Battle of Hampden

The Battle of Hampden involved the British conquering present-day Maine and establishing the colony New Ireland during the War of 1812. Sir John Sherbrooke led a British fleet out of Halifax, Nova Scotia to establish New Ireland, which lasted until the end of the war, eight months later. The brief life of the colony yielded customs revenues which were subsequently used to finance a military library in Halifax and found Dalhousie College.

The subsequent retirement of the British expeditionary force from its base in Castine, Maine back to Nova Scotia ensured that eastern Maine would remain a part of the United States. Lingering local feelings of vulnerability, however, would help fuel the post-war movement for Maine statehood. The withdrawal of the British eight months later represented the end of two centuries of violent contest over Maine by rival nations (initially the French and British, and then the British and Americans).