Invasion of Quebec (1775) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Invasion of Quebec, 1775 |
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| Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
 The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775 (John Trumbull, 1786) |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10,000 | 700–10,000+ | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 400 killed, 650 wounded, 1,500 captured, 5,000 infected by smallpox |
100 killed, about 230 wounded, 600 captured |
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The Invasion of Quebec was the first big military plan by the new Continental Army. This army was formed during the American Revolutionary War. The main goal was to take control of the Province of Quebec from Great Britain. They also hoped to convince French-speaking Canadians to join the American side.
One group of soldiers, led by Richard Montgomery, started from Fort Ticonderoga. They captured Fort St. Johns and almost caught British General Guy Carleton. Another group, led by Benedict Arnold, traveled through the tough wilderness of Maine to Quebec City.
The two American forces met near Quebec City. But they were defeated in the Battle of Quebec in December 1775. General Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was hurt. The Americans then tried to besiege the city, but it didn't work well.
In May 1776, the British sent thousands of troops, including Hessian mercenaries, to Quebec. General Carleton then pushed the American forces back. The Americans were weak from smallpox and not organized. Arnold's army slowed the British down, so they couldn't attack Fort Ticonderoga in 1776. This invasion set the stage for a later British plan in 1777.
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What it was called
In 1775, people often called the British province of Quebec "Canada." For example, the Second Continental Congress told General Philip Schuyler to take over "St. John's, Montreal, and any other parts of the Country" in "Canada."
This land was mostly French Canada until 1763. That's when France gave it to Britain after the French and Indian War. In this article, we use "Quebec" to avoid confusion with the modern country of Canada.
How it began
In the spring of 1775, the American Revolutionary War started with the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The British army was surrounded by American soldiers in Boston. In May 1775, Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen led American soldiers to capture Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point. They also raided Fort St. Johns. These forts were not well defended.
Congress decides to act
The Continental Congress had invited French-Canadians to join them in 1774 and 1775. But the Canadians did not respond.
After taking Ticonderoga, Arnold and Allen said Quebec was not well defended. They both suggested attacking Quebec. They thought a small force could drive the British out. Congress first wanted to abandon the forts. But people in New England and New York disagreed.
When General Guy Carleton, the governor of Quebec, started making Fort St. Johns stronger, Congress changed its mind. They also heard he was trying to get the Iroquois to join the British. So, on June 27, 1775, Congress allowed General Philip Schuyler to plan an invasion. Benedict Arnold, who wanted to lead the invasion, convinced General George Washington to send another force to Quebec City under his command.
British get ready
General Carleton knew about the danger of an invasion. He asked for more soldiers from General Thomas Gage in Boston, but didn't get them right away. Carleton tried to gather local militias to defend Montreal and Quebec City. This didn't work very well.
He sent 700 soldiers to Fort St. Johns. He also ordered boats to be built for Lake Champlain. About 100 Mohawk people helped defend the fort. Carleton himself oversaw Montreal's defense with only 150 regular soldiers. He left Quebec City's defense to Lieutenant-Governor Cramahé.
Native American support
Guy Johnson, a British agent, was friendly with the Iroquois in New York. He was worried about his safety as Americans gained power. He left New York with about 200 Loyalist and Mohawk supporters. He met with Native American leaders and got promises of support for the British.
Most of these agreements were with the Mohawks. Other Iroquois tribes tried to stay neutral. Many Mohawks went home when it seemed the Americans might not invade.
The Continental Congress wanted the Six Nations to stay out of the war. In July 1775, they told the Oneidas to "remain at home, and not join either side." While the Oneidas and Tuscaroras stayed neutral, many Oneidas supported the Americans.
General Schuyler also met with Native Americans in Albany. He explained why the colonists were fighting. The chiefs agreed to stay neutral. One Mohawk chief said, "It is a family affair" and they would "sit still and see you fight."
Montgomery's journey
General Schuyler was supposed to lead the main attack. He would go up Lake Champlain to Montreal, then Quebec City. But Schuyler was too careful. By mid-August, Americans heard that General Carleton was building up defenses.
