The Invasion of Quebec (June 1775 – October 1776, ) was the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to seize the Province of Quebec (part of modern-day Canada) from Great Britain, and persuade French-speaking to join the revolution on the side of the Thirteen Colonies. One expedition left Fort Ticonderoga under Richard Montgomery, besieged and captured Fort Saint-Jean, and very nearly captured British General Guy Carleton when taking Montreal. The other expedition, under Benedict Arnold, left Cambridge, Massachusetts, and traveled with great difficulty through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec City. The two forces joined there, but were defeated at the Battle of Quebec in December 1775.
Montgomery's expedition set out from Fort Ticonderoga in late August, and in mid-September began besieging Fort St. Johns, the main defensive point south of Montreal. After the fort was captured in November, Carleton abandoned Montreal, fleeing to Quebec City. Montgomery took control of Montreal before heading for Quebec, his army much-reduced by expiring enlistments. There he joined Arnold, who had left Cambridge in early September on an arduous trek through the wilderness that left his surviving troops starving and lacking supplies and equipment.
These forces joined before Quebec City in December, assaulting the city in a snowstorm on the last day of the year. The battle was a disaster for the Continental Army; Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded, while the city's defenders suffered few casualties. Arnold then conducted an ineffectual siege on the city, during which successful propaganda campaigns boosted Loyalist sentiments, and General David Wooster's blunt administration of Montreal served to annoy both supporters and detractors of the Americans.
The British sent several thousand troops under General John Burgoyne, including Hessian auxiliaries, to reinforce the province in May 1776. General Carleton then launched a counter-offensive, driving the smallpox-weakened and disorganized Continental forces back to Fort Ticonderoga. The Continental Army, under Arnold's command, hindered the British advance sufficiently that an attack could not be mounted on Fort Ticonderoga in 1776. The end of the campaign set the stage for Burgoyne's 1777 campaign in the Hudson River valley.
Naming
The objective of the American military campaign, control of the British province of Quebec, was frequently referred to as "Canada" in 1775. For example, the authorization by the Second Continental Congress to General Philip Schuyler for the campaign included language that, if it was "not disagreeable to the Canadians", to "immediately take possession of St. John's, Montreal, and any other parts of the Country", and to "pursue any other measures in Canada" that might "promote peace and security" of the colonies.Smith (1907), vol 1, p. 242 The territory that Britain called Quebec was in large part French Canada until 1763, when France ceded it to Britain in the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the French and Indian War. (French leaders had surrendered the province to the British military in 1760.)Kingsford (vol 5), pp. 1–10 The name "Quebec" is used in this article, except in quotations that specifically mention "Canada", to avoid confusion between this historic usage, and usage with respect to the modern nation of Canada.
Background In the spring of 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The conflict was then at a standstill, with the British Army surrounded by colonial militia in the Siege of Boston. In May 1775, aware of the light defenses and presence of heavy weapons at the British Fort Ticonderoga, Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen led a force of colonial militia that captured Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and raided Fort St. Johns, all of which were only lightly defended at the time.Kingsford (vol 5), p. 391 Ticonderoga and Crown Point were garrisoned by 1,000 Connecticut militia under the command of Benjamin Hinman in June.Smith (1907), vol 1, pp. 182–183
Congressional authorization
The First Continental Congress, meeting in 1774, had previously invited the French-Canadians to join in a second meeting of the Congress to be held in May 1775, in a public letter dated October 26, 1774. The Second Continental Congress sent a second such letter in May 1775, but there was no substantive response to either one.Alden, pp. 195–198
Following the capture of Ticonderoga, Arnold and Allen noted that it was necessary to hold Ticonderoga as a defense against attempts by the British to militarily divide the colonies, and also noted that Quebec was poorly defended. They each separately proposed expeditions against Quebec, suggesting a force as small as 1200–1500 men would be sufficient to drive the British military from the province. Congress at first ordered the forts to be abandoned,Smith (1907), vol 1, p. 178 prompting New York and Connecticut to provide troops and material for purposes that were essentially defensive in nature. Public outcries from across New England and New York challenged Congress to change its position. When it became clear that Guy Carleton, the governor of Quebec, was fortifying Fort St. Johns and seeking to draw the Iroquois of upstate New York into the conflict, Congress determined a more active position was needed. On June 27, 1775, Congress authorized General Philip Schuyler to investigate, and, if appropriate, begin an invasion.Smith (1907), vol 1, pp. 179–242 Benedict Arnold, passed over for its command, went to Boston and convinced General George Washington to send a supporting force to Quebec City under his command.Alden, p. 202
