Captain Henry Mowatt

Captain Henry Mowatt: From Charts to Cannons
Captain Henry Mowatt was born in Scotland in 1734 and entered the British Royal Navy at 18. Over six years as an able seaman and midshipman, he mastered navigation, ship handling, and military strategy, earning his commission as a lieutenant aboard HMS Baltimore in 1758.

In 1764, Mowatt was given command of the 16-gun sloop HMS Canceaux, a hydrographic survey vessel tasked with mapping the rugged coastlines of Atlantic Canada and New England as part of the Atlantic Neptune project, the most ambitious coastal charting effort of its time. The ship’s name came from a fishing village in Nova Scotia, now spelled Canso and is derived from the Mi’kmaq word kamsook, meaning “opposite the lofty cliff.”

For twelve years, Mowatt and the Canceaux served as a floating base for smaller survey boats that fanned out through bays, rivers, and island passages. He personally oversaw soundings, measured tides, mapped shoals, and recorded landmarks along more than 4,500 miles of coastline. The intricate and often treacherous Maine coast became his specialty. He described it as “a multitude of islands, harbors, bays and inlets in which no parts of America can equal.”

The charts created from these surveys, published in London as part of the Atlantic Neptune atlas, became the gold standard for navigation in New England waters. They were so precise that long after Mowatt left the region, Maine fishermen, merchant captains, and harbor pilots relied on his work to find safe harbor, avoid hidden ledges, and navigate dangerous currents.

That unrivaled local knowledge would later give him a deadly advantage during the American Revolution. In the 1779 Penobscot Expedition and other coastal raids, Mowatt used the very waters he had charted to outmaneuver larger American forces, trap enemy ships, and strike with precision where others would have run aground. His years aboard the Canceaux left more than ink on charts, they left a living blueprint of the Maine coast that served generations of mariners and proved that mastery of the sea could be both a tool for creation and a weapon of war.

The Burning of Falmouth Neck
By the autumn of 1775, the American Revolution was in motion and tensions between Britain and its colonies were at a breaking point. That October, Mowatt received orders from Vice Admiral Samuel Graves to return to Falmouth and make an example of the town. The directive was clear: destroy it as a warning to other rebel ports.

This was no ordinary assignment for Mowatt. He knew the people of Falmouth well, having surveyed their waters and walked their streets during his years commanding the Canceaux. He had once called the harbor one of the most peaceful stations in America. Now he was being asked to reduce it to ashes.

Mowatt entered Casco Bay aboard the Canceaux, accompanied by the Cat, Halifax, Symmetry, and Spitfire. On October 16, he issued a formal proclamation to the townspeople, giving them two days to remove their families and possessions. His words were intended to show that while he would follow orders, he sought to spare lives wherever possible.

At about 9 a.m. on October 18, the fleet opened fire. For nine unbroken hours, the roar of cannon echoed across the harbor. The bombardment was systematic, beginning at the waterfront and working inland. Fires took hold quickly, spreading from house to house, consuming churches, warehouses, and shops. More than 400 buildings were destroyed, leaving the town a smoldering ruin. Remarkably, there were no fatalities, a testament to the warning Mowatt had given.

The destruction of Falmouth sent shockwaves through the colonies. Newspapers from New Hampshire to Virginia carried vivid reports, painting Mowatt as either a ruthless enemy or a man reluctantly carrying out orders. For many Americans, the attack erased any remaining hope of reconciliation with Britain. It became a rallying point for the cause of independence and was a direct catalyst for the formation of the Continental Navy.

For Mowatt, it was the defining and most controversial act of his career. His name would be tied to the burning for the rest of his life, remembered in as a capable seaman and the man who brought fire to Falmouth.

After Falmouth
Despite the outrage in New England, Mowatt’s naval career continued. In 1776, he took command of HMS Albany and soon returned to Maine waters. By then, his name was well known along the coast.

In the summer of 1779, Mowatt sailed into Penobscot Bay with a British force under General Francis McLean. With about 700 troops and three armed sloops mounting 56 cannons, they established Fort George at Castine as the center of a planned Loyalist province called New Ireland. When a much larger American fleet arrived in the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition, Mowatt’s deep knowledge of Maine’s coastline and his disciplined defensive tactics allowed the small British garrison to hold out for three weeks. The result was the complete destruction or capture of all 44 American vessels. The worst U.S. naval defeat until Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Mowatt’s service did not end there. In 1795, he was promoted to captain and given command of the 50-gun HMS Assistance. On April 14, 1798, he died of apoplexy while sailing off the Chesapeake Bay. He was buried in the Episcopal churchyard in Hampton, Virginia, ending a career that left a lasting mark on Maine’s history and its waters.

Carrying the Flame Forward
Although Capt. Henry Mowatt’s legacy is complicated, it reflects the difficult choices of a time divided by loyalty and rebellion. At Captain Mowatt’s, we believe history and hot sauce go hand in hand. Something to consume, appreciate, and remember. We’re named after Capt. Henry Mowatt not to celebrate destruction, but to reclaim that fire and honor Maine’s maritime past. What once came by cannon now comes by bottle, still fiery, still unforgettable, still burning Portland since 1775.