It was Christmas 1776. George Washington is about to pull off a daring river crossing and invasion into New Jersey, will catch the Hessian troops asleep on Christmas, and will come back with a victory in what will be remembered by history as the Battle of Trenton.


But Washington’s victory was dependent on the skill of the Marblehead militia from Massachusetts, who had the job of getting Washington and his troops across the icy Delaware River in order to attack. And the leader of the Marblehead militia was a man named John Glover. Without Glover, his men, their seafaring abilities, and the daring to make the trip across the river, there would have been no victory at the Battle of Trenton, and in all likelihood, no American Revolution to keep fighting onward.

John Glover was not raised in wealth. He was a carpenter’s son whose father passed away at a young age. Very fitting for a Christmas hero, don’t you think?

John Glover was born November 5, 1732 in Salem, Massachusetts. When his father who was a house carpenter died, four-year-old John, his mother, and three brothers moved to Marblehead, Massachusetts. Here, John grew up in the coastal town and its port where he began his trades of fisherman and international merchant, eventually owning his own ship.

Due to his financial success and influence, he became a leading Whig in the Marblehead community. As disagreement between the British Crown and her American colonists increased, Glover became active both politically and militarily. He joined the town militia and even became its commander in April 1775.

John Glover would have been considered in modern America to be a self-made success story. With the stage set for revolution against the British, he and his militia made history instead.

Officially known as the 14th Continental Regiment, the Marblehead militia was an extraordinary fighting force.

It was a fully integrated unit of Latin, White, Black and Native American troops, and at least one Jewish member, who worked together on the high seas before battling the Brits. About 20 percent of the unit was non-White, according to regimental rolls.

This famed Marblehead militia ferried George Washington and 2,400 troops in row boats across the ice-choked Delaware River on the night of Dec. 25 with the American rebellion on the brink of collapse.

The daring assault overwhelmed a garrison of 1,400 Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey, who were fighting on behalf of the British crown.

“This was a major military crossing under extraordinarily difficult circumstances,” American Battlefield Trust historian Kristopher White told Fox News Digital.

“More than just men, there were horses, provisions and artillery. Washington came armed for a fight.”

The daring triumph after a year of humiliating losses was, by many accounts, a Christmas miracle.

John Glover had already proved himself to George Washington earlier that summer, pulling off a miracle of an evacuation that saved the American Continental Army.

The legend of Glover’s sailor-soldiers was born in August 1776, after the British invaded Brooklyn and quickly overwhelmed Washington’s Continental army.

The Americans were pushed up against the East River and faced certain slaughter, possibly even the whimpering end of the rebellion.

The Marblehead men raced to the rescue. They ferried Washington’s entire remaining army of 9,000 men to the safety of Manhattan across the East River in the single night of August 29.

The British awoke to find the American army had disappeared before their very eyes.

And on Christmas 1776, John Glover and his men would move Washington and his troops across the Delaware – and they didn’t just use any old boat to do it.

The Marblehead men found a reliable ally on the Pennsylvania riverbanks: an American innovation called the Durham boat.

They were sturdy flat-bottomed vessels used to haul coal from the hills of Pennsylvania to the port of Philadelphia.

They proved the perfect vehicles to ferry an assault force or men, mounts and cannons across an unpredictable, potentially deadly river.

Three different invasion fleets were set to participate in the raid. Only Glover’s boats made it across the Delaware.

The raid was an extraordinary success. Two dozen Hessians were killed, dozens more wounded and some 900 taken prisoner.

The Continental army suffered only two deaths — men who froze to death in the bitter cold of Christmas night.

It’s fair to say that without the daring and skill and determination of John Glover and the Marblehead militia, there would not have been a victory at Trenton, much less a battle, as they were the only boats to actually get across the Delaware. John Glover left the army after the Battle of Trenton to care for his family, but eventually accepted a promotion to brigadier general at Washington’s insistence, was at Valley Forge in 1777, and ended the war overseeing the construction being done at West Point. He died in 1797 at age 64, and has faded into obscurity among the heroes of the American Revolution. The famous Emanuel Leutze painting (featured at the top of the post) which was painted in 1850, does not show John Glover, but does focus on the diverse backgrounds of the Marblehead militia as they row and steer the boat. But with no acknowledgement in the most famous painting of the event, Glover’s participation has become a historical note, rather than popular knowledge.

But now YOU know the story of the Christmas hero of the American Revolution, the man who made it possible for General Washington to win a pivotal battle. As we celebrate the birth of Christ today, let us be grateful that we can celebrate in whatever way we choose, in the nation that was fought for by such men as John Glover and the Marblehead militiamen. Raise your glass today to the memory of John Glover, and the rest of the men who crossed the Delaware to turn the tide of war, on this 247th anniversary of their victory.

Featured Image: Washington Crossing The Delaware by Emanuel Leutze/cropped/Public Domain