On October 18, 1775, the sky over Falmouth turned the color of iron and the Royal Navy lit a match. Lieutenant Henry Mowat’s squadron opened fire for nine hours on a coastal town that is now Portland, Maine. The lesson meant to be taught was fear. The lesson that landed was resolve.

Today we tell the story of how a wooden harbor became a furnace, why the British thought terror would tame New England, and how the ashes helped push Congress toward a navy of its own. We will meet the people who ran, the few who fought, and the officers who sailed away convinced they had proved a point.

This is not nostalgia. It is a reminder. When power chooses punishment over law, neighbors choose each other. The bombardment of Falmouth did not end the rebellion. It fed it. Pull up a chair, pour a coffee, and listen in.