Battle of Quebec (1775)
- For the 1759 battle in the Seven Years' War, see the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
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The Battle of Quebec was an attempt on December 31, 1775, by American revolutionaries to capture the Canadian city of Quebec and enlist French Canadian support for the American Revolutionary War. The British commander, General Guy Carleton could not get serious help because the St. Lawrence River was frozen, and had to rely on the French-speaking militia of the city, who turned out in extremely high numbers to defend their way of life. Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery were the two primary American commanders in the assault, which failed. The battle was the climax of the American invasion of Canada and put an end to any hopes of French Canada rising in rebellion with the Americans. The battle didn't actually win the day as much as the 4,000 troops who came six months later and forced the Continentals to leave Quebec.
Background
Following the capture of Fort Ticonderoga from government forces, the Continental Congress ordered Richard Montgomery to lead a brigade north into the French-speaking parts of British North America, via the Lake Champlain route. The assumption was that the French speakers would be eager to join the rebellion. Montgomery established his base at Ile Aux Noix on September 5, 1775.
Meanwhile, Benedict Arnold's Massachusetts brigade (which called itself Canadian) set out to support Montgomery, marching cross-country across the Province of Maine. Due to poor planning, this brigade lost half of its strength in the march, before reaching Point Levi opposite Quebec on November 8.
Arnold crossed the St. Lawrence on November 13 and positioned his brigade on the Plains of Abraham, offering battle to the government forces. They did not come out and fight, and so Arnold launched a night attack, which was badly botched and resulted in heavy casualties.
Meanwhile, General Carleton had decided to abandon Montreal and made his stand at Quebec. He marched his forces up the St. Lawrence, with Montgomery following with 350 men (having left the rest as an occupation force at Montreal). Montgomery arrived on December 3, and on December 5 the Continentals started a siege. When Carleton refused to surrender, the Continental Generals had to assault the city quickly, as their troops enlistments were up on December 31, and their army would simply evaporate.
Battle
The attack began at 4:00 a.m. on December 31, 1775, with Montgomery launching signal rockets. The British were prepared for the Continental assault, as deserters from the Continental Army were straggling into Quebec.
The two brigades were supposed to meet at the tip of the St. Lawrence river and move into the walled city itself. However, the fortifications proved to be too strong to be taken by force. Montgomery's brigade advanced along the river coastline under the Cape Diamond Bastion where they came to a blockhouse barricade at Près-de-Ville manned by about 30 French-speaking colonial militia. Montgomery advanced his brigade towards it at a walk, and in the colonials first volley cut down the three highest ranking officers in the brigade. The next highest ranking officer ordered a retreat, while the militia continued to snipe at them.
Benedict Arnold was unaware Montgomery's death and his attack's failure, and he advanced with his main body towards the northern barricades. They were fired upon by British and local militia manning the wall of the city. Upon reaching a street barricade at a street called Sault au Matelot, Arnold was wounded in the left ankle by a musket ball and was taken to the rear. With Arnold out of action, his second-in-command, Daniel Morgan, took command and captured the first street barricade. But while awaiting further orders, the Americans were attacked in the street and surrounding row houses by hundreds of militia. A British counter-attack re-occupied the first barricade, trapping Morgan and his men within the narrow streets of the city. With no way of retreat and under heavy fire, all of Morgan's men surrendered. By 10:00, the battle was over, with Morgan surrendering himself and the last pocket of Continental resistance in the city.
Of Arnold's command, over 30 of his men were killed, (20 more were later found after the spring thaw and several more drowned while fleeing across the frozen rivers) and 426 prisoners were taken along with Morgan. At least 12 more Americans were killed or wounded along with Montgomery on the southern riverbank after the attack. The British commander, Guy Carleton, reported his losses as one British naval officer and five French Canadian militia killed, with four British soldiers and 15 militia wounded.
Siege
Arnold refused to give up and—despite being outnumbered by three to one—lay siege to Quebec, despite the sub-freezing temperature of the winter and the mass desertions of his men after their enlistments expired on January 1, 1776. This siege was purely nominal, and had no effect on Quebec.
Arnold (now a Brigadier General) was reinforced with Wooster's brigade in March 1776, bringing their strength to 2,000 men.
Unable to renew an assault on the city, the siege continued until John Burgoyne's division of 4,000 men arrived on May 6, 1776, which forced the American army to retreat south and back to the New York colony.
Aftermath
With the British victory at Quebec and the later retreat of the Americans from Canada, another attempted annexation of Quebec was suggested in 1778 with the help of the French. But the plan was not implemented. Clément Gosselin and his spy network drafted a report on the state of Quebec in October 1778 for Congress which was planning another attack on the British in Quebec. In 1780 yet another attempt was considered, but George Washington, fearing he could not hold Quebec even if he took it, wrote Moses Hazen a letter explaining that he could not again risk being forced to leave Quebec and cause misery for the any Quebecois who were to support him. (See Washington's letter to Hazen in 1780 in the references section.)
References
- History of the British Army by Sir John Fortescue
- The War of the Revolution by Christopher Ward
- [1] James Livingston third attack
- Chronology of the American invasion of Canada (Quebec 1775)
- www.britishbattles.com