A Little Maid of Old Maine

by Alice Turner Curtis

“Indeed it will not. And had that scamp London but held his peace instead of mistaking Captain Foster’s men for an armed enemy marching upon us, the English would be our prisoners at this moment,” declared her father. “But that is but postponed,” he added quietly, “and to-morrow morning Machias men will give the English captain a lesson.”

There were many anxious hearts in the settlement that night, for it had been determined that in the early dawn of the following morning the men should seize the sloop Unity, and make the attempt to capture the English gunboat. Neither Rebecca nor Anna knew of this plan; and, still tired from their journey, as well as by the excitement that morning at the church, they were glad to go early to bed and were soon sound asleep. Mrs. Weston, unable to sleep, waited in the kitchen for her husband’s return. For Mr. Weston and his neighbors were busy with their preparations for the coming battle. It was decided that Captain O’Brien should take command of the sloop, and before the sun rose the next morning forty Machias men were on board the Unity. Half this number were armed with broad-axes and pitchforks; the remainder had muskets.

It was just at sunrise when a warning shot from the gunboat reverberated along the harbor, and Rebecca awakened suddenly. She realized at once that the conflict had begun. In an instant she was out of bed, slipped quickly into her clothing, and leaving Danna sound asleep, she sped down the path and along the trail to the high bluff that commanded a view of the harbor.

There was a favoring wind and the Unity, with her crew of untrained men, was now in full chase of a vessel well-armed and equipped. On swept the sloop, and a sudden volley of musketry from her deck astonished and confused the enemy. The gunboat swerved, and the bowsprit of the Unity plunged into her mainsail, holding the two vessels together for a brief moment.

Rebecca, standing on the bluff, shouted aloud. She was sure that the moment of triumph for the Machias men was close at hand. But victory was not so easily achieved; the vessels suddenly parted, and now a storm of bullets rained upon the Unity.

Captain O’Brien swung the sloop alongside the Margaretta and twenty of his men armed with pitchforks sprang to the enemy’s deck. A hand-to-hand conflict ensued. Surprised by the dauntless valor of the Machias men the English were forced to yield. The English flag was pulled down amid triumphant shouts of the Americans; the wounded were cared for, and English officers and crew made prisoners of war.

When Rebecca saw the English flag vanish from the gunboat’s mast and heard the resounding cheers, she knew that the Americans had conquered their enemy, and that the liberty tree would stand unchallenged. But she did not realize that she had been a witness to the first naval exploit in America after the battle of Lexington.

All the women and children and such men as had been left behind, were now hurrying toward the wharves. Cheer after cheer rang out across the harbor as the Unity and the captured gunboat came slowly to their anchorage.

Mrs. Weston and Anna came hurrying down the path and Rebby ran to meet them.

“I saw the battle, Mother!” she exclaimed eagerly. “I was on the bluff and saw it all.” But before Mrs. Weston could respond to this astonishing statement a boat-load of men from the Unity had landed.