In the spring of 1775, the Great Rebellion of New England Colonists against the iron-fist of the mighty British Crown were positioning to fight against tyranny; either liberty or death, as Patrick Henry demanded, would be the outcome.

In Brunswick, patriot Samuel Thompson, who was a member of the Colonial Provincial Congress, was appointed to lead the local militia and to enforce the will of the Congress.

Thompson was described as a “stuttering … self-made” man of “too fiery a temperament.” He was “portly … outspoken” and filled with a “vehement manner … zeal and patriotism.”

By May 1775, the British Royal Navy was busy harassing New England ports, waterways and commercial vessels as a means of punishing the Colonies for their insolence at the Boston Tea Party and these intolerable acts had become a last straw for Thompson.

When a Falmouth Neck, pro-British, shipbuilding Tory named Captain Samuel Coulson was nearly ready to launch his newest ship, “The King George,” to aid the royal effort, he was still shy of masts, ropes and sails, which had yet to arrive from England.

When word reached Thompson that this ship was about to join the British cause, he determined to prevent it from ever being fitted out.

Spies were everywhere, and Thompson’s half sister, the patriot wife of Captain Coulson, was relaying as much information to her brother as she could manage. But Coulson, too, had his spies and soon learned of Thompson’s plans.

When the sloop H.M.S. Canseau arrived at Falmouth Neck, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Mowatt, it was present to enforce British trade and to specifically support Coulson and insure the King George was completed.

On May 8, as many as 50 armed men of the “Spruce Company” — replete with “spruce sprigs” in their hats — met up with Thompson at New Meadows where they boarded a number of small boats and set off for Falmouth Neck. Thompson’s men landed the next morning at Sandy Point, near today’s East End Beach.

While the anchored Canseau sat in the harbor, Thompson — now encamped on Munjoy Hill — received word that Mowatt was coming ashore, and he ordered his men to arrest Mowatt.

When word reached the Canseau of its commander’s arrest, the ship’s second in command threatened to fire on the city if Mowatt was not immediately released. But Thompson convinced Mowatt to send a note ordering his first officer to stand down.

However, Thompson was not aware that when he arrested Mowatt the British officer had come onshore to parlay with Falmouth patriots General Jedediah Preble and Colonel Edmund Phinney. Thompson’s arrest of Mowatt now irked the two colonial leaders who immediately appealed to Thompson for Mowatt’s release.

By late that night, though Thompson was against it, he agreed to release Mowatt on a promise Mowatt would return the next day to answer charges.

However, once back aboard the Canseau, the warship weighed anchor and sailed into Casco Bay while the sloop “John and Mary” — finally arrived with supplies from England — joined the Canseau and towed Colson’s King George from the harbor.

Seeing as the whole unfortunate incident seemed over, Thompson and his men soon returned to Brunswick, but five months later, Mowatt returned to Falmouth Neck.

By Oct. 18, 1775, with permission to bomb the town of Falmouth Neck, Mowatt returned for retribution and again anchored the Canseau in the harbor. This time, Mowatt had with him a fleet of five ships with nearly 60 cannons at his disposal and he issued a written warning to the entire city to quickly evacuate, before his fleet would open fire.

For the next eight hours, Mowatt’s guns repeatedly bombed Falmouth, in what is now the city of Portland, while his men set torches to buildings, homes and businesses in the Old Port. Much of the city was destroyed as homes and businesses were leveled and left in heaps of ash, and thousands were relegated homeless.

When the bombardment ended, Mowatt ordered his fleet to lift anchor, set sail and leave the harbor. Mowatt’s revenge was complete. And though few would blame him for Mowatt’s Revenge, Thompson was lionized for his foresight and promoted to brigadier general “of the Cumberland County Troops.” He later served 12 terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

After the revolution, Thompson moved to Topsham where he died in 1797. He was buried at Ferry Point in Topsham and later reinterred with his son at the Riverview Cemetery.

Today, the true tale of the Burning of Falmouth has become a national legend in the colonial history of America and Brigadier General Samuel Thompson’s historic involvement is secured in the legend of one of America’s most incendiary of our Stories from Maine.

Lori-Suzanne Dell is a Brunswick author and historian. She has published four books and runs the “Stories from Maine” Facebook page.