The date of Sept. 5, 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of a naval battle in the waters off Pemaquid Point during the War of 1812.
The brigs HMS Boxer and USS Enterprise clashed in deadly combat, with the American Enterprise defeating the British Boxer.
Local history groups, with the support of the town of Bristol, plan to commemorate the occasion with a free program of education and entertainment at the precise date and time of the anniversary.
The ancestors of people who live in the area today observed the battle from land, according to Kay Hannah, a Bristol resident and member of the Old Bristol Historical Society.
People on land could see the ships maneuvering into position the morning of Sept. 5, 1813, Hannah said, and a growing crowd of people came from some distance away to watch the battle unfold.
Historic accounts place hundreds of spectators on the shores of Monhegan, Pemaquid Point and Rutherford Island in South Bristol, fellow organizer Jack Tingley said.
The ships “engaged at very close range” at about 3 p.m., Hannah said. The crowd could see only smoke for much of the battle and did not know the outcome until the Enterprise emerged from the haze, towing the Boxer toward Portland.
The captains of the Boxer and the Enterprise, Samuel Blyth and 27-year-old Lt. William Burrows, were killed in the battle.
They were buried in a joint ceremony on Munjoy Hill in Portland, with the surviving crew members of both ships present. The Portland poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 6 years old at the time, would later reference the battle and the captains in a poem.
The loss had a demoralizing effect across the Atlantic in Britain.
The impact of the loss of a single brig in a 600-ship fleet was negligible, Tingley said, but the press began to ask why Britain, a great sea power, was losing one-on-one engagements with the fledgling U.S. Navy.
“It was more of an impact in the British psyche,” Tingley said. “They weren’t used to losing.”
The anniversary event will feature authors David Hanna and James L. Nelson, who will talk about the battle, and period music by the Round Pond duo Castlebay.
Hanna is the author of the 2012 book “Knights of the Sea: The True Story of the Boxer and the Enterprise and the War of 1812.”
The book has garnered praise from readers, including the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who called it “a wonderful read” that “brings the War of 1812 to life.”
Hanna and his family lived in the lighthouse keeper’s cottage at Pemaquid Point during his early childhood.
James L. Nelson is a maritime historian and author of 17 books of fiction and nonfiction, including “George Washington’s Great Gamble and the Sea Battle that Won the American Revolution” and “George Washington’s Secret Navy: How the American Revolution Went to Sea.” He is the director of education at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.
“Jim Nelson explains the complexities of the war very well, as does David Hanna in his book,” Hannah said.
“These are two knowledgeable, professional speakers who know this subject very well,” Tingley said.
The organizers also hope to present local accounts of the battle, which survive in verbal and written form. They invite anyone who has heard an oral history of the battle to attend and share their story.
Artifacts from the battle, on loan from a recent War of 1812 exhibit at the Maine Maritime Museum, will be available for viewing.
Tingley is a volunteer docent at the museum and began to take steps to organize the anniversary event after learning of the battle from the exhibit.
The U.S. government auctioned the Boxer and its contents because the damage to the ship was too extensive to press it into service, Tingley said.
The museum obtained the records from the auction, contacted the descendants of the buyers and gathered many items from the ship for display, including a cannon from the Boxer.
The battle is an interesting piece of the region’s history, and the organizers hope everyone, not just history buffs, will attend and enjoy the event. “I think there’s quite a bit of enthusiasm already,” Hannah said.
The event is about more than a pair of fighting brigs “bashing each other to smithereens” in a 45-minute battle, Tingley said. People who attend will learn the background of the battle, such as the stories of the young and ill-fated captains.
“There’s so much more to this than meets the eye,” Tingley said.
The event will take place Thursday, Sept. 5 at The Learning Center at Pemaquid Point from 3 to 5 p.m., rain or shine. The center is in Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park.
The Bristol Parks and Recreation Commission will waive park entrance fees for the event. Commemorative T-shirts will be available.
The town of Bristol, the Old Bristol Historical Society and the Pemaquid Peninsula Heritage Group are the hosts, organizers and sponsors of the event. The Maine Maritime Museum has loaned artifacts for the event and provided support.
