May 20, 1676: Jacques de Chambly is re-established as governor of the French colony of Acadia, the capital of which is Fort Pentagouet, at the site of the present-day town of Castine.
A Dutch force commanded by Capt. Jurrien Aernouts aboard the corsair Flying Horse had seized the fort two years earlier and imprisoned de Chambly.
The French had been trading cooperatively with Indian tribes in the region before the Dutch takeover, and the loss of Fort Pentagouet disrupted the tribes’ supply line. Some historians believe that was one of the causes of the relatively short, but highly destructive, King Philip’s War, which broke out in 1675.
The 1678 Treaty of Nijmegen ends the Franco-Dutch War (1672-78) and Holland’s claim to Acadia.
May 20, 1690: During King William’s War, English colonists at Fort Loyal, where downtown Portland is today, surrender after a four-day battle with French and Indian attackers under the command of Joseph-François Hertel de la Fresnière (1642-1722) and Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie de St. Castin (1652-1707) – the latter being the namesake of the modern town of Castine.
Map from ‘The Siege and Capture of Fort Loyall: Destruction of Falmouth, May 20, 1690 (o.s.),’ a paper presented to the Maine Genealogical Society on June 2, 1885, by John T. Hull, printed by order of the City Council of Portland. The fort sits on the waterfront at the base of Broad Street. Image courtesy of the Osher Map Library
During the siege, the attackers burn all the houses and kill or wound most of the defenders.
After the surrender, the French agree to spare the survivors. Then, according to an account by the surviving fort commander, Indians kill about 200 of the English, especially the wounded. They leave the corpses stacked in a pile, where at least some of them remain unburied for more than two years.
The French take the fort commander and a few other Englishmen to Canada.
May 20, 1816: In a referendum intended to test the opinions of Mainers about separating from Massachusetts and forming their own state, the pro-separation side prevails with 62 percent of the vote.
Support for separation is strongest in inland counties, while those along the coast tend to oppose it. Voter turnout is so low – about 43 percent – that the result is deemed inconclusive.
Joseph Owen is an author, retired newspaper editor and board member of the Kennebec Historical Society. Owen’s book, “This Day in Maine,” can be ordered at islandportpress.com. He can be contacted at: jowen@mainetoday.com.
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