Revolutionary War & Colonial History

In 1775, Captain Henry Mowat infamously ordered the burning of Falmouth—now Portland. That act cast him as the arch-villain in the state's Revolutionary history, but Mowat's impact on Maine went far beyond a single order. The Scottish Mowat began his North American career by surveying the Maine coast, capturing and confiscating colonial merchant ships he suspected of smuggling. Already feared by Mainers when the war broke out, his legacy was further tarnished when he was blamed for dismantling Fort Pownall at the mouth of the Penobscot River. In this volume, local historian Harry Gratwick examines the life of Henry Mowat and whether he truly was the scoundrel of Revolutionary Maine.

Winslow has grown up around Fort Halifax in its many, many incarnations. Beginning as a French and Indian War garrison and trading post, the fort welcomed historic figures from Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr to Paul Revere and Chief Joseph Orono. Reduced to one small blockhouse in the 1800s, Fort Halifax hosted archaeologists, travelers, artists, politicians and students. The Flood of 1987 swept away the blockhouse, leaving the fort and its supporters to fight an uphill battle for reconstruction. Throughout varied iterations, uses, trials and tribulations, Fort Halifax has remained the symbol of a community. Join historian Daniel J. Tortora in this engaging narrative of Fort Halifax's fight for survival. Meet the famous visitors to the fort, the local residents who have cared for it and the figures who have kept its memory relevant and its future hopeful.

In late 1775, a few months a¬fter the first shots of the Revolution were fired, Benedict Arnold led more than one thousand troops into Quebec to attack the British there. Departing from Massachusetts, by the time they reached Pittston, Maine, they were in desperate need of supplies and equipment to carry them the rest of the way. Many patriotic Mainers contributed, including Major Reuben Colburn, who constructed a flotilla of bateaux for the weary troops. Despite his service in the Continental army, many blamed Colburn when several of the vessels did not withstand the harsh journey. In this narrative, the roles played by Colburn and his fellow Mainers in Arnold's march are reexamined and revealed.