Moving to St. Johns
On August 25, Montgomery heard that British ships at Fort St. Johns were almost ready. He led 1,200 soldiers to Île aux Noix on the Richelieu River. Schuyler, who was sick, joined them. They went to Fort St. Johns. After a small fight, they pulled back. This fight involved mostly Native Americans on the British side. They left when the fort didn't support them.
After this, General Schuyler became too sick to continue. He gave command to Montgomery and left for Fort Ticonderoga. Montgomery then began to besiege Fort St. Johns on September 17. He cut off its supplies.
Ethan Allen was captured the next week. He tried to take Montreal with a small group of men, going against orders. This briefly made more local militias support the British. But many soon left again. After Carleton failed to help the fort, it surrendered on November 3.
Taking Montreal
Montgomery led his soldiers north. He took Saint Paul's Island in the Saint Lawrence River on November 8. The next day, he crossed to Pointe-Saint-Charles. People there welcomed him.
Montreal fell easily on November 13. Carleton decided the city couldn't be defended. Many of his militia soldiers had left after Fort St. Johns fell. Carleton barely escaped capture. He ordered his ships to dump their gunpowder if they had to surrender. On November 19, the British fleet surrendered. Carleton, dressed as a common person, escaped to Quebec City.
Before leaving Montreal, Montgomery told the people that Congress wanted Quebec to join them. He also asked for a meeting to choose delegates for Congress.
Many of Montgomery's soldiers left after Montreal fell because their time of service was over. He then used captured boats to go to Quebec City with about 300 soldiers on November 28. He left about 200 men in Montreal under General David Wooster. On the way, he picked up James Livingston's new group of about 200 Canadian soldiers.
Arnold's journey
Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec Benedict Arnold had wanted to lead the invasion from Lake Champlain. When he wasn't chosen, he went to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He suggested to George Washington a supporting attack on Quebec City from the east. Washington agreed. He gave Arnold 1,100 men, including Daniel Morgan's riflemen. Arnold's force sailed to the Kennebec River in Maine.
Arnold's journey was very difficult. His boats leaked, spoiling gunpowder and food. The land between the Kennebec and the Chaudière River was a swampy mess. Bad weather made it worse, and a quarter of his men turned back. Going down the Chaudière, more boats and supplies were lost in the fast water.
By November, when Arnold reached the Saint Lawrence River, he had only 600 starving men. They had traveled almost 400 miles through wild land. On November 14, Arnold reached the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City. He demanded surrender, but the city was strong. Arnold's men had no cannons and were barely fit to fight.
Arnold heard the city planned an attack. So, on November 19, he pulled back to Pointe-aux-Trembles. He waited for Montgomery, who had just taken Montreal. As Arnold moved upriver, Carleton returned to Quebec by river.
On December 2, Montgomery arrived from Montreal with 500 soldiers. He brought captured British supplies and winter clothes. The two forces joined up. They planned an attack on Quebec City. Three days later, the Continental Army was again on the Plains of Abraham. They began to besiege the city.
Battle and siege of Quebec
topic=the actions in and around Quebec City|Battle of Quebec (1775)|Battle of Saint-Pierre
Christophe Pélissier, a Frenchman who supported the Americans, met with Montgomery. Pélissier ran an ironworks and agreed to make ammunition for the siege.
Montgomery, Arnold, and James Livingston attacked Quebec City during a snowstorm on December 31, 1775. The Americans were outnumbered and had no advantage. Carleton's forces easily defeated them. Montgomery was killed, Arnold was wounded, and many men were captured.
Carleton chose not to chase the Americans. He stayed inside the city's walls and waited for more soldiers to arrive in the spring. Arnold kept up a weak siege on the city until March 1776. Then he was sent to Montreal, and General Wooster took command.
During these months, the American soldiers suffered from the cold winter. Smallpox also spread through the camp. But small groups of new soldiers arrived each month. By the end of March, the army had almost 3,000 men. But nearly a quarter of them were too sick to fight, mostly from smallpox. Some American soldiers even tried to give themselves smallpox to get it over with.
Congress sent Major General John Thomas to lead the siege in March 1776.
