Portland's Role in the Revolution

Falmouth Harbor [and] Portland Sound

Joseph Des Barres

Falmouth Harbor [and] Portland Sound

London: Frederick Wallet, 1776

Nautical Chart

Smith Collection

Town of Falmouth, Burnt by Captain Moet

Topographical view of the burning of Portland, Maine (then Falmouth, Massachusetts), by Lieutenant Henry Mowatt on October 18, 1775. Falmouth was considered the shire town of Cumberland county in the late 18th century. After the Stamp Act of 1765, revolutionaries burned a shipment of stamps. And when the Boston port was closed by the British in 1774, the townspeople held a meeting. which resulted in a resolution of the people to refuse to by tea. The American Association had several chapters in Maine, and sought to interfere with English trade. However, there were many loyalists in Falmouth, who profited from trading with the English. Captain Samuel Coulson, a Falmouth loyalist, sent a vessel to England for military supplies in 1775. However, when the vessel returned to Falmouth, the American Association held a meeting, and decided to prevent it from docking. The British ordered Captain Henry Mowat to attack Massachusetts ports. In a letter, the captain warned the townspeople to evacuate. The fire burned more than three quarters of the town, destroying more than four hundred buildings.

Nathaniel Coverly and Robert Hodge

Town of Falmouth, Burnt by Captain Moet

Boston: John Norman, 1782

Sheet Map

Osher Collection

Falmouth Neck, As It Was When Destroyed by Mowett, October 18, 1775

“All the buildings within the dotted line were destroyed, except a few within the perfect line.”

William Willis

Falmouth Neck, As It Was When Destroyed by Mowett, October 18, 1775

Portland: 1831

Lithograph Sheet Map

Osher Collection