The Fort was published by HarperCollins in 2010. It tells the story of the Penobscot Expedition of 1779 — a largely forgotten episode of the American Revolution in which the Commonwealth of Massachusetts assembled the largest American naval fleet of the entire war (over forty vessels, carrying nearly 1,000 marines and militia) and sent it to Penobscot Bay in what is now Maine to dislodge a small British garrison that was building a fort at Bagaduce (modern Castine). The expedition was a catastrophe. The American commanders — Dudley Saltonstall commanding the fleet and Solomon Lovell commanding the militia — argued, dithered, and failed to press their overwhelming advantage. When a small British relief squadron arrived weeks later, the entire American fleet was destroyed, most of the ships scuttled by their own crews as they fled upriver.
Cornwell discovered this story while sailing in Penobscot Bay and was astonished that an event of this magnitude — the loss of an entire fleet, debts that crippled Massachusetts for decades, courts-martial and recriminations that lasted years — had been almost entirely forgotten. Paul Revere was there, serving as an artillery officer, and was subsequently accused of cowardice and insubordination (he was eventually acquitted, but the accusations dogged him for the rest of his life).
Historical Context
The British decision to establish a base in Penobscot Bay was strategic: it would create a loyalist colony (to be called New Ireland) that would serve as a source of ship timber for the Royal Navy and a haven for American Tories. The garrison was small — roughly 700 men of the 74th and 82nd Regiments — and the fort was half-built when the American fleet appeared. The British commander, Brigadier Francis McLean, was competent and calm; the naval commander, Captain Henry Mowat, was experienced and aggressive.
The American commanders, by contrast, were divided. Saltonstall, a Continental Navy captain from Connecticut, was cautious to the point of paralysis. Lovell, a militia general, was brave but indecisive. The marine commander, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Revere, was quarrelsome and uncooperative. The result was weeks of skirmishing, bombardment, and landings that achieved nothing decisive — while all the time the Americans knew that a British relief force was being assembled in New York.
Cornwell’s Approach
The novel alternates between perspectives — British and American, land and sea — and Cornwell’s sympathies are characteristically divided. He admires McLean (who is given a thoughtful, humane portrayal) and despises Saltonstall (whose cowardice is presented as criminal). Revere is portrayed as competent but vain, more concerned with his reputation than with cooperation. The fictional characters — a young marine lieutenant named Peleg Wadsworth (actually a historical figure who later became a general and the grandfather of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) and a British ensign — provide the personal stories around which the history unfolds.
The final chapters, in which the British relief squadron scatters the American fleet and the soldiers and sailors scramble through the Maine wilderness trying to reach safety, are among the most gripping sequences Cornwell has written. Men who had been arguing about precedence and authority suddenly found themselves starving in a forest, days from any settlement, with nothing left of their grand expedition.
Collecting The Fort
First edition (HarperCollins, London, 2010): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $20–$45
- Very good: $10–$25