Penobscot Expedition

Penobscot Expedition

The Penobscot Expedition was the largest rebel American naval expedition of the American Revolutionary War and the United States' worst naval defeat until Pearl Harbor. [Bicheno p.149] The principal fighting took place on both land and on sea, in what is today Maine.

Background

On June 17th, 1779 forces under the command of British General Francis McLean landed at what was then called Majabigwaduce (Castine), on Penobscot Bay at the mouth of the Penobscot River, on the east coast of Maine, then a part of Massachusetts. The approximately 700 soldiers under General McLean's command were composed of detachments of the 74th and 82nd regiments. Their goal was to establish an outpost for traders from Nova Scotia, to create a New Ireland colony for Irish settlers and to use the area as a base for further raids into New England. [Bicheno p.149]

The British began to build a fortification near present-day Castine. When news of this reached the rebel authorities in Boston, they hurriedly made plans to drive the British from the area. The Penobscot River was the gateway to lands controlled by the Penobscot Indians, who generally favored the British. Congress feared that if a fort were successfully constructed at the mouth of the river, all chance of enlisting the Penobscots as allies would be lost. Massachusetts was also motivated by the fear of losing their claim over the territory to rival states in any post-war settlement. [Bicheno p.149-50]

To spearhead the expedition, Massachusetts petitioned Congress for the use of three warships- the 12-gun sloop "Providence", 14-gun brig "Diligent" , and 32-gun frigate "Warren"- while the rest of over 40 ships were made up of ships of the Massachusetts State Navy and private vessels under the command of Commodore Dudley Saltonstall. The Massachusetts authorities mobilised more than 1,000 militia acquired six small field cannons, and placed Brigadier General Solomon Lovell in command of the land forces. The expedition departed from Boston on July 24 and arrived off Penobscot Bay that same day.

Landing

The British fort was located on Bagaduce Peninsula (now called Castine) which jutted into the bay and commanded the principal passage into the inner harbor. The Americans landed around 750 men under Lovell on July 26, but instead of attacking the British fortified camp, they began construction of siege works under constant and accurate fire. That same day, the Americans landed a small group on nearby Nautilus Island and overran a British artillery battery.

Over the next two weeks, Lovell and Saltonstall hesitated to attack the British fortified positions and argued over who was in command of the forces on the land or the sea. Eventually, at another meeting-of-war on August 6, Lovell and Saltonstall agreed to try to lure the British out of their fortifications to engage them in the open.

Battle

On August 11, about 250 American rebel militia advanced from their fortified camp and occupied a recently abandoned battery about a quarter mile (400 m) from the British fort. As expected, a sortie of about 55 British troops advanced from the fort to engage. But the poorly trained American troops fired only one volley at the attacking British troops and fled back to their fort, leaving behind all their arms and equipment.

The next day, Saltonstall finally decided to launch a naval attack against the British fort, but a British relief fleet arrived under Commodore Sir George Collier and attacked. [Bicheno p.152] Over the next two days, the American fleet fled upstream on the Penobscot River, pursued by the British fleet. Several vessels were scuttled or burned along the way with the rest destroyed at Bangor. In the 1700s there were rapids at Bangor at the approximate location of the old Water Works. The surviving crews then fled overland back to Boston with virtually no food or ammunition.

Aftermath

The American forces lost all their ships as well as 474 men killed, wounded or captured. The British losses were reported at only 13 killed and wounded, all of whom fell in the August 11 land engagement. A later committee of inquiry blamed the rebels failure on poor coordination between land and sea forces and on Commodore Dudley Saltonstall's failure to engage the British naval forces. Saltonstall was declared to be primarily responsible for the debacle, and he was court-martialed, found guilty, and dismissed from military service. Paul Revere participated in this expedition and was dismissed from the militia, but he later had the charge expunged. Peleg Wadsworth mitigated the damage by organizing a retreat and was not charged in the court martial.

Despite repulsing the rebel expedition - the British evacuated the area following the Peace of Paris (1783), abandoning their attempts to establish New Ireland. During the War of 1812 the British again occupied the area they called New Ireland, and used it as a naval base before withdrawing with the arrival of peace. Full ownership of the area remained disputed until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842. Maine was owned by Massachusetts until 1820, when it was admitted into the Union as the 23rd state.

The earthworks of Fort Bagaduce, also known as Fort George, still stand at the mouth of the Penobscot in Castine, Maine, accompanied by concrete work added to the fort by Americans later. Archaeological evidence of the expedition, including cannonballs and cannon, was located during an archaeological project in 2000-2001. Evidence of scuttled ships was found under the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge in Bangor and under the Bangor town dock. Several artifacts were recovered. Cannonballs were also reported to have been recovered during the construction of the concrete casements for the I-395 bridge in 1986.

References

ources

* Bicheno, Hugh. 2003. "Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolutionary War".
* George E. Buker. 2002. "The Penobscot Expedition: Commodore Saltonstall and the Massachusetts Conspiracy of 1779," Naval Institute Press, 2002.
* Wheeler, George A. 1923. "History of Castine: Battle Line of Four Nations." Cornwell, NY: privately printed.
* [https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/NCR/Documents/Penobscot_Report.pdf Penobscot Expedition Archaeological Project Field Report]

External links

* [http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=8259 Revolutionary War-Era Swivel Gun reveals its secrets {Reference only}]
* [http://CPRR.org/Museum/BMLRR/Penobscot.html "The Ancient Penobscot, or Panawanskek." Historical Magazine, February, 1872.]


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