The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War - xaviantvision

A Note on Names and TermsIn 1779 there was no state of Maine, it was then the eastern province of Massachusetts. Some place names have also changed. Majabigwaduce is nowcalled Castine, Townsend is Bucks Harbor, and Falmouth is Portland, Maine. Buck's plantation (properly Plantation Number One) is Bucksport, OrphanIsland is Verona Island, Long Island (in the Penobscot River) is now Islesboro Island, Wasaumkeag Point is now Cape Jellison, and Cross Island is todaycalled Nautilus Island.The novel frequently refers to "ships," "sloops," "brigs," and "schooners." They are all, of course, ships in the same way that they are all boats, but properlya ship was a large, square-rigged, three-masted vessel like a frigate (think of the USS Constitution) or a ship of the line (like HMS Victory). Nowadayswe think of a sloop as a single-masted sailboat, but in 1779 it denoted a three-masted vessel that was usually smaller than a ship and distinguished byhaving a flush main deck (thus no raised poop deck). Sloops, like ships, were square rigged (meaning they carried rectangular sails hung from crosswiseyards). A brig, or brigantine, was also a large square-rigged sailing vessel, but with only two masts. Schooners, like brigs, carried two masts, but wererigged with fore and aft sails which, when hoisted, lie along the center line of the vessel rather than across it. There were variations, such as brig-sloops,but at Penobscot Bay, in 1779, there were only ships, sloops, brigs, and schooners. With the exception of the Felicity all the names of the boats are takenfrom history.Most of the characters in the novel existed. The only fictional names are those of any character whose surname begins with F (with the exception ofCaptain Thomas Farnham, RN), and the names of British privates and noncommissioned officers (with the exception of Sergeant Lawrence, RoyalArtillery).