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ARNOLD'S MARCH TO QUEBEC.

loss of Americans.* With the reconstructed army, consisting of less than 300 men, Montgomery began the march toward Quebec, where he expected to join forces with the troops under Arnold, then advancing toward that city by way of Maine.

Meanwhile, in the middle of September, Arnold had begun his march with a body of about 1,050 men. After undergoing all manner of hardships, he arrived within a few miles of Point Levi, opposite Quebec, on November 9. Crossing the St. Lawrence on the night of the 13th, he ascended the same precipice which Wolfe had scaled several years before, and formed his army, which by this time had been reduced to less than 600 men, on the heights near the plains of Abraham. He then marched toward Quebec in the hope of surprising or capturing the city, but upon his arrival there he found the city in a state of complete defence and was obliged

Bradley, The Making of Canada, pp. 80-82; Bancroft, vol. iv., pp. 295–297; Lossing, FieldBook of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 181–182.

For details see Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, chaps. iv.-ix.; Smith, Arnold's March from Cambridge to Quebec, pp. 56-252 and notes on pp. 278-465; Fisher, Struggle for American Independence, vol. i., pp. 400-404; Arnold, Life of Arnold, pp. 51-72; Arnold's letters in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 4649, 60-61, 475-476; Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 190-194. The Collections of the Maine Historical Society, vol. i., p. 357 et seq.; contain many of Arnold's letters to various persons during this expedition. The journal of Major Meigs is in Massachusetts Historical Collections, 2d series, vol. ii., p. 227 et seq. See also the Life of Arnold by Sparks, chaps. iii.-iv. Arnold's journal is printed in Smith, pp. 467-483.

Arnold, Life of Arnold, p. 76.
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to retire. On the 18th he went to Point aux Trembles, where he decided to await Montgomery's arrival.* The fact that Arnold found Quebec in a state of defence was probably due to the treachery of an Indian guide. On October 13, while marching toward Canada, Arnold had intrusted this Indian with a letter to a friend at Quebec in which letter he enclosed another to General Schuyler, informing him of Arnold's progress. Because of the Indian's treachery, the letter never reached Schuyler but, instead was delivered to the lieutenantgovernor in command at Quebec, in the absence of Carleton at Montreal. In all probability this was one of the causes for the failure of the American enterprise against Quebec,† for upon learning of Arnold's advance, Carleton immediately proceeded to place Quebec in a position to repulse the

attack.‡

On December 1 Montgomery arrived and took supreme command of the combined forces, which altogether

*

Smith, Arnold's March from Cambridge to Quebec, p. 253 et seq.; Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, pp. 143-169; Bradley, Making of Canada, pp. 82-88; Bancroft, vol. iv., pp. 297– 302; the letters of Arnold and Montgomery in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 482-490; Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolu tion, vol. i., pp. 195-196.

Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, pp. 62-64; Smith, Arnold's March from Cambridge to Quebec, pp. 131-132 and notes on pp. 352-356; Carrington, Battles of the Revolution, p. 123. See also Arnold's letter to Montgomery, in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 476. ‡ Fiske, American Revolution, vol. i., p. 167.

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a. Fort St. Ludwig. b. Redoubt on the Diamant Cape. c. Mühlen Fort. d. The Recoletten Redoubt. e. The Jesuit Church. f. The Ursuline Nuns' Convent. g. The Rectory Seminary. h. Bischop's Court. i. The Great Hospital. k. St. Roch Fort. 1. The Sailors' Leap. m. The Superintendent's House. n. Church of Lower City. o. Vaudreuil's Battery. p. Dauphin's Battery. q. Royal Battery. r. Castle Battery. s. St. Ludwig's Bastion. t. Ice-ditch Bastion. u. Joubert's half-Bastion. x. St. Ursula's Redoubt. y. Hangman's Redoubt. z. St. Roch's Redoubt. &. Potashchen Cliff.

march toward Quebec.† The Canadian winter now set in with all its severity;

* See Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. iv., pp. 190, 309; Codman, Arnold's Expedition, P. 182.

See Arnold's letter of December 5 in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 8788, and Montgomery's letters in ibid, pp. 492494.

cold was almost beyond endurance. Consequently the march was exceedingly slow, and the troops reached Quebec in an exceedingly emaciated and weakened condition. Upon their arrival, however, they enthusiastically set to work erecting batteries formed of snow and ice. Though the

THE ASSAULT ON QUEBEC.

shots of their guns produced no effect upon the solid ramparts of Quebec, the American forces sturdily and uncomplainingly persevered in their attack for three weeks, enduring their sufferings without murmur until the small-pox broke out among them. In addition, the terms of enlistment of many troops had now expired and discontent and despondency again prevailed.* Montgomery perceived that unless some vigorous and de

cisive action were soon taken, the expedition would result in a miserable failure.+ It was therefore determined to attempt the reduction of the city by assault. One body of troops was dispatched to make a feigned attack upon the upper town from the heights of Abraham, while Montgomery and Arnold, at the head of their divisions, were to storm the lower town from two different points. Having occupied this section, it was planned to invest the upper town and

