Eastern Frontier : Machias and the "Margaretta"
Machias and the "Margaretta"
On June 12, 1775, the Down East community of Machias, Maine suddenly
stepped onto history’s center stage. Only a dozen years before, a small
group of English settlers had arrived mostly from Scarborough, Maine. They
were drawn to the area by opportunities inherent in the abundant forests
Because they were completely focused on lumbering, the Machias settlers
relied on the outside world for many of their other needs. It was a
satisfactory situation until the British occupied Boston and many American
colonists refused to trade with the Britain. The highly patriotic Machias
citizens were in a bind: They refused to trade with the British and they
could barely live without British supplies.
Townsman Ichabod Jones had a solution. With his local connections and
the desperation of the Machias residents, he believed that could easily
convince them to trade. First, he brought a load of Machias lumber to
Boston and traded it for English good, then, he brought the English goods
back to Machias.
However, he made the mistake of asking the British to send a naval
escort, the "Margaretta," to accompany him, just in case there
was opposition. When Jones arrived on June 2, the people in Machias
initially refused to trade. Within a few days, Capt. Moore of the
Margaretta threatened to burn down the town. The inhabitants grudgingly
relented. As the trading went on, the citizens gradually realized that
Jones had been working with Moore and soon there were discussions about
capturing both men.
On Sunday, June 11 Jones and Moore, who were in church at the time, saw
a body of armed settlers heading their way and made their escape. Moore to
the Margaretta and Jones to the woods. During the day, the
colonists on the shore demanded that Moore surrender and turn over Jones,
not knowing that Jones was on board; Moore replied that he would never
turn himself over to such a band of villains. There was a steady exchange
of gunfire but few casualties.
By the next day, the Machias patriots decided to capture the Margaretta
and outfitted two vessels to give chase. When Moore realized what was
happening, he tried to run to the open sea but his vessel proved a poor
sailor and he was soon caught and boarded. During the battle, Moore was
mortally wounded and three other individuals were killed. The Margaretta
was brought back to Machias with great fanfare and soon afterwards, Jones
surrendered. From then on, the small Maine community became a major target
for British wrath.
First, the British launched an expedition to burn Machias. The plan was
scuttled because of bad weather but the British attacked Falmouth instead.
Two years later, the British made a second attempt to retaliate against
Machias and sent a brig up the river to shell the community. But their
timing proved to be disastrous.
One day before the scheduled bombardment, a large body of local Natives
had come to Machias to visit John Allen, the regional Indian agent. For
many reasons, tribal people tried to remain neutral during the Revolution,
but in circumstances such as these, they felt obliged to help the man who
had treated them well.
As the British brig came close to the village, the men aboard saw a
long line of warriors standing near the shore along with some American
patriots. Suddenly, the wind failed and the British commander sent some of
his men out in a smaller boat to tow the brig up the river.
At that point, one of the Indians fired a long shot—some say as long
as a mile—and hit one of the rowers. Instantly the whole group leaped up
and loudly celebrated the event. The British sailors, having often heard
tall tales about Native warriors, saw the incredible shot, panicked, and
turned tail back to the brig.
The captain then attempted to steer the brig back down the river, but
got stuck in the mud. There it sat for the next several hours waiting for
the tide to come in. In the meantime, both sides were firing at each other
with very little effect. Once the brig floated, it sailed away as quickly
and the British never again took on those patriots from Machias.
THE DEFENCE | THE EASTERN FRONTIER |
THE CASTINE LOYALISTS
INTERVIEWS | TRANSCRIPT |