Caesar Glover and the Two Caesars: An Honest Founding Story

Sep 10

Two men named Caesar

On June 30, 2026, new statues honoring heroes of the American Revolution were unveiled on Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. Among them was a restored statue of Caesar Rodney, the Delaware signer of the Declaration of Independence who rode through the night to break his delegation's tie. Nearby stood twelve Revolutionary soldiers, half of them Black. One of those soldiers was another Caesar: Caesar Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts.

In his essay "Two Caesars," Mark Rodgers of The Clapham Group argues that the two statues, standing near each other, offer an honest picture of the American founding: ideals that were real and powerful, and founders who often failed to live up to them.

Who was Caesar Glover?

According to the National Park Service:

• Born around 1742 in Africa, Caesar was kidnapped at about eight years old and carried across the Atlantic.

• He was sold to Captain John Miles, a Marblehead shipmaster. After Miles died, his widow sold Caesar to merchant Jonathan Glover, the brother of John Glover, who would command the Marblehead Regiment.

• In 1775, while still enslaved, Caesar enlisted in the Continental Army and served in Glover's Marblehead Regiment.

• He served through some of the war's most important moments, including the Siege of Boston, the evacuation of Long Island, the crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton, White Plains, Monmouth and Rhode Island.

• He returned to civilian life in 1778 as a free man, likely freed in connection with his military service.

• He married Susannah Parsons in Boston in 1801 and received a Revolutionary War pension in 1818.

• He died on January 13, 1822, at about 80 years old, and was buried in Boston's South Burying Ground in an unmarked grave.

Rowing for a freedom he didn't yet have

Caesar Glover's story captures the central tension of the Revolution. He pulled an oar on the night of December 25, 1776, helping carry Washington's army across the Delaware to the surprise victory at Trenton. He did it for a country that didn't yet count him as free.

He wasn't alone. Glover's Marblehead Regiment was one of the few integrated units in the Continental Army, with Black, white and Native men serving together (Washington Crossing Historic Park). The research of Maurice Barboza, founder of the effort behind the National Liberty Memorial, suggests that nearly a third of known Black Revolutionary soldiers came from Massachusetts (The Clapham Group).

Why the "two Caesars" matter today

Rodgers warns against telling a founding story that only confirms what we already believe, whether that is a flawless past or a fatally flawed one. Instead, he calls for a story that is "true enough" for Americans across the political spectrum to gather around.

Caesar Rodney's courage in voting for independence was real. So was the fact that he enslaved people. Caesar Glover's courage in the boats was real, and so was the injustice of his enslavement. Telling both stories together doesn't diminish the founding. It shows how ideals like "all men are created equal" outgrew the men who wrote them and pushed the nation, over generations, toward a fuller freedom.

Bringing this story to young readers

That spirit is at the heart of Marblehead, our middle grade graphic novel. One of its three main characters, Boston Black, is an enslaved valet to Colonel John Glover who wants to prove himself in battle and wrestles with the question: What is freedom? His story, along with those of a Native soldier and a young white private, helps readers ages 10–14 understand the Revolution as it was lived by people who seldom appear in textbooks.

Pre-order Marblehead to share this story with the young readers in your life.