American Marines Capture Heights Above Harbor

# The Capture of the Heights at Castine Harbor, July 28, 1779

In the summer of 1779, the British made a bold move to establish a permanent foothold on the coast of what is now Maine, then part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A British force under Brigadier General Francis McLean arrived at the peninsula of Bagaduce, modern-day Castine, and began constructing Fort George on the high ground overlooking Penobscot Bay. The fort was intended to serve as a base for a new loyalist province and to secure British access to the timber resources vital for the Royal Navy. The establishment of this outpost deep within territory claimed by the American states was seen as an intolerable provocation, and Massachusetts quickly organized one of the largest combined naval and land expeditions of the entire Revolutionary War — the Penobscot Expedition — to dislodge the British before their fortifications could be completed.

The American force was impressive on paper. A fleet of over forty vessels, including Continental Navy warships, Massachusetts state ships, and armed privateers, was assembled under the naval command of Commodore Dudley Saltonstall. The land forces, numbering roughly a thousand militiamen and marines, were placed under the command of Brigadier General Solomon Lovell, with Lieutenant Colonel Paul Revere serving as commander of the artillery train. The expedition arrived in Penobscot Bay in late July and immediately faced the challenge of how to assault a fortified position defended by British regulars and supported by several Royal Navy sloops of war anchored in the harbor.

On July 28, the Americans launched what would prove to be the most aggressive and tactically successful action of the entire campaign. American marines and light infantry were put ashore under enemy fire at the base of the steep, wooded bluffs guarding the harbor entrance. The landing was fiercely contested, with British defenders firing down from elevated positions, but the American assault troops fought their way up the heights with remarkable determination. The capture of this commanding ground was a genuine tactical achievement, placing American forces in a position that directly threatened the British approach to Fort George and gave them a significant advantage for any subsequent operations against the partially completed fortification.

What followed, however, became one of the most debated decisions of the war. Rather than pressing the attack and exploiting the momentum gained by the successful assault, the American command chose to consolidate their newly won position. General Lovell and Commodore Saltonstall disagreed sharply over the next steps, with each waiting for the other to take decisive action. Lovell wanted the naval forces to engage and destroy the British ships in the harbor before he committed to a full assault on Fort George, while Saltonstall was reluctant to risk his fleet without assurance that the land forces would simultaneously storm the fort. Days turned into weeks as the Americans dug in and waited for circumstances that never materialized.

The delay proved catastrophic. In mid-August, a powerful British relief squadron arrived in Penobscot Bay, and the American expedition disintegrated in panic. The fleet was destroyed — ships burned, scuttled, or captured — and the land forces scattered into the Maine wilderness, enduring a harrowing retreat. The Penobscot Expedition became the worst American naval disaster until Pearl Harbor, and it cast a long shadow over the reputations of those involved. Saltonstall was court-martialed and dismissed from the service, and Paul Revere faced accusations of insubordination and cowardice, though he was eventually cleared.

The capture of the heights on July 28 thus stands as a bittersweet moment in the Revolutionary War — a demonstration of American courage and capability that was ultimately squandered by indecision and a failure of unified command. It remains a powerful lesson in how tactical success on the battlefield can be rendered meaningless without the strategic resolve to follow through, and it underscores the challenges that plagued American joint operations throughout the war for independence.