Battle of Quebec (1775): Failed American Invasion of Canada

The Battle of Quebec was a failed American attack on Quebec City in the early hours of 31 December 1775, during the first year of the American Revolutionary War. Two small forces under Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold tried to storm the fortified city in a snowstorm, but Montgomery was killed and much of Arnold’s column was captured. The defeat ended the best American chance of bringing Canada into the Revolution.

Background

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Continental Congress feared that Britain would use the Province of Quebec, conquered from France in the Seven Years’ War, as a base for attacks south along Lake Champlain. Leaders also hoped that its French-speaking inhabitants, many of them unhappy with British rule, would join the rebellion. In June 1775 Congress authorised an invasion.

The main army, first under General Philip Schuyler and then under Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, advanced north down the Richelieu River. It besieged Fort St. Jean from September until the fort surrendered on 2 November, and took Montreal on 13 November. Governor Guy Carleton escaped down the St. Lawrence and reached Quebec on 19 November to organise its defence.

Arnold’s march through Maine

At the same time, Colonel Benedict Arnold led about 1,100 volunteers on a second route, up the Kennebec River through the wilderness of what is now Maine and down the Chaudière River to the St. Lawrence. Rapids, flooded rivers, rotting supplies and bad maps turned the march into an ordeal. Some men ate boiled leather and candles, and a whole division turned back.

Roughly 600 survivors reached the south shore opposite Quebec in early November 1775. They crossed the river on the night of 13–14 November and paraded outside the walls, but were too weak to attack and withdrew upstream to Pointe-aux-Trembles. Montgomery joined them there in early December with about 300 men, artillery and clothing captured at Montreal.

The attack in the snowstorm

Quebec was a formidable target. Its Upper Town stood on cliffs protected by walls, while the Lower Town along the river was crowded and narrow. Carleton had gathered a garrison of around 1,800 men, including a few regulars, Royal Highland Emigrants, sailors and marines, and British and French-Canadian militia. The Americans had perhaps 900 to 1,200 effective soldiers, and a short artillery bombardment in December had little effect.

Time was against the attackers. Many enlistments ran out on 1 January 1776, and smallpox had appeared in the camp. Montgomery and Arnold decided to attack the Lower Town on the first stormy night, from two directions, while feints were made against the Upper Town walls.

The storm came on the night of 30–31 December. At about 4 a.m. Montgomery led his column along the narrow path beneath Cap Diamant, the cliff on the south-west side. At a barricade at Près-de-Ville, a small group of defenders fired a cannon loaded with grapeshot at close range. Montgomery and several officers around him were killed instantly, and the next senior officer ordered a retreat.

On the other side of the city, Arnold’s column advanced through the suburb of Saint-Roch towards the street of Sault-au-Matelot. Arnold was hit in the leg early on and carried away. Captain Daniel Morgan of the Virginia riflemen took over, forced the first barricade and pushed into the Lower Town. At a second barricade the attack stalled; delayed by uncertainty and wet powder, Morgan’s men were surrounded by troops sent out from the Upper Town and surrendered by mid-morning.

Key people

Richard Montgomery (1738–1775), born in Ireland, had served as a British officer in the Seven Years’ War before settling in New York in 1772. His death made him one of the first heroes of the Revolution. Benedict Arnold led the wilderness march and the northern assault; his later career included victory at Saratoga and, in 1780, treason at West Point.

Guy Carleton, the governor, conducted a careful defence and refused to negotiate. Daniel Morgan, captured in the attack, was later exchanged and became one of the best American commanders of the war. The young Aaron Burr served as an aide to Montgomery during the assault.

Aftermath

American losses are usually put at about 50 killed, some 35 to 40 wounded and around 400 to 430 captured. The defenders lost perhaps 5 to 7 killed and roughly 14 to 19 wounded. The British buried Montgomery with military honours.

Arnold, though wounded, kept up a loose blockade through the winter while reinforcements trickled in and smallpox spread. When British ships reached Quebec on 6 May 1776, the besiegers fled. After defeat at Trois-Rivières on 8 June, the Americans abandoned Canada by early July 1776, and the province stayed under British rule.

Timeline

• 1775, 27 June: Congress authorises the invasion of Canada.
• 1775, September: Arnold’s expedition sets out for the Kennebec River.
• 1775, 2 November: Fort St. Jean surrenders to Montgomery.
• 1775, 13 November: American forces occupy Montreal.
• 1775, 13–14 November: Arnold’s men cross the St. Lawrence to Quebec.
• 1775, 31 December: The assault fails; Montgomery is killed and Arnold wounded.
• 1776, 6 May: British relief ships reach Quebec; the siege is lifted.
• 1776, 8 June: The Americans are defeated at Trois-Rivières.

Why it matters

The failure at Quebec decided that Canada would remain British, a result confirmed in the peace of 1783. It also showed early in the war how ill-prepared the Continental forces still were for long campaigns, and gave Britain a secure base for its later invasion of New York in 1777.