Defensive preparations Following the raid on Fort St. Johns, General Carleton was keenly aware of the danger of invasion from the south, and requested, without immediate relief, reinforcements from General Thomas Gage in Boston. He set about raising local militias to aid in the defense of Montreal and Quebec City, which met with only limited success.Coffin, pp. 496–497 In response to the capture of Ticonderoga and the raid on Fort St. Johns, he sent 700 troops to hold that fort on the Richelieu River south of Montreal, ordered construction of vessels for use on Lake Champlain,Alden, p. 199 and recruited about one hundred Mohawk to assist in its defense. He himself oversaw the defense of Montreal, leading only 150 regulars, since he relied on Fort St. Johns for the main defense. The defense of Quebec City he left under the command of Lieutenant-Governor Cramahé.Lanctot, p. 53
Negotiations for Indian support
Guy Johnson, a Loyalist and British Indian agent living in the Mohawk Valley in New York, was on quite friendly terms with the Iroquois of New York, and was concerned for the safety of himself and his family after it became clear that Patriot sentiment had taken hold in New York. Apparently convinced that he could no longer safely conduct Crown business, he left his estate in New York with about 200 Loyalist and Mohawk supporters. He first went to Fort Ontario, where, on June 17, he extracted from indigenous tribal leaders (mostly Iroquois and Huron) promises to assist in keeping supply and communication lines open in the area, and to support the British in "the annoyance of the enemy".Smith (1907), vol 1, p. 293 From there he went to Montreal, where, in a meeting with General Carleton and more than 1,500 indigenous peoples, negotiated similar agreements, and delivered war belts "to be held ready for service". However, most of those involved in these agreements were Mohawks; the other tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy largely avoided these conferences, seeking to stay neutral. Many of the Mohawks remained in the Montreal area after the conference; however, when it seemed uncertain whether the Americans would actually launch an invasion in 1775, most of them had returned home by the middle of August.Smith (1907), vol 1, pp. 295–296
The Continental Congress sought to keep the Six Nations out of the war. In July 1775, Samuel Kirkland, a missionary who was influential with the Oneidas, brought to them a statement from Congress: "we desire you to remain at home, and not join either side, but to keep the hatchet buried deep."Glatthaar (2006), p. 91 While the Oneidas and Tuscaroras remained formally neutral, many individual Oneidas expressed sympathy with the rebels. News of Johnson's Montreal meeting prompted General Schuyler, who also had influence with the Oneidas, to call for a conference in Albany, to be held in mid-August. Attended by about 400 indigenous (primarily Oneidas and Tuscaroras, and only a few Mohawk), Schuyler and other Indian commissioners explained the issues dividing the colonies from Britain, emphasizing that the colonists were at war to preserve their rights, and were not attempting conquest.Glatthaar (2006), pp. 91–93 The assembled chiefs agreed to remain neutral, with one Mohawk chief saying, "It is a family affair" and that they would "sit still and see you fight ... out".Glatthaar (2006), p. 93 They did, however, extract concessions from the Americans, including promises to address ongoing grievances like the encroachment of white settlers on their lands.Glatthaar (2006), p. 94
Montgomery's expedition
The primary thrust of the invasion was to be led by General Schuyler, going up Lake Champlain to assault Montreal and then Quebec City. The expedition was to be composed of forces from New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, as well as the Green Mountain Boys under Seth Warner, with provisions supplied by New York.Lossing, pp. 227–228 However, Schuyler was overcautious, and by mid-August the colonists were receiving reports that General Carleton was fortifying defensive positions outside Montreal,Smith (1907), vol 1, pp. 309–310 and that some Native tribes had joined with the British.Smith (1907), vol 1, pp. 291–292
Approach to St. Johns
On August 25, while Schuyler was at the indigenous peoples conference, Montgomery received word that ships under construction at Fort St. Johns were nearing completion. Montgomery, taking advantage of Schuyler's absence (and in the absence of orders authorizing movement), led 1,200 troops that had mustered at Ticonderoga up to a forward position at Île aux Noix in the Richelieu River, arriving September 4.Smith (1907), vol 1, pp. 317–324. Schuyler, who was falling ill, caught up with the troops en route. He dispatched a letter to James Livingston, a Canadian prepared to raise local militia forces in support of the American effort, to circulate in the area south of Montreal. The next day, the forces went down the river to Fort St. Johns, where, after seeing the defenses and a brief skirmish in which both sides suffered casualties, they withdrew to Île aux Noix. The skirmish, which involved mostly indigenous people on the British side, was not supported from the fort, prompting the Indians to withdraw from the conflict.Smith (1907), vol 1, p. 357 Any additional indigenous support for the British was further halted by the timely arrival of Oneidas in the area, who intercepted a Mohawk war party on the move from Caughnawaga toward St. John's. The Oneidas convinced the party to return to their village, where Guy Johnson, Daniel Claus, and Joseph Brant had arrived in an attempt to gain the Mohawks' assistance. Refusing to meet directly with Johnson and Claus, the Oneidas explained to Brant and the Mohawks the terms of the Albany agreement.Glatthaar (2006), p. 97 Brant and the British agents left without any promises of support. (In a more formal snub of the British, the war belt that Guy Johnson gave to the Iroquois in July was turned over to the American Indian commissioners in December 1775.)Glatthaar (2006), p. 98