Penobscot Expedition

Penobscot Expedition Part of the American Revolutionary War A 1785 map depicting this action. The river is incorrectly labeled; it is the Bagaduce River. Date July 24 – August 12, 1779 Location Penobscot Bay, Maine Result Decisive British victory Belligerents Great Britain United States Commanders Brigadier General Francis McLean Commodore Sir George Collier General Solomon Lovell Commodore Dudley Saltonstall Brigadier General Peleg Wadsworth Strength 600 regulars 10 warships[1] 1,000 militia 19 warships[1] 24 support ships[1] Casualties and losses 13 killed and wounded 474 killed, wounded, and captured; all ships lost

v • d • e Northern coastal theater Fort Cumberland – Ridgefield – Freetown – Rhode Island – Chestnut Neck – Penobscot Expedition – Groton Heights

v • d • e Campaign in North American Waters Machias – Gloucester – Falmouth – Newport – Penobscot – Cape Henry – Louisbourg – Chesapeake

The Penobscot Expedition was the largest American naval expedition of the American Revolutionary War and the United States' worst naval defeat until Pearl Harbor.^[2] The principal fighting took place on both land and on sea, in what is today Maine.

In June 1779, British Army forces established a series of fortifications centered on a fort located on the Bagaduce Peninsula in Penobscot Bay, with the goals of establishing a military presence on that part of the coast and beginning a new colony to be known as New Ireland. In response, the state of Massachusetts, with some support from the Continental Congress, raised an expedition to drive the British out.

The Americans landed troops in late July and attempted to establish a siege of the British fort in a series of actions seriously hampered by disagreements over control of the expedition between Commodore Dudley Saltonstall and General Solomon Lovell. The operation ended in disaster when a British fleet under the command of Sir George Collier arrived, driving the American fleet to total destruction up the Penobscot River. The survivors of the American expedition were forced to make an overland journey back to more-populated parts of Massachusetts with minimal food and armament.

Background

Following a failed attempt to gain control of Machias in 1777, as well as General John Burgoyne's failed Saratoga campaign, British war planners looked for other ways to gain control over the rebellious New England colonies, while most of their effort was directed at another campaign targeted at the southern colonies. Lord Germain, the Secretary of State responsible for the war effort, and his undersecretary, William Knox, wanted to establish a base on the coast of Maine (which was then still a part of Massachusetts) that could be used to protect shipping around Nova Scotia from American privateers.^[3]

Opportunity arrived when John Nutting, a Loyalist who had piloted Sir George Collier's expedition against Machias, came to London with the idea of establishing a British military presence in Maine. In September 1778, Nutting left for New York carrying orders for General Henry Clinton to assist with the establishment of "a province between the Penobscot and St. Croix rivers. Post to be taken on Penobscot River."^[4] It was Knox's idea to call this province New Ireland.^[2] Unfortunately for the British, Nutting's ship was chased and captured by an American privateer, and he was forced to dump his dispatches, putting an end to execution of the idea in 1778.^[4]

British forces arrive

Nutting reached New York in January 1779, but General Clinton had received copies of the orders from other messengers. Clinton had already assigned the expedition to General Francis McLean, who was based in Halifax, so he sent Nutting there with Germain's detailed instructions.^[5]

McLean's expedition set sail from Halifax on May 30, 1779, and arrived in Penobscot Bay on June 12. The next day McLean and Andrew Barkley, the captain of the naval convoy, identified a suitable site at which they could establish a post.^[6] On June 16, his forces began landing on a peninsula that was then called Majabigwaduce (now Castine), between the mouth of the Bagaduce River and a finger of the bay leading to the Penobscot River.^[2] The approximately 700 soldiers, detachments of the 74th and 82nd regiments, began to build a fortification on the peninsula, which jutted into the bay and commanded the principal passage into the inner harbor.

The principal works was in the center of the small peninsula, with two batteries outside the fort to provide cover for the Albany, which was the only ship expected to stay in the area. A third battery was constructed on an island south of the bay in which Albany was harbored, near the mouth of the Bagaduce River. Construction of the works occupied the troops for the next month, until rumors came that an American expedition was being raised to oppose them,^[7] following which efforts were redoubled to have works suitable for defense against the Americans prepared before they arrived.^[8] Albany's captain, Henry Mowat, who was familiar with Massachusetts politics, took the rumors (which were followed by reports that a fleet had left Boston) quite seriously, and convinced General McLean to leave additional ships that had been part of the initial convoy as further defense. Some of the convoy ships had already left; orders for armed sloops North and Nautilus were countermanded before they were able to leave.^[9]

American reaction

When news of this reached the American 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 was 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.^[10]

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 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.

Depiction of the naval battle by Dominic Serres, date unknown

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

During this time, the British were able to send word of their condition, and request reinforcements. On August 3, a fleet of 10 warships left New York under the command of Commodore Sir George Collier.^[11]

Battle

On August 11, about 250 American 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 the British relief fleet arrived and attacked the American fleet.^[12] 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 American failure on poor coordination between land and sea forces and on Commodore 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, who participated in this expedition, was accused of disobedience and cowardice, resulting in his dismissal from the militia; he later had the charges cleared. Peleg Wadsworth, who mitigated the damage by organizing a retreat, was not charged in the court martial.

Despite repulsing the American expedition, the British evacuated the area following the 1783 Peace of Paris, 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 a part of 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 River 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, and 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

Sources

External links

• Revolutionary War-Era Swivel Gun reveals its secrets (about a gun raised from Penobscot Bay
• "The Ancient Penobscot, or Panawanskek." Historical Magazine, February, 1872.