College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Join the Friends of Castine Fortifications along with the UMaine History Department and McGillicuddy Humanities Center to experience what life was like at Fort George from 1779 to 1783.

After the British victory at Fort George (Penobscot Expedition, 1779), Castine became a safe haven for the Scottish and Hessian troops and the Loyalists who flocked there from other parts of New England. The Fort was continuously reinforced as the British assumed the Penobscot River would become the border between the inevitable United States of America and British North America. Fort George was vacated by the crown troops in 1783 when John Adams proved that the whole Maine Province was a part of Massachusetts, and therefore part of the new United States of America.

Schedule of Events:

• September 8
  • 7:00pm: “The Hessian Officer in America” – 1783 comedy by Johann August Weppen-Delano Hall, MMA
• September 9
  • 8:00-9:30am: Breakfast, Trinitarian Parish Church, Main Street
  • 9:00-4:00pm: Encampment at Fort George
    • Scottish, British and Hessian Braunschweig and Ansback-Bayeuth Troops
    • Troop Drills & Recruitments
    • Meet Loyalists
    • Informal Historical Presentations
  • 9:30-12:00pm: Bagpipe Procession – Trinitarian Church to Fort George – Castine Bagpiper Will MacArthur, followed by performance at Fort George.
  • 1:30pm: From Away DownEast – Period songs and ballads – Fort George
  • 5:00-6:00pm: Lecture: Mixed Allegiances Dr. Liam Roirdan, 1954 Room, Maine Maritime Academy
  • 7:00pm: “The Hessian Officer in America” – 1783 comedy by Johann August Weppen-Delano Hall, MMA
• September 10
  • 9:00-4:00pm Encampment at Fort George – see above
  • 11:00am: Acadia Bagpiper Ernie Smith – Traditional and Period music – Fort George
  • 1:30pm: Castlebay-Duet performing period music – Fort George
  • 3:00pm: “The Hessian Officer in America” – 1783 comedy by Johann August Weppen-Delano Hall, MMA