Illustrated. 208 pp. Newark:
New Jersey Historical Society
We often forget that a group of fishermen and merchant mariners was important to America’s success in the Revolutionary War. Without them, George Washington and his troops surely would have perished after being defeated by the British at Brooklyn, N.Y. Without them, Washington and his retreating army would never have been able to cross the Delaware River to the safety of Pennsylvania. Without them, Washington and his freezing, rag-tag troops could never have re-crossed the Delaware that famous Christmas night to surprise the enemy and make their first victory.
The Crossing, Howard Fast’s story of these remarkable feats, tells us of Colonel, later General, John Glover; his group of Massachusetts fishermen; and the boats that carried the army from defeat to victory.
Fast writes in an afterword, “The army that Washington brought across the Delaware was, many observers thought, in the final stages of disintegration. The cause that he led at that time was deemed hopeless by most of the sensible men in the colonies. After he had turned the tide at Trenton, the direction was upward…” The author goes on to say that despite many more defeats and privations such as that desperate winter at Valley Forge, never again did anyone consider the war a lost cause.
In July, 1776, 22,275 men and boys – half of them under 18 – signed up to overthrow the British, sure they’d make short work of it. In August, Washington had Glover and his men ferry 8,000 of his best marksmen across New York’s East River to Brooklyn. The British, under Sir William Howe, chose another place to land 15,000 professional soldiers (half of the army), took Washington by surprise, and massacred or took prisoner 2,818 Americans. In five months of fighting, Washington lost 10,000 men.
Glover brought his general and the routed troops back to Manhattan, then Washington retreated through New Jersey, “Twisting and turning, destroying every bridge he crossed, Washington covered over one hundred miles between Fort Lee and the Delaware River, just north of Trenton,” says the author.
They had to cross the river or be killed. Lord Cornwallis, the British commander in New Jersey, was right behind them.
Washington asked Glover and his men to take Durham boats, with or without permission, and ferry the rag-tag army across the Delaware to safety. Washington must have known about the boats, says the author, because he’d spent time in Philadelphia and consequently must have seen them tied up at wharves.
Fast calls the Durham boats “monster freight carriers.” Used for carrying iron ore down the Delaware River from eastern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, where the ore was cast at the Durham Iron Works, some of the boats were 60 feet long, with an eight-foot beam and depth of three and one-half feet in the hold. Shallow water vessels, they could carry 15 tons and draw no more than 30 inches.
Glover and his men ferried the army across to safety, using oars and sweeps, just five hours before Cornwallis arrived at river’s edge.
Although I was very much interested to discover the part fishermen and mariners played in this campaign, until I read this book, I didn’t think I particularly cared about re-telling the story – we all know its basics. George Washington was, after all, our Robert The Bruce, surviving defeat after defeat after defeat until he finally conquered the enemy.
But learning about the personalities and human frailties of the characters brought them to life. In notes at the back of the book, Fast backs up facts with letters and other documents. For instance, Fast writes, so many people told Washington how lucky he was to have Glover save his life that our revered commander-in-chief developed quite a case of jealousy. How reassuring to know he was imperfect, like the rest of us! Fast makes much of what he calls Washington’s aristocratic bearing as opposed to Glover’s plain-spoken manner. Apparently the contrast was striking. The two men worked together for the common good, but reluctantly.
Fast’s description of a meeting between the two prior to the first crossing is a good word picture: “He met and talked with John Glover. There was no way he could reach Glover and no way for Glover to reach him. When they sat in the commander-in-chief’s tent during that wretched retreat, with the pouring rain beating at the canvas outside and falling from it in tiny droplets from the inside, they were no closer than before. Long-nosed, tight-lipped, Presbyterian by religion, New Englander by birth, fisherman by trade, merchant by instinct, tight-fisted, hard-nosed John Glover bristled at the very sight of the tall, gentle-spoken Potomac aristocrat. That they should be on the same side in the same army was miracle enough. John Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts, could find no reason under God for liking the Virginian.”
If I have a quibble, it’s more in the imagined scenes than in the straightforward, workmanlike writing. Fast makes assumptions about what went on in people’s minds. While they may breathe life into the narrative, those scenes make me question his credibility.
In any case, The Crossing is a remarkable story, engagingly told, and certainly good reading for fishermen, mariners, or American history buffs. Especially at Christmastime.
Copies of The Crossing may be purchased through Farley’s Bookshop, 44 South Main Street, New Hope, PA 18938; their website: