Whoops, that link no longer works. Prof. Weiss of the University of Maine now has a website at: http://www.ume.maine.edu/~marine/riess.htm and his email address is: riess@maine.maine.edu Sorry about that. Bill Pease Brian, Bagaduce is an old Indian name for the quiet, little, beautiful town of Castine, Maine, USA,(and not part of Boston) and it was here in 1779 that the United States suffered the greatest defeat of the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor. In the summer of 1779 the British started building a fort at Bagaduce (now Castine, Maine) on Penobscot Bay which, when completed, would have allowed them to control almost all traffic along the Maine coast during the Revolutionary War. The Americans sent a large expeditionary force (now most frequently referred to as The Penobscot Expedition) from Massachusetts of about 40 ships with marines to recapture the area, but, due to the timidity and delay of the fleet's Commander, Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, a reinforcing British armada with men-of-war arrived before the Americans could recapture the area. The trapped and overpowered American fleet could do nothing but burn all 40 of their ships to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy and all the marines and sailors made their way back to Massachusetts on foot through the Maine wilderness. It was a catastrophic defeat. The most scholarly and complete exposition of the Expedition is on pages 151-251 of Charles Bracelen Flood's book Rise, and Fight Again (N.Y.: Dodd, Mead, 1976). The book includes maps of the expedition plus a reproduction of the only known painting of the battle, the original of which is in the National Maritime Museum in London, England. Another fun (and fictionalized) account of the Battle is Willard Wallace's historical novel East to Bagaduce (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1963). Mr. Wallace was a university historian, so the basic facts of this fascinating novel (at least fascinating to anyone with an interest in the Penobscot Expedition) are supposedly accurate. Copies of this book are available on used-book websites on the internet for around $35. If you can find it, another good exposition of the Expedition is John E Cayford's book The Penobscot Expedition (Orrington, Maine: C & H Pub. co., 1976). You may want to know that Prof. Warren Riess of the University of Maine is attempting to compile a data base of information about all the participants in the 1779 Expedition. No doubt he would be very interested in including any information you may have about any relatives you may have who took part in it. The web site that describes his work is at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/9336/dar10.htm My own interest in the Expedition centers on my g-g-g-g-grandfather, James Pease, who was a Massachusetts Continental Marine from Martha's Vineyard on the American ship "General Putnam" during the Expedition. He fought honorably in several deadly skirmishes during the battle and finally had his ship burned out from under him at the conclusion of the battle -- a lot to happen to a private of only one month and twenty-two days. Bill Pease, Lancaster, Pa, USA