"Yes," he replied, "we are nearing it now."
"Oh, I remember something about what occurred there in the Revolution; but won't you please tell us the story again?" she exclaimed.
"I will," he said. "We had then an exposed coast many miles in extent, and not a single armed vessel to protect it, while Britain was the first naval power of the world. A few of our planters and merchants had been trained in the royal navy, and so had a good many American seamen, to some extent, in helping England in her wars with the French in the twenty years preceding our Revolution; but our wise men who were directing public affairs could see no material for organizing a marine force, so devoted themselves to the business of raising an army. Immediately after the battle of Lexington the British began depredations along the New England coast, and soon private vessels were gotten out by patriot volunteers, who armed them as well as they could, and did their best to defend the coast.
"You know news did not fly so fast in those days as it does now, but when at length the people of Machias heard of the affair at Lexington it of course caused great excitement, and a desire to defend their country against the foe. There in their own harbor lay a British armed schooner called the Margaretta. She had two sloops with her, and the three were busied in getting lumber for the British army in Boston. A party of the young men of the town determined to try to capture her while her officers were at church on shore. They seized one of the sloops, chased the schooner out of the harbor, and after a severe fight compelled her to surrender.
"It was the first naval engagement of the Revolution. There were forty of the Americans, commanded by Jeremiah O'Brien, and about twenty of them, and as many of the British, were killed in the fight. The captain of the cutter was one of the mortally wounded. Soon afterward O'Brien captured two small English cruisers, making their crews prisoners, and carrying them to Watertown, where the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts was in session. That body then took measures to establish a coast marine to intercept English transports bringing supplies for the British troops, and gave O'Brien employment in that service, with a captain's commission.
"The British force under Sherwood and Griffiths, after their raid up the Penobscot, went back to Machias. They landed at Buck's Harbor, three miles below the town, and marched against the fort, which the garrison deserted and blew up."
"Are we going to Machias now, papa?" asked Ned.
"No," said his father, "we are nearing Passamaquoddy Bay now. We will spend a little time there, then turn and go back to the Penobscot, to visit historical scenes along its course. You perhaps remember that the British went there shortly after having taken Eastport and Fort Sullivan on Moose Island in Passamaquoddy Bay. They were taken on the 11th of July, 1812; Castine on September 1 of the same year."
"And about a year after came the fight between the Enterprise and the Boxer, which occurred September 5, 1813," observed Max.