Problems in Montreal
topic=the action near Montreal|Battle of the Cedars When General Montgomery left Montreal, he put General David Wooster in charge. At first, Wooster got along well with the people. But then he started arresting Loyalists. He also threatened anyone who opposed the Americans. He took away weapons from some towns. He tried to force local militia members to give up their British ranks. Those who refused were jailed.
These actions, plus the Americans paying with paper money instead of coins, made the local people dislike the Americans. On March 20, Wooster left for Quebec City. Moses Hazen took command of Montreal until Arnold arrived on April 19.
On April 29, a group from the Second Continental Congress arrived in Montreal. This group included Benjamin Franklin. They wanted to understand the situation and get public support. But they didn't succeed. Relations were already bad. They hadn't brought any real money to pay the people. Efforts to get Catholic priests to support them also failed. The priests said the Quebec Act from Britain had already given them what they wanted. Franklin left Montreal on May 11, after hearing the American forces at Quebec City were retreating.
The Cedars fight
Upriver from Montreal, small British forts still existed. As spring came, groups of Cayuga, Seneca, and Mississauga warriors gathered at one of these forts. Their commander, Captain George Forster, used them to cause trouble for the Americans.
Moses Hazen sent Colonel Timothy Bedel and 390 men to Les Cèdres. They built a fort there. On May 15, Colonel Forster moved downriver with about 250 Native Americans, militia, and regular soldiers. In a strange series of events called the Battle of the Cedars, Bedel's officer surrendered his entire force without a fight on May 18. Another 100 American soldiers also surrendered after a short fight on May 19.
Quinze-Chênes
When Arnold heard about this, he quickly gathered soldiers to get them back. He set up a strong position at Lachine, near Montreal. Forster moved closer to Montreal. But then he heard Arnold was getting more soldiers. Forster's own force was shrinking. So, he agreed to exchange his American prisoners for British prisoners taken at Fort St. Johns. After a brief cannon fight, Arnold also agreed. The exchange happened between May 27 and 30.
More soldiers arrive
American soldiers
General John Thomas couldn't move north until late April because Lake Champlain was still frozen. He asked Washington for more men. When he reached Montreal, he found that many soldiers wanted to go home. Also, new regiments for Quebec had very few men. This made Congress tell Washington to send more troops north.
In late April, Washington sent ten regiments, led by Generals William Thompson and John Sullivan, from New York. This greatly reduced Washington's forces. There were also problems with transport. Not enough boats were available to move all the men and supplies. So, Sullivan's men were held up at Ticonderoga. Sullivan didn't reach Sorel until early June.
General Wooster arrived at the American camp outside Quebec City in early April. More soldiers kept arriving. By the end of April, General Thomas took command of over 2,000 men. But many were sick with smallpox or weak from the winter.
On May 2, rumors spread that British ships were coming. Thomas decided on May 5 to move the sick to Trois-Rivières. The rest of the army would leave soon. Later that day, he heard 15 British ships were close. The next morning, masts were seen. The wind had changed, and three ships had reached the city.
British soldiers
After news of the war reached London, the British government sought help from other countries. They asked Catherine the Great for Russian soldiers, but she refused. However, several German areas agreed to send troops. These soldiers were often called Hessians. About 11,000 Hessians were sent to Quebec. They sailed in February 1776 and joined a British convoy in April.
Carleton quickly unloaded the new soldiers. Around noon, he marched with about 900 troops to test the Americans. The Americans panicked and retreated in a disorganized way. Carleton didn't push his attack hard. He hoped to win over the rebels by being kind. He sent ships up the river to bother the Americans. He also captured many sick and wounded Americans. The Americans left behind valuable things like cannons and gunpowder. They regrouped at Deschambault, about 40 miles from Quebec City.
Thomas held a meeting where most leaders wanted to retreat. Thomas decided to keep 500 men at Deschambault and send the rest to Sorel. He also asked Montreal for help, as many troops had little food or clothing.
The Congress group in Montreal decided they couldn't hold the Saint Lawrence River. They sent only a few soldiers to Deschambault. Thomas waited six days for news from Montreal, but heard nothing. He began to retreat toward Trois-Rivières. He had to fight off British skirmishers from ships on the river. They reached Trois-Rivières on May 15. Thomas got smallpox that day and died on June 2. Thompson replaced him.
