The Fort (49 page)

The quotations which head each chapter are, as far as possible, reproduced with their original spelling and capitalization. I took most of those quotations from the
Documentary History of the State of Maine
, volumes XVI and XVII, published by the Maine Historical Society in 1910 and 1913, respectively. Both those collections of contemporary documents were of enormous value, as was C. B. Kevitt’s book,
General Solomon Lovell and The Penobscot Expedition
, published in 1976, which contains an account of the expedition along with a selection of original sources. I also used Solomon Lovell’s journal of the expedition, published by the Weymouth Historical Society in 1881 and John E. Cayford’s
The Penobscot Expedition
, published privately in 1976. I have already mentioned George Buker’s invaluable book,
The Penobscot Expedition
, which persuasively argues that the inquiries into the disaster were part of a successful Massachusetts conspiracy to shift both blame and financial responsibility onto the federal government. Without doubt the liveliest and most readable description of the whole expedition is found in Charles Bracelen Flood’s book
Rise, and Fight Again
, published by Dodd Mead and Company in 1976, which deals with four instances of rebel disaster on the road to independence. David Hackett Fischer’s fascinating book
Paul Revere’s Ride
(Oxford University Press, 1994) does not touch on the expedition of 1779 but is a superb guide to the events leading to the revolution and to Paul Revere’s influential role in that period. Readers curious about the origin of and reactions to Longfellow’s poem (which Fischer describes as “grossly, systematically, and deliberatly inaccurate”) will find his essay “Historiography” (printed in the book’s end matter) invaluable. The best biography of Revere is
A True Republican, the Life of Paul Revere
, by Jayne E. Triber, published by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1998. The famous
Life of Colonel Paul Revere
, by Elbridge Goss, published in 1891, is short on biographical details but contains a long treatment of the Penobscot Expedition. A new biography of Sir John Moore is badly needed, but I found a useful source in his brother’s two-volume biography,
The Life of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore
,
K.B.
by James Carrick Moore, published by John Murray, London, in 1834. I discovered many details about 18th-century Majabigwaduce in George Wheeler’s splendid
History of Castine, Penobscot and Brookville
, published in 1875, and in the Wilson Museum Bulletins, issued by the Castine Scientific Society. The Wilson Museum, on Perkins Street in Castine, is well worth a visit as, of course, is Castine itself. I must thank Rosemary Begley and the other citizens of Castine who took the time to guide me through their town and its history; Garry Gates of my hometown, Chatham, Massachusetts, for drawing the map of Majabigwaduce; Shannon Eldredge who combed through a daunting number of logbooks, letters, and diaries to produce an invaluable timeline; Patrick Mercer, MP (and a talented historical novelist himself), for generous advice on late-18th-century drill; and most of all my wife, Judy, who endured my Penobscot obsession with her customary grace.

A final note, and this strikes me as the supreme irony of the Penobscot Expedition: Peleg Wadsworth, who promised to have Paul Revere arrested and who was undoubtedly angered by Revere’s behavior at Majabigwaduce, was the maternal grandfather of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the man who single-handedly made Revere famous. Wadsworth’s daughter Zilpha, who makes a fleeting appearance at the beginning of this book, was the poet’s mother. Peleg Wadsworth would have been appalled, but, as he surely knew better than most men, history is a fickle muse and fame her unfair offspring.

About the Author

BERNARD CORNWELL
, “the reigning king of historical fiction” (
USA Today
), is the author of the acclaimed
New York Times
bestseller
Agincourt
; the bestselling Saxon Tales, which include
The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, Sword Song
, and, most recently,
The Burning Land
; and the Richard Sharpe novels, among many others. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod.

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