Penobscot Expedition

The Penobscot Expedition was the largest American naval operation of the Revolutionary War and one of the most catastrophic military disasters in American history. Massachusetts organized a fleet of 44 vessels — 19 warships and 25 transports carrying 1,000 militia — to capture a British fort being constructed at Penobscot Bay in present-day Maine.

The operation was plagued by command disputes. Commodore Dudley Saltonstall commanded the naval forces while General Solomon Lovell led the militia. The two men could not agree on tactics. Lovell's militia captured hills overlooking the British fort and requested naval support for the final assault. Saltonstall repeatedly refused to risk his ships. While the Americans dithered, a British relief squadron of six ships of the line under Commodore Collier arrived from New York.

The rout was total. Saltonstall chose to flee rather than fight. The American fleet raced up the Penobscot River with the British in pursuit. Ship after ship was run aground and burned by their crews to prevent capture. Soldiers jumped into the river and swam ashore. Hundreds were lost in the wilderness trying to walk back to Massachusetts. Of the 44 vessels, not one survived.

Saltonstall was court-martialed and dismissed. Paul Revere, commanding the fort artillery, was also court-martialed but eventually cleared. Massachusetts spent years paying off the expedition's debts. The disaster at Penobscot remained the worst American naval defeat until Pearl Harbor in 1941.