THE PENOBSCOT CAMPAIGN – Most sources refer to this military campaign as the Penobscot Expedition, but I feel the word campaign is far more accurate. At any rate, if it had been a success this combined land and sea effort against the British in 1779 would be hailed to this very day. Unfortunately, its failure has relegated it to the Memory Hole for most people.
This campaign was an attempt to drive the British out of the portion of Maine that they had seized and renamed New Ireland. Because Maine is central to this affair, I will first clarify a few things that some Americans as well as non-Americans can get thrown off by.
*** In general, we are all familiar with the original 13 Colonies that broke away from England during the American Revolution. Because Maine is not named among those 13 colonies, some people are confused when it is mentioned as the location for various battles of the Revolutionary War.
Maine was a district of Massachusetts at the time. Similarly, Kentucky was not one of the 13 Colonies, but it was a department of Virginia, which is why Daniel Morgan’s Kentucky Rifles were part of America’s army during the war. Continue reading
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