Expedition Squadrons

Lore & Background

The expedition was assembled by the Provincial Congress of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in response to British forces landing under General Francis McLean on June 17. McLean's troops began establishing fortifications around Fort George on the Majabigwaduce Peninsula in the upper Penobscot Bay. The British goals were to establish a military presence on that part of the coast and to establish the colony of New Ireland. The Americans landed troops in late July and attempted to besiege Fort George in actions that were seriously hampered by disagreements over control of the expedition between land forces commander Brigadier General Solomon Lovell and expedition commander Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, who was later dismissed from the Navy for ineptitude. For almost three weeks, General McLean held off the assault until a British relief fleet arrived from New York on August 13 under Sir George Collier, driving the American fleet to destruction up the Penobscot River. The survivors made an overland journey back to more populated parts of Massachusetts with minimal food and arms.

In Their Own Story

On July 25, nine of the larger vessels in the American flotilla exchanged fire with the Royal Navy ships from 15:30 to 19:00. While this was going on, seven American boats approached the shore for a landing, but turned back when British fire killed a soldier in one of the boats. On July 26, Lovell sent a force of Continental Marines to capture the British battery on Nautilus Island, while the militia were to land at Bagaduce. The Marines achieved their objective, but the militia turned back when British cannon overturned the leading boat, killing Major Daniel Littlefield and two of his men. Meanwhile, 750 men landed under Lovell's command and began construction of siege works under constant fire. On July 27, the American artillery bombarded the British fleet for three hours, wounding four men aboard HMS Albany. On July 28, under heavy covering fire from the Tyrannicide, Hunter, and Sky Rocket, Brigadier General Peleg Wadsworth led an assault force of 400 (200 marines and 200 militia) ashore before dawn at Dyce's Head on the western tip of the peninsula with orders to capture Fort George.

Reader's Guide

The American fleet consisted of two squadrons. The 1st Squadron, commanded by Solomon Lovell, included USS Warren (32 guns), Vengeance (24 guns), Charming Sally (22 guns, privateer), Black Prince (18 guns, privateer), Hunter (18 guns), Active (16 guns), Hazard (16 guns), Tyrannicide (14 guns), Springbird (12 guns, privateer), and Rover (10 guns, privateer). The 2nd Squadron, commanded by Dudley Saltonstall, included Monmouth (24 guns), Putnam (24 guns), Hector (20 guns), Hampden (20 guns), Sky Rocket (16 guns), Defense (16 guns, privateer), Nancy (16 guns, privateer), USS Diligent (14 guns), and USS Providence (12 guns). The British relief squadron under George Collier included HMS Raisonnable (64 guns), HMS Greyhound (32 guns), HMS Blonde (32 guns), HMS Virginia (32 guns), HMS Galatea (20 guns), HMS Camilla (20 guns), HMS Nautilus (18 guns), HMS Otter (14 guns), HMS Albany (14 guns), and HMS North (14 guns).

Did You Know?

• The expedition included a 100-man artillery detachment under the command of Lt. Colonel Paul Revere.
• The British renamed the captured territory New Ireland, a precursor to New Brunswick.
• Commodore Dudley Saltonstall was later dismissed from the Navy for ineptitude.
• The American fleet was driven to destruction up the Penobscot River by a British relief fleet under Sir George Collier.
• The fighting took place over a period of three weeks in July and August 1779.