The British Capture & Occupation of Downeast Maine 1814-1815/1818

by George F.W. Young

Although ‘Downeast Maine’ is always mentioned in the general accounts of the War of 1812, it is usually mentioned only in passing—as a kind of peripheral outlier to the central storyline of the war. Yet the British offensive in Eastern Maine in 1814 resulted in their most sizable capture of US territory, and it would have become a territorial annexation to British North America (as it was then properly called), had it not been for American checkmate of the other British offensives of that year on the Niagara Peninsula, on Lake Champlain, and most famously at New Orleans. Consequently the story of the British in Downeast Maine deserves a careful review on this its 200th anniversary, both in its treatment over two centuries of 1812 historiography as well as from contemporary documentation in Royal Navy dispatches and Maritime and Maine newspapers.

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2014

Reviews

[Dan Lutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The British Capture & Occupation of Downeast Maine 1814-1815/1818 is a really interesting book because Maine would have become part of British North America if the Americans hadn't checkmated the other British offenses of that year on the Niagara Peninsula, Lake Champlain, and New Orleans. By the way, I live in Maine, which is a state I love.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another in my "first to read on Goodreads" series. This is pretty special interest stuff...I think you know if you want to read all about the British occupation of Eastern Maine in the War of 1812. This is my field so I was interested. And Young does a good job. If you want to understand this particular series of events, here is the book for you. Maybe a bit too much detail on individual boats doing individual boat things for my taste, but I'm sure there are lots of maritime war historians who eat that stuff up.
I do wish that the Penobscot Press was a little better at reproducing maps, though. The original maps in the book were fine, but the reproduced images were really bad and hard to read.