expired in January 1777, many of the Marblehead men went on to become privateers. Glover was promoted to brigadier general, and he served with distinction for the rest of the war, until bad health forced him to retire in July 1782. He died at his home in Massachusetts, at age 64, on January 30, 1797, two hundred twenty-eight years ago today.