[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I will admit my visit here was a bit rushed. I was on a tight timetable since I had ventured up to Acadia National Park and didn’t have much time that day to do much else. Fortunately this was not too far out of the way so I was able to sneak it in.[/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid grid_id=”vc_gid:1575309873344-478e19b3-9eeb-9″][vc_column_text]Situated at the head of the Penobscot Bay the fort guarded what was to become the British colony of New Ireland. It was built on order of General Francis McLean after he seized the town of Castine in the Massachusetts colony in 1779. The colony traded with Nova Scotia and New York and attracted many Loyalists from the area. The British had about 700 men under the command of Henry Mowat in the fort.
With the Revolution ongoing the Massachusetts government could not allow a British colony to be established in their territory. A large militia force was raised and sent on the Penobscot Expedition in July 1779. The militia was transported by ship and arrived on July 25. Solomon Lovell would command the land forces and Dudley Saltonstall would command the navy.
The problem was that the Royal Navy was there and even though the Colonial fleet was more powerful, they opened fire on the ships. During the battle some of the militia tried to land but were driven off by fire from shore. They were able to land the following day capturing a battery and beginning siege lines.
On July 28 the militia and some Continental Marines assaulted Fort George. Some pickets were captured and the rest under future British general John Moore were driven back but the attack stopped when the commander ordered his men to entrench so artillery could be brought up and bombard the fort into submission. Casualties had been high, about 100 of the 400 men assault force was down. When Saltonstall found out about the casualties he recalled the attackers.
Lovell wanted to continue to attack but Saltonstall was hesitant. He had been unable to bring the Royal Navy ships to battle as they maneuvered around his and avoided him. As long as they held the harbor, he could not take Fort George. Saltonstall would later be dismissed from the service for his failure to engage the British.
A siege began and did not go well for Lovell or Saltonstall. Eventually a British relief force arrived and scattered the Colonial forces. The ships were scuttled and the survivors of the army fled overland back to Boston.
The Colonials lost about 500 men and all of their ships. The British lost around 80 men. The colony remained until the end of the war when the British were forced to abandon it due to the peace treaty. The British would reoccupy the area during the War of 1812. Fort George is preserved as the Fort George State Historic Site.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]