John Glover ( general ) John Glover ( November 5 , 1732 – January 30 , 1797 ) was an American fisherman , merchant , and military leader from Marblehead , Massachusetts , who served as a Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . Early life . Glover was born in Salem , Massachusetts , the son of a house carpenter . His father died when he was four years old , and shortly thereafter his family moved to the nearby town of Marblehead . As a young man , Glover became a cordwainer and rum trader and eventually a ship owner and 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 . Military career . Glover was active in the militia for many years before the Revolution , with his earliest service dating back to 1759 . In 1775 he was elected lieutenant colonel of the 21st Massachusetts Regiment from Marblehead , and became commander of the unit after the death of Colonel Jeremiah Lee in April 1775 . 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 privateer s authorized by Washington . For this reason the " Hannah " has been called the first vessel of the United States Navy . The Marblehead militia or " Glover ' s Regiment " became the 14th Continental Regiment . This regiment became known as the " amphibious regiment " for their vital nautical skills . It was composed almost entirely of fishermen . After Washington lost the Battle of Long Island in August 1776 , Glover ' s Marbleheaders evacuated the army to Manhattan in a surprise nighttime operation , saving them from being entrapped . In subsequent actions of the New York campaign the regiment fought well against the British at Kip ' s Bay and Pell ' s Point . The last action of the regiment was its most famous : ferrying Washington ' s army across the Delaware River for a surprise attack at Trenton in December 1776 . The regiment was disbanded as enlistments expired at year ' s end . 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 after a personal appeal from General Washington . He served in the successful Saratoga campaign in 1777 and the failed Battle of Rhode Island in 1778 . He was stationed along the Hudson River for the remainder of the war , guarding against British moves up the river from New York City . Later life . Hannah , Glover ' s first wife , died in 1778 . He married again in 1781 to Frances Fosdick . He retired from the army in 1782 in poor health . Failing to secure a job with the U . S . federal government , he served in various local offices in his remaining years . He died at age 64 in Marblehead , Massachusetts , after contracting hepatitis and was buried in Old Burial Hill ( Marblehead , Massachusetts ) . Memorials . Various things have been named in his honor . On November 20 , 1783 , he was awarded the charter for the town of Glover , Vermont , as its prime proprietor , in honor of his service . The frigate USS " Glover " was named for him . Glover ' s Rock in the Bronx is a memorial to him and Glover School in Marblehead was named after him in 1916 . There is a statue of General John Glover on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston . The General John Glover House is located in Marblehead . Glover Field in Pelham , New York , is named for him .