The Mighty Men Of Machias The British went a running

by Joseph McBrine

Machias was settled in 1763 by an association of 16 men who moved from Scarborough to escape years of droughts and fires. Machias Valley offered marsh hay for livestock and large timber for the mills that were built by the early settlers.

Massachusetts Bay Colony agreed to make Machias an official Township in 1770. A meeting house was built and Reverend James Lyon was hired at the first minister of the gospel.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord occurred in April of 1775 and word quickly reached Machias. The people of Machias erected a Liberty Pole in support of those who shed blood in the name of Liberty. It was a clear sign of defiance to Great Britain.

Just two months after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the British arrived in Machias on His Majesty’s Ship Margaretta. When British Captain

James Moore saw the Liberty Pole he became angry and demanded that it be taken down. The crew on the Margaretta had escorted Ichabod Jones’ supply ships to Machias to ensure the ships were loaded with lumber to be taken to Boston to build barracks for British soldiers.

The people of Machias did not want their lumber being used for British troops in Boston. Ichabod Jones decided that only those who supported the British trade would be able to receive goods from his supply ships.

The men of Machias and Reverend Lyon decided to attempt a capture of Ichabod Jones and the British Captain Moore during the Sunday church service. The plan failed when Captain Moore observed a large group of armed men approaching the meeting house. Moore jumped out the window and ran down the hill to the Machias River where he rowed out to the Margaretta and drifted downriver. The men of Machias decided to go after the British ship. Jeremiah O’Brien and about 30 men boarded the supply ship Unity and Benjamin Foster and about 25 men went to East River and boarded the Falmouth Packet. This would be the first naval battle of the American Revolution.

Captain Moore realized he was unfamiliar with navigating the lower river and the mouth of the bay because he no longer had Ichabod Jones’ ships to follow. He pulled alongside a local ship and ordered 68-year old Captain Samuel Tobey onboard the Margaretta as a navigator. Tobey was likely not in favor of such a young British officer giv- ing him orders and Tobey was sympathetic to the American cause. Shortly after, Tobey began navigating the Margaretta’s boom jib in the wind and it snapped in half. Tobey likely intended for this to happen because it caused the British to stop for repairs.

The Unity and Falmouth Packet caught up with the Margaretta and a battle occurred. John McNeil was shot and killed on the American side. Ebeneezer Beal lost both legs after being struck by British arms. John Berry was shot in the face with a musket ball, but lived and was granted what may have been the first military pension in America.

A month later in July of 1775, the British sent two large warships to Machias in search of the Margaretta. The men of Machias planned an ambush when some of the crew came ashore for fresh drinking water. Both British ships, named the Diligent and Tatama- gouch were captured by the Machias Committee of Safety.

The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. On July 6th British soldiers on board the HMS Viper invaded Machias. A 3-day battle occurred and one man from Machias was shot. The British captured 5 large fishing vessels and thousands of pounds of fish.

Machias knew that the British would return again and they wanted to be prepared. That summer of 1776 Sylvanus Scott and Samuel Scott built Fort Foster near the present day Rim Bridge. It consisted of long, earthen berms and a watchtower fort with housing. George Stillman built a small fortification across the river. John O’Brien retrieved the Margaretta which had been hidden out of sight up the Middle River. He readied the ship for the defense of Machias Bay.

The British did return in July of 1777 (cont. on page 28)

(cont. from page 27) when the HMS Ambuscade dropped anchor in Machias. Word spread across the region and men came from many miles away to enlist in the local militia. The HMS Ambuscade quietly left the river without incident.

The British had planted a spy in Machias to learn where any arms might be hidden and to determine if rumors of Machias men attacking Nova Scotia might be true.

Reverend James Lyon and others had previously lived in Nova Scotia and they believed large numbers of the inhabitants there would fight for America.

George Washington had authorized Colonel John Allen, who had come from Nova Scotia, to build a militia of 300 local men and any Indians from the Wabanaki Confederacy who wanted to fight. Fortunately, Colonel Allen brought at least 43 Indians to Machias when the British invaded in August of

1777. Sir George Collier commanded the British fleet. His ships were the HMS Hope, HMS Rainbow, HMS Mermaid and the HMS Blonde.

Machias was a logging village and log and chain booms were commonly used on rivers to stop logs on river drives. The men constructed a large boom chain across the river where the present day Rim Bridge is located. This slowed down the advancement of the British fleet. Some of the British went ashore and burned Fort Foster and other homes and barns. They also burned a mill and a tannery.

The British lowered smaller boats and rowed upriver to the mouth of Middle River. Captain Stephen Smith was in charge of a group of militia at White’s Point. A Passamquoddy man was with Smith as the British advanced on their location. A Passmaquoddy, Francis Joseph Neptune, asked Smith if he could fire his musket at the British

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Two men could be seen carrying a stretcher along the riverbank. The British assumed they were carrying a dead American. As the HMS Hope pulled anchor and began to drift downriver, the two men set the stretcher down on the ground. They removed the wool blanket from the stretcher to reveal a loaded cannon. The “dead man spoke” as the cannon fired a ball at the ship. The cannon ball hit its mark and blew a hole in the side of the HMS Hope

The British fled and never returned again during the American Revolution. They had had enough.

Revolutionary War Reenactors of Downeast Maine

These battles and other events are reenacted each year by volunteers of the Revolutionary War Reenactors of Downeast Maine which is part of the Machias Historical Society and the Margaretta Days Festival of Machias.