RARE WARTIME DOCUMENT SIGNED BY GENERAL JOHN GLOVER

John Glover (1732-1797), autograph document signed, dated "M[arble]head April 3: 1778", 1 page, 3 3/4 x 6 3/16 inches. Brigadier General John Glover of the Continental Army acknowledges the receipt of 34 pounds and 16 shillings "Cash" received from Joshua Once "as fine for P. Follet Thom[a]s. Williston & Jno. Prince junr being persons Drafted" for service in the army. The fines per individual are broken out in the lower left margin. Signed documents by Glover, especially during his wartime service, are extremely rare and highly sought after. Glover commanded the 21st Regiment during the siege of Boston, which was reorganized and renamed the 14th Continental Regiment in 1776. Composed of fellow Marblehead men, mostly seaman and fisherman by trade, "Glover's Regiment" is famous for its service manning boats in the nighttime evacuation of the army from Long Island to Manhattan following its defeat by the British at Brooklyn in August 1776 and again, for its similar role in bringing Washington's Army across the icy Delaware River on Christmas evening from Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore, and then participating in the defeat of the Hessian garrison at Trenton the following morning--Washington's first battle victory of the war. He turned down a promotion to brigadier general and left service in February 177, but later accepted it after a personal appeal from General Washington. As commander of a Massachusetts brigade, he served in the successful Saratoga campaign in fall 1777 and the failed Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. He was stationed along the Hudson River for the balance of the war, guarding against British incursions up the river. CONDITION: tipped to a piece of paper on the left corners; clean, with one flattened fold, and with a very strong and bold Glover signature. JLK