George Washington was trapped! Indeed, Captain Sir George Collier—then captain of His Majesty’s Ship Rainbow of 44 guns—recorded in his journal, “The Rebels constantly retreat before the Kings Troops . . . all which from our great Superiority must be killed or taken Prisoners. . . . If we become Masters of this Body of Rebels (which I think is inevitable) the War is at an End.”
It was early in the American Revolution—August 1776—and the Americans had driven the British out of Boston to regroup in Canada. Washington had correctly surmised that they would next appear in New York, so he had moved his Continental Army there to confront them.
Washington preceded his enemy to New York and divided his forces into five divisions: three in New York City at the southern tip of Manhattan, one at Fort Washington at the northern end of the island, and one on Long Island. Before long, a British armada of 10 ships-of-the-line, 20 frigates, and nearly 300 transports and supply ships arrived, crowding the southern end of New York Harbor and landing 32,000 soldiers on Staten Island. Once this massive collection had moored and taken in their sails, one observer described the throng of masts as a forest of trees stripped of their leaves.
On 22 August, the British moved 15,000 soldiers from Staten Island across the channel to Gravesend Bay on Long Island. Using several passes to outmaneuver the “rebels,” they moved quickly toward the American forces gathered on Brooklyn Heights. Aware of the mounting danger, Washington unadvisedly left Manhattan to join the beleaguered forces on Long Island, taking direct command and bringing reinforcements to Brooklyn Heights. But it soon became clear that if the Royal Navy positioned itself in the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan, the American position would be untenable, and Washington’s entire force would be in danger of defeat and capture. Only an opposing wind was keeping the British ships from entering the river, and it was only a matter of time before that wind would veer or diminish.
On the night of 29 August, Washington decided his only option was to evacuate his forces from Long Island. But moving such a large force across the river at night would be a daunting task under the best of circumstances. That same wind that was keeping the Royal Navy at bay was also making such a crossing very dangerous for small boats. Fortunately for Washington, among his eclectic army of regulars and militia was the 21st Massachusetts Regiment from Marblehead, consisting of fishermen, smugglers, and other men of the sea. According to Revolution chronicler Robert Leckie: “They were called infantry . . . but they had the look of men of the sea. They marched with the sailor’s rolling gait. They wore . . . the short Blue Jackets and loose white trousers of the sailor. Their faces were grizzled from salt and their hands curled from oar and line.”
The Marbleheaders’ commander, red-haired Colonel John Glover, armed with a brace of silver pistols that matched the silver trim on his blue coat, took command of the makeshift flotilla of boats that had been confiscated from the surrounding area and began organizing the evacuation of Washington’s army.
Beginning just before midnight, in boats so loaded with men, horses, cannon, and supplies that their gunwales were nearly awash, Glover’s men negotiated the river’s swift, often contrary currents, straining at their oars with determination and incredible stamina. Back and forth they went in complete darkness and inclement weather, navigating the treacherous waters with perfect skill and discipline.
As dawn approached so did a great deal of anxiety. The exodus so far had been cloaked in darkness, keeping the British unaware. But with the coming light, the British army would likely pounce, and the remaining Americans—including General Washington, who insisted on being the last man to depart—would be captured or killed.
As with many of the ancient Greek classics, in which the gods play active roles in man’s trials and tribulations, many of the chroniclers of that night’s events could not resist referring to “the hand of God” or “Providence” when recounting what happened next. Just as the shroud of darkness began to yield to that faint glow that heralds the coming of the sun, a dense fog descended so thick that one soldier reported he “could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance.”
The fog remained, supplanting the cloak of darkness, shielding the boats’ movements from British eyes. Glover’s men continued to exhibit their extraordinary seamanship as they navigated through the blinding fog. Washington was the last to arrive safely on Manhattan’s shore, joining his army of 9,000 men that had escaped a near catastrophe with not a single life lost. Collier’s journal entry for 30 August recorded:
To my inexpressible astonishment & concern the Rebel army have all escaped across the River to New York! how this has happened is surprising, for had our Troops followed them close up, they must have thrown down their arms & surrendered. . . . not a Man could have escaped from Long Island,—now I foresee they will give us Trouble enough, and protract the War, Heaven knows how long—
This Dunkirk-like miracle was only one of John Glover’s many contributions to the ultimate American victory in the Revolution. He fought an important delaying action at Pell’s Point later in the New York campaign. He and his Marblehead sailor-soldiers again ferried Washington’s army, this time across the Delaware River to their storied victory at Trenton. He was with Washington at Valley Forge and played key roles at the battles of Saratoga and Rhode Island. It is not surprising that, after the war, Washington paid a personal visit to the man who commanded what many had come to call “Washington’s amphibious regiment.” John Glover was laid to rest in 1797 at Old Burial Hall in Marblehead.