Battle of Machias, 1777: The Town That Held the Downeast Coast

The town of Machias had already made history once. In June of seventeen seventy-five, before Bunker Hill even finished echoing, local patriots captured the British armed schooner HMS Margaretta in what many historians call the first naval battle of the American Revolution. They did it with pitchforks, fowling pieces, and a commandeered lumber schooner.

Two years later the British came back.

On August thirteenth and fourteenth of seventeen seventy-seven, a British amphibious force sailed into Machias Bay with a clear purpose: take this Downeast settlement, cut off Maine's timber supply to the American cause, and establish a foothold on the coast from which to raid New England's supply lines. It was a serious military operation with professional soldiers and proper warships.

What they found was a town that had spent two years preparing. The local militia, commanded by Colonel John Allan, had built earthwork defenses at the river approaches and drilled its men in the intervals between fishing seasons. Crucially, Allan had also maintained alliances with the Passamaquoddy and Maliseet nations, whose warriors joined the defense of the town.

The British assault failed. Landing parties were met with organized fire and driven back. The fleet, unable to force the river, withdrew without capturing the town. It was a small engagement by the standards of the war, no great set-piece battle, but its consequences were significant. Machias remained in American hands throughout the Revolution. The lower Maine coast was never converted into a British operating base. The timber that flowed south from this region helped keep American shipyards working.

The engagement is commemorated near the Machias waterfront, at the spot where defenders dug in to hold what was, in seventeen seventy-seven, the eastern edge of the United States.