*So marked was the insubordination among the troops previous to and at this time, that both Montgomery and Schuyler resigned, but at the earnest solicitation of Washington both continued to serve the American cause. See Tuckerman, Life of Schuyler, p. 121 et seq.; Carrington, Bat

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The

citadel from opposite sides.* assault was undertaken on the last day of the year 1775. In the thick gloom of the early winter morning and under cover of a heavy snowstorm, Montgomery, at the head of the New York troops, proceeded along the narrow road which leads from Wolfe's Cove to the lower town of

Quebec. At the foot of this road beneath Cape Diamond was a blockhouse, the guns of which completely commanded the approach. This post was garrisoned by the Canadian militia and some British

seamen

under Captain Barnsfare. When Montgomery advanced along the road he was not only impeded by the ice and snow, but also encountered a line of stockades through which the troops were compelled to saw a passage. Having effected an entrance, he

ordered the troops to storm the blockhouse, exclaiming to them, "Men of New York, you will not fear to follow where where your general leads." The British had discovered the approach of the American troops and when they had come within a few paces of the block-house a match was applied to the cannon within. A hurricane of grape-shot swept the passage, and

tles of the Revolution, p. 133; Irving, Life of Montgomery fell at the first fire, as Washington, p. 107 et seq. See also Schuyler's letter to Washington of January 5, 1776, in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 108-112; Montgomery's letter to Schuyler of December 26, 1775, in ibid, pp. 497-499. The same was the case with Arnold's expedition. See Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, pp. 80 et seq., 200-201.

On the investment see Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, chap. xii.

did also his aides Captains Jacob Cheesman and John McPherson, and a number of soldiers. Astounded, terrified, and confused by the apparent impregnability of the block

* See the plan of assault in Codman, chap. xiii.

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RESULT OF THE ATTACK.

house the Americans not only retreated, but refused to advance again to the attack.*

66

Meanwhile Arnold had carried on his attack with the same dispatch, resolution and energy, but, while assaulting the first battery, his leg was shattered by a ball and he was compelled to retire.† Irving says: Happy for him had he fallen at this moment - Happy for him had he found a soldier's and a patriot's grave beneath the rock-built walls of Quebec. Those walls would have remained enduring monuments of his renown. His name, like that of Montgomery, would have been treasured up among the dearest though most mournful recollections of his country, and that country would have been spared the single traitorous blot that dims the bright page of its revolutionary history."‡ After Arnold was disabled, the command devolved upon Captain Daniel Morgan, who, urging forward his soldiers, succeeded in carrying the first barrier, and after an an obstinate fight, the

Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 197-198; Bancroft, vol. iv., pp. 303–306; Carrington, Battles of the Revolution, pp. 134135. See also Arnold's letter of January 14, 1776, in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 116-118; Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, pp. 229-233.

Carrington, p. 136; Arnold, Life of Arnold, p. 82 et seq. See also Arnold's letter of December 31, 1775, to General Wooster, in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 499-500; Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, pp. 221223.

Irving, Life of Washington, vol. ii, p. 174. See also Arnold, Life of Arnold, Introduction, p. 7, also pp. 84-85.

second also. But in the meantime, Montgomery's attack had been repulsed, and the soldiers from that quarter were sent against Morgan's rear. The American troops were now completely surrounded and finally, after a hard fight, were obliged to surrender, the prisoners numbering 426.* Thus none of the Americans reached the main point of attack at Prescott Gate where the governor was stationed, determined to maintain the resistance to the last extremity.

As yet the British were unaware of the results of the contest. As soon as the retreat of the first party was assured, the British began the search for killed and wounded, taking 13 bodies from under the snow. Though it was supposed that one of these was the commander, it was not until an hour later that Montgomery was identified by an officer of Arnold's division.† Arnold, although wounded, had succeeded in escaping capture and now assumed command of the forces outside the city. He put

*

Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 199-200; Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. iv., p. 480; Carrington, Battles of the Revolution, pp. 136-137; Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, pp. 223-228, 233-238, 242243; Fisher, Struggle for American Independence, vol. i., pp. 406-409. See also the index under Arnold, Campbell, Carleton, Montgomery, etc., in the Archives; Graham, Life of Morgan; Justin H. Smith, Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony, which contains an extensive bibliography; Arnold's letter to Wooster dated January 2, in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 501-502. On the treatment of the prisoners, see Codman, pp. 262-279, 306–311.

† Codman, Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, pp. 244-245.

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