In July, Sir Thomas Hardy, commander of the British fleet before New London, received orders to capture Moose Island, in Passamaquoddy Bay, and sailed thither with five ships of war and transports containing about fifteen hundred troops. The Americans had here a small fort, garrisoned by only fifty men, under Major Putnam, who made no resistance to the enemy, but surrendered at once, July 11th. Sir Thomas then took formal possession not only of the town of Eastport, which at that time contained about one thousand inhabitants, but {269}of the whole island, and issued a proclamation in which he declared that all the islands in the bay-had been surrendered and were thenceforth British territory. He gave the inhabitants one week in which to make their choice, either to swear allegiance to the British Crown or move away. About two thirds of the people took the oath, supposing they would thereby be admitted to the privileges of British citizenship; but a month later the Provincial Council of New Brunswick ordered that they should be treated as a conquered province and placed under martial law. The fortifications of Eastport were greatly strengthened, the six guns being increased to sixty, and a large garrison placed there. But provisions were extremely scarce, the men deserted in great numbers, and the British officers were often seen on the ramparts, doing duty as sentinels. On the 1st of September, another British force entered Penobscot River. The small American garrison at Castine blew up the fort and retreated, and the enemy took possession, and soon issued a proclamation declaring all that part of Maine east of the Penobscot to be conquered territory. It contained about forty villages, with an aggregate of more than thirty thousand inhabitants. Captain Morris, after a successful cruise, had re {270}cently arrived in the Penobscot with the American frigate _Adams_, and taken her to Hampden, thirty-five miles up the river, for repairs. The British commander sent up an expedition of about a thousand men to capture her, and Captain Morris made all possible preparations for defence. He erected several batteries on the shore, collected a small force of militia from the neighborhood, and, as they were unarmed, put the ship's muskets into their hands. But on the approach of the British regulars, the militia ran away; and Morris, seeing that he could not save his vessel, sent away his sailors and marines, who retreated across a bridge over a deep creek. He and a few men whom he had retained for the service then set a slow-match to the magazine, and, as their retreat by the bridge had been cut off, swam the stream and escaped. The frigate was blown to pieces, and the enemy returned to Castine with neither prisoners nor plunder. But they made thenceforth frequent incursions among the towns of the neighborhood, and freely robbed the inhabitants of what little property they had that was worth taking.