Malta War

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Some farmland in Windsor, Maine where the Malta War took place.

The Malta War was an armed insurrection of rural settlers in what is now the U.S. state of Maine, reaching its peak in 1808 and 1809. The name historians have given this event comes from the town of Malta, now Windsor, Maine.

Settlers had been clearing trees on land owned by the Plymouth Company. From time to time these settlers were arrested. Surveyors, constables and other agents of the land owners’ interests were attacked in retaliation. Rumors were heard of a planned attack on Augusta, Maine. In January of 1808, the Deputy Sheriff Pitt Dilingham negotiated with a group of about 70 armed settlers, and agreed that any arrest warrant would be posted in advance at a tavern, allowing the suspect a chance to flee. As in the Boston Tea Party, the rebels disguised themselves as American Indians. The jail in Augusta burned down the following March, believed to be by rural settlers' arson, despite the mobilization of militia to protect the town. Violence in the surrounding back country persisted. In 1809, seven settlers were tried but acquitted for the murder of a surveyor named Paul Chadwick.

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