In 1773, the same year as the Boston Tea Party, Thomas experiences his own crisis as his wife of twenty-eight years, Margaret, died. Thomas was left with two sons (James age 4 and Thomas, 8). Thomas and his sons lived in what is today the town of Steuben, Maine. The town was incorporated in 1795 and named after Revolutionary War hero Baron Von Steuben.
Maine was a part of the colony of Massachusetts and as events in Boston escalated, the residents of Maine responded. Soon after Paul Revere's famous midnight ride and the fighting at Lexington and Concord, the residents of Machias, Maine took action against a wealthy loyalist. The residents seized his ship as well as British armed ship HMS Margaretta.
When the war came to Eastern Maine in 1777, the now 52 year old Leighton volunteered to serve. His first action was part of Captain Reuban Dyar's expedition to St. John, NB. The expedition set out from Machias with 43 men in four whale boats and four birch canoes. Dyar's men soon joined up with a larger force commanded by John Allan. Allan had received a commission from the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to make an American presence in Nova Scotia (including present day New Brunswick). Nova Scotia, specifically Halifax was the seat of power for the British navy during the Revolutionary War.
Thomas and his expedition sailed to St. John and found no resistance at first. John Allan went to work making an alliance with the Maliseet and other local native tribes. However, the British soon received word of the American invasion and responded by sending three ships (HMS Mermaid, HMS Vulture, and HMS Hope). On June 30th the British landed a force of 120 soldiers who battled a force of 40 Americans. Then on July 1st, 150 more British regulars arrived in St. John and the Americans were forced to take an arduous retreat without provisions back to Machias.
In early August, Thomas Leighton was called to duty once again to defend the nearby town of Machias. The British believed that John Allan was planning another invasion and wanted to beat him to the punch. British Commodore Sir George Collier led the invasion along with four ships (HMS Rainbow, HMS Mermaid, HMS Blonde, and HMS Hope). However, the invasion of Machias did not go the way Collier had envisioned.
The Maine men, supported by many natives who Allan had won over in St. John, were able to defend the town using a variety of guerrilla tactics including a floating log boom across the river. Each attempt to land was defended and as night fell, the natives spread through the woods and made as much noise as possible to make it appear as there were far more natives than there were. At some point during the night, the British raised anchor and attempted to sail away. One of the British ships (HMS Hope) ran aground for a period of time and the Americans focused fire on that boat. By the time the boat was afloat again, the invasion was over and the British had lost 21 sailors (3 dead, 18 wounded).
Thomas Leighton's time in service had come to an end. Thomas and the Machias men had advanced the war to Canada, while successfully defending their own homes. The British never returned to the Machias area. Thomas Leighton lived until 1813 surrounded by his sons, their wives and 19 grand children.
Sources:
"Narrative of the town of Machias, the old and the new, the ..." 2013. 5 Jul. 2015 <https://archive.org/details/narrativeoftowno00dris>
"Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604 ..." 2010. 5 Jul. 2015 <http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31368>
