Prisoners of War


Silhouette of Peleg Wadsworth, Portland, ca. 1800

Silhouette of Peleg Wadsworth, Portland, ca. 1800
Item 136   info
Maine Historical Society

The American Revolution touched Maine in many ways. One of the most infamous encounters was the Penobscot Expedition of 1779, a failed Patriot attempt to stop the British, who had a fort at Castine and intended to set up a Loyalist colony in the area.

Peleg Wadsworth (1748-1829), a graduate of Harvard College and businessman, had joined the Patriot Army shortly after the start of the Revolution.

In 1777, he was named brigadier-general of militia and adjutant general of Massachusetts in 1778.

In 1779, he was second in command to Gen. Solomon Lovell during the Penobscot Expedition. Lovell was in charge of ground troops.

The Patriot attempt failed and has been called the worst American naval disaster until Pearl Harbor in 1941.

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