Owen’s “History of Bath” gives us an interesting picture of the city and the surrounding towns during the American Revolution.

As far back as 1773, Boston was under military occupation. The Boston committee sent a letter to Georgetown (which then included Bath, Phippsburg, Arrowsic, and Woolwich) asking for support. A committee was formed to consider the letter, and a favorable reply was sent back to Boston.  It read, in part:

“We are situate on the Banks of the River Sagadahock (Kennebec) where some of our fore fathers who left their native country for the sake of their liberty first landed many of whom fell a sacrifice to savage barbarity rather than endure oppression. Their graves are with us and we would by no means affront their relics by a vain submission to oppression and slavery.”

Another committee was formed the following year to study the town’s ammunition supply. In 1775 a unit of minutemen was formed by Dummer Sewell, who wrote the following:

“Georgetown, April 3, 1775. We the subscribers do hereby acknowledge ourselves enlisted as Minute Men & to hold ourselves in readiness whensoever there shall be a call for our services & to use our best endeavor to learn the military art.”

It took 10 days for news of Lexington and Concord to reach the area. The local men voted to support Boston and eject any British officers or agents from the town. Dummer Sewell led a band of armed men to the King’s Spar Dock, where the British were preparing mast wood for transportation back to England.  The workers gave no resistance and fled to their ships.  The King’s agent, Edward Parry, was friendly with the locals and agreed not to ship the wood.

It seemed as though he would be left in peace, but then a group of 20 armed men from Brunswick showed up and held him prisoner in Lambert’s Tavern (now Wayne Robbins’ house) for a few days, then took him away.

A company of volunteers was stationed at the head of the Kennebec River. They drilled in the area where Fort Popham now stands, and watched out for enemy vessels. A blockhouse with a four-pound cannon stood in the vicinity, and both the cannon and the militia were effective against small enemy vessels.  They were no threat to larger British Men of War that occasionally sailed up the river for shelter or supplies, which they generally paid for.

On one occasion a British privateer chased an American vessel up the Kennebec. Failing to catch it, the privateer anchored for the night. The local militia set up cannon to ambush the ship, and Lt. Nathanial Springer gave chase in boats. Unfortunately, the militia mistakenly fired upon their own boats instead of the privateer, and Springer was killed.

Some Tories remained in the area, and they sometimes suffered.

The men stationed at Popham attacked a 100-ton sloop owned by a Tory named Carlton, of Woolwich. The ship was driven out of the river and Carlton lost both eyes. Another Tory in Wiscasset was hosting a British officer, and they “made themselves obnoxious” to the Patriots.  The men of Bath joined the men of Wiscasset in a tar-and-feather demonstration. While being feathered, the Tory had 700 pounds of lead stolen by the boys from Bath, who distributed it for bullets.

During Benedict Arnold’s famous trip to Quebec, he anchored briefly in Bath. The men of Bath visited him for dinner aboard his ship, and Arnold came ashore to return the favor.

Life became difficult for the locals. Money became worthless, and food was scarce. People traveled from 20 miles inland to harvest clam flats. Prices soared. The local militia did not travel to battles elsewhere, but the men often left to join the Continental Army. As a result, labor was in short supply, and women often had to take care of farm cultivation in addition to their regular duties.

All in all, the people of the Midcoast served faithfully in the Revolution. Thanks to them, today we are indeed free of the oppression and slavery of the British Empire.

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