The Battle of Hampden was an action in the British campaign to conquer present-day Maine and remake it into the colony of New Ireland during the War of 1812. Sir John Sherbrooke led a British force from 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 British expedition to Maine was commanded by the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Major General John Sherbrooke.
Captain Charles Morris (pictured c. 1850) commanded the USS Adams during the battle.
A painting of Captain Robert Barrie
After the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, the peace treaty which ended the War of 1812, British forces evacuated Castine.
New Ireland was a Crown colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain twice established in modern-day Maine after British forces captured the area during the American Revolutionary War and again during the War of 1812. The colony lasted four years during the Revolution, and eight months during the War of 1812. At the end of each war the British ceded the land to the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Ghent, respectively.
Britain defending New Ireland from the Penobscot Expedition during the American Revolution by Dominic Serres
Francis McLean Plaque, St. Paul's Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Fort George in Castine, Maine, a British fort built to protect New Ireland
Lieutenant Governor John Coape Sherbrooke of Nova Scotia conquered Maine and re-established New Ireland