The Portland daily press., 1897-06-08
IN NOvEM BER I775.
The County Convention-James sulIiyan,s
Letter from Falmouth Neck, an Inter
esting Document,

|
| Oct. 1S, 1775,. Capt. Henry Mowat de-
| stroyed Falmouth Neck, now Portland.
On November first, the British man-of-
war Cerebus sailed into our harbor and
demanded as the price to spare the re-
manning houses, only about hundred of
the poorest, 20 sheep, 2 tons of hay, and
20 bushels of potatoes, and was refused.
That was pluck. They mounted two six
Founders as near the vessel as convenient,
in the night, determined to fight it out.
The alarm spread to York county and
among others who came to their assist
ance was James Sullivan, a young lawyer
of Biddeford. He was quite lame, caused
by breaking his leg and it not having
been properly attended to. He was invited
to take charge which he did and COM
menced to fortify. Capt. Symons sailed
his vessel away in the night, after threat
ening to fire on the town if they persisted
IN building earthworks. They persisted.
After the Cerebus was gone, the militia
kept on building their Notifications, and
the story is told in a long letter of
James Sullivan's, written soon after,
which we now publish as an addition to
our history of those times.
James Sullivan became very distin-
| guished man. He was brother to Gen.
John Sullivan and had two other brothers
in the Revolutionary army. They were
sons Of John Sullivan, an Irish school.
master of Berwick. James wrote our
first history of Maine, and became COVER
| nor of Massachusetts. He was not here
when Capt. Mowat destroyed our town,
but about twenty years later wrote
Mowat wantonly, without the hope of
gain, cruelty and without provocation,
destroyed the subsistence and blasted the
hopes of a whole community"
Williamson in his history Of Maine.
written in 1889, said of the burning of
Falmouth so Mowat when he had accom-
plishsd this diabolical work departed.
Yet his name lives to be execrated and
his dark deeds are protrayed to teach base
men what indelible infamy shall cleave
to their memories long after their relics
have mouldered to their original element -
the lips of men who were present and
knew of them, from which they made
their estimate of Mowat and his work.
Such men, writing for posterity, state
only what they believe to he true.
A county convention met here Nov. 7th
to consider what best be done. They
elected James Sullivan commander-in-
chief, and Col. Jonathan Mitchell, Col
Reuben Fogg, Deacon Benjamin Titcomb
and Major Peter Noyes assistants, they
were ordered to secure tools, teams, etc.,
for carrying on the erection Of batteries
for the defence of Falmouth and Cape
Elizabeth The convention recommended
towns in the county procure all the boats
and canoes to carry men to the islands,
as emergency requires, and appointed
Jonathan Mitchell and Rev. Soloman
Lombard a committee to view the ground
and report the proper places for fortifica-
tions. and the following is their report:
rive, whose names are underwritten,
a committee chosen by this Convention to
view and fix upon some proper places in
Falmouth for intrenching and erecting a
Fertilization or Notifications, for the de-
fence, security and government of said
harbour, beg leave to report that we have
attended the service and we took upon us
the view, and we find the eminence on
the Neck will command the whole har-
bour and redoubt on an eminence on
Brimhals Hill (Bramhall's Hil) which
commands the country and three or four
redoubt batteries elsewhere; and on the
south side of the harbour two batteries,
one on Spring Point and the other on
Portland Head.
All of which is humbly submitted,
"JONATHAN MITCHELL.
"SOLOMAN LOMBARD"
The convention reported the situation
to the General Court, and to General
Washin pton at Cambridue and Nora,,,