Glover’s Rock is the site of the Battle of Pell’s Point on October 18, 1776, and before the American Revolution the Siwanoy Native Americans used the glacial granite rock as a lookout point along their trading route. The rock was later named for Colonel John Glover, who led a brigade of 843 Americans against British General William Howe and 4,000 British soldiers. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, on November 5, 1732, Glover married Hannah Gale on October 30, 1754, and they had eleven children. He entered the fishing trade while Marblehead’s busy port drew sailors and traders, then joined the Third Military Foot Company in Marblehead as an ensign on March 12, 1759, rose to captain lieutenant on February 26, 1762, and to captain on February 8, 1773. On May 22, 1775, King George of England took control of the Marblehead Militia and Glover became a colonel. Ordered with his militia to Cambridge by the British on June 21, 1775, he and his regiment defected to the Continental Army the next day. After George Washington organized the Continental Army on July 3, 1775, the Marblehead regiment became the 14th Continental Regiment on January 1, 1776, under Colonel Glover, who soon commanded a brigade. On September 13, 1776, he safeguarded the evacuation of New York City through Harlem, across King’s Bridge, and into the Bronx and White Plains as British forces threatened Washington’s position. After spotting a British fleet off Pell’s Point, at present-day Rodman’s Neck, Glover deployed his four-regiment brigade, including his own Marblehead regiment and regiments under Colonels Joseph Read, William Shepard, and Loammi Baldwin. On October 18, 1776, he separated the regiments along Split Rock Road behind stone walls marking property lines and led 40 men in a direct attack on the British. After two Americans were killed, he retreated north with the British pursuing, and the British then struck the other three Continental regiments, which withdrew back to Pell’s Point. Only 12 Americans were killed, while between 800 and 1,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded, and Glover’s action enabled Washington to position and hold his forces in White Plains before moving south. Glover’s Marbleheaders, drawing on their sailing experience, were also essential in Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on December 25, 1776, for the Battle of Trenton. Glover was promoted to brigadier general on February 23, 1777. While stationed in Rhode Island, he lost his wife on November 13, 1778. After the war he returned to Massachusetts, was elected to the state legislature in 1788 and 1789, and died in Marblehead on January 30, 1797.