British fight back
topic=the actions in this offensive|Battle of Trois-Rivières|Battle of Valcour Island
Trois-Rivières
On May 6, 1776, British ships arrived at Quebec with supplies and 3,000 soldiers. This caused the Americans to retreat to Sorel. General Carleton didn't attack much until May 22. He sailed to Trois-Rivières with two regiments. He left Allen Maclean in command there and returned to Quebec City. There, he met Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, who arrived on June 1 with many new soldiers and money.
The Americans at Sorel heard there were "only 300 men" at Trois-Rivières. They thought they could take it back. General Thompson led 2,000 men into a swamp, then into a strong British army. This was a disaster. Thompson and many officers were captured, along with 200 men and most of their ships. This meant the end of the American hold on Quebec. The American forces at Sorel, now led by General Sullivan, retreated. Carleton again did not press his advantage. He even sent the captured Americans back to New York in comfort.
Retreat to Crown Point
Early on June 14, Carleton sailed his army up the river to Sorel. They found the Americans had left that morning. The Americans were retreating up the Richelieu River valley. They left in an orderly way. Some units were separated by Carleton's ships and had to march to Montreal. Carleton sent General Burgoyne and 4,000 soldiers after the Americans. Carleton continued to Montreal.
In Montreal, Arnold didn't know what was happening downriver. A messenger he sent on June 15 saw Carleton's fleet. He escaped and brought the news to Montreal. Within four hours, Arnold and the American soldiers left Montreal. They tried to burn the city before leaving. Carleton's fleet arrived in Montreal on June 17.
Arnold's troops met the main army near St. Johns on the 17th. Sullivan's army was not ready to fight. They decided to retreat to Crown Point. The army reportedly left St. Johns just moments before Burgoyne's army arrived.
The American army reached Crown Point in early July. This ended a very difficult campaign. But the British were still moving.
Building ships and politics
The Americans had burned or sunk their boats during the retreat. This forced the British to spend months building ships. Carleton reported on September 28 that his fleet would soon sail. General Arnold had a small navy on Lake Champlain.
While the British built their navy, Carleton dealt with Montreal. He set up groups to find local American supporters. They arrested people who had helped the Americans.
Valcour Island
General Horatio Gates took command of the American forces in early July. He moved most of the army to Ticonderoga. He left about 300 men at Crown Point. The army worked on improving Ticonderoga's defenses. Arnold was in charge of building up the American fleet at Crown Point. Throughout the summer, more soldiers arrived at Ticonderoga. The army grew to about 10,000 men.
Carleton began to move on October 7. By the 9th, the British fleet was on Lake Champlain. In a naval battle near Valcour Island on October 11, the British badly damaged Arnold's fleet. He had to retreat to Crown Point. Arnold felt Crown Point wasn't safe, so he moved to Ticonderoga. British forces took Crown Point on October 17.
Carleton's troops stayed at Crown Point for two weeks. Some went close to Ticonderoga, trying to get Gates's army to come out. On November 2, they left Crown Point and went to winter camps in Quebec.
What happened next
The invasion of Quebec was a disaster for the Americans. But Arnold's actions during the retreat and with his small navy on Lake Champlain helped a lot. They delayed a full British attack until 1777.
Many things caused the invasion to fail, like the high rate of smallpox among American soldiers. Carleton was criticized for not chasing the Americans more aggressively. Because of this criticism, and because Carleton was disliked by Lord George Germain, command of the 1777 attack was given to General Burgoyne instead.
Many American soldiers who were French or British continued to serve after 1776. They fought in different parts of the war. Many stayed in the army because they had lost their homes in Quebec. After the war, some Canadians settled in a special area in New York.
During the peace talks in Paris, the Americans wanted all of Quebec. But they only got the Ohio Country, which had been part of Quebec.
In the War of 1812, the Americans tried to invade British North America again. They again expected local people to support them. That invasion also failed. It is now seen as a very important event in Canadian history. Some even say it was the birth of modern Canadian identity.
See also
In Spanish: Invasión de Canadá (1775) para niños
