Eastern Cemetery and the American Revolution
Portland’s revolutionary past is preserved at Eastern Cemetery. The generation of 1776 is laid to rest here. Soldiers and sailors who fought for independence. Town officials. Patriot activists. Loyalists. Hundreds of residents who watched their houses burn during the bombardment of October 1775.
A large section of the present cemetery served as the parade ground where the local militia trained. This is where troops mustered in 1775 for the march to Cambridge to join Washington’s army.
The Revolutionary War Monument in the cemetery’s northwest corner, erected in 1909 by the Elizabeth Wadsworth Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, honors the “the brave defenders of our country who made her foundations so enduring.”
Above: Images of the Revolutionary War Monument in Eastern Cemetery
Timeline: Falmouth at the Dawn of the Revolution
Before the war, Falmouth, as Portland was known then, was a town of about 2,000 people, governed by Massachusetts. Resistance to the Stamp Act of 1765 and other measures of the British goverment mirrored anti-government protests in Boston, a two-day ride away.
January 1766
A mob seizes revenue stamps at the Customs House and burns them in a bonfire. Repeal of the Stamp Act in May is met with public rejoicing.
June 1774
Muffled bells of the First Parish Church toll from dawn to dusk to protest the closure of the port of Boston by the British government.
April 21, 1775
News of the Battle of Lexington and Concord reaches Falmouth. Local militia start out for Cambridge, where Revolutionary forces are beseiging the British army occupying Boston.
May 9, 1775
Brunswick militia under Col. Samuel Thompson kidnap British Naval officer Henry Mowat, whose sloop, HMS Canceaux, is protecting loyalist commerce. After Mowat is released, militia loot the houses of loyalists William Tyng and Samuel Coulson.
October 17–18, 1775
Mowat returns to Falmouth harbor to punish the town. His attack fleet opens fire on the morning of the 18th and continues its bombardment until 6pm, leaving the town in ruins and most residents homeless.
Some Eastern Cemetery Revolutionary Personalities
Tabitha Longfellow (1749–1777)
Tabitha and Stephen Longfellow’s large house on the beach near present-day Fore and India streets would have been one of the first destroyed in the bombardment of October 1775. They did not rebuild, and Tabitha died two years later at the family farm in Gorham. Ninety years later, her great-grandson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, would immortalize the events of 1775 in his poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.” She rests in grave F:33.
Commodore Edward Preble (1761–1807)
As a young officer in the Massachusetts Navy, Preble was captured by the British in 1781 and held on a vile prison ship off New York harbor. He was saved from likely death by the intervention of fellow townsman and Loyalist William Tyng. Preble later commanded the American fleet in the First Barbary War, during which he set down the principles that would govern the new American Navy. He rests in Tomb A:65.
Pvt. Benjamin Tukey (1749–1777)
As Falmouth wildly celebrated the great American victory at Saratoga with punch-drinking and cannon fire, artilleryman Tukey was mortally wounded when a misfire blew off his right arm. He rests in grave F:59B.
Col. William (1737–1807) & Elizabeth Ross (1750–1831) Tyng
The Tyngs were the most prominent Loyalists in Falmouth. William was the Royal Sheriff. Elizabeth’s Scottish father was a friend of the British Prime Minister. Their house was repeatedly beset by rebel mobs. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Tyng decamped to Canada, and then to British-occupied New York. He returned to Maine after the war, and lived out his life with Elizabeth in Gorham. They rest beneath the broken monument at E:38.
Ensign William Hans (1757–1831)
Billy Hans was one of the large contingent of Maine soldiers at Valley Forge. After the war, he personified the veteran who has fallen on hard times. He was illiterate and unable to work, likely owing to alcoholism. His 1818 military pension application stated that his family was supported by the Overseer of the Poor. He rests near the front gate in grave A:4:13.
Capt. David Cook (1751–1836)
Most Maine soldiers and sailors survived the war. Captain of Artillery David Cook’s survival was considered miraculous. Shot through the lungs at the battle of Monmouth, he survived and continued to serve for two more years. He rests in grave B:11:10.
Pvt. Lewis Shepherd (1751–1832)
Jamaican native Lewis Shepherd was enslaved at the time of his enlistment in the Massachusetts line of the Continental Army in 1777. He served at Valley Forge and Saratoga, and was discharged in 1780. He received a federal pension for his service. He rests in grave A:24-27.
Capt. Lemuel Moody (1767–1846)
Only seven years old when the war began, Moody joined the militia as a water boy at the age of 10. After a career at sea, he built and operated the Portland Observatory. He rests in Tomb A:60.
Sgt. William Moody (1756–1821)
Lemuel Moody’s older brother was a drummer with the 1779 Penobscot Expedition, a disastrous attempt to drive British forces from Bagaduce (now Castine). William kept a diary that recounts the destruction of the American fleet and the disorderly retreat through the woods by survivors. He rests in grave G:19.
Col. Enoch Freeman (1706–1788)
At one time or another, Freeman held every important position in town. A leader of the patriot or Whig faction, he chaired the Committee of Safety and was a representive to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. He rests in grave G:11.