Battle of Quebec (1775)

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Battle of Quebec (1775)
British soldiers and Canadian militia strike back the Americans, by C. W. Jefferys
British soldiers and Canadian militia strike back the Americans, by C. W. Jefferys
date December 31, 1775
place Quebec
output British victory
Parties to the conflict

Thirteen colonies Thirteen Colonies
1st Canadian Regiment 1st Canada. regiment

Great Britain kingdomKingdom of Great Britain Great Britain
Canadian militias Canadian militias

Commander

Richard Montgomery †
Benedict Arnold
Daniel Morgan
James Livingston

Guy Carleton
Allan Maclean

Troop strength
1,200 1,800
losses

50 dead,
34 wounded,
431 prisoners

5 dead,
14 wounded

The Battle of Québec on December 31, 1775 between the British and the American Continental Army took place in the early stages of the American War of Independence in the city of Québec in what is now Canada . This battle was the first major defeat for the united Thirteen Colonies and was costly to them. General Richard Montgomery fell, Benedict Arnold was wounded, and Daniel Morgan was captured with 430 others. The town's garrison, a ragged troop of regular soldiers and militiamen under the command of Governor Guy Carleton , suffered little losses.

During the invasion of Canada , Montgomery's army captured Montreal on November 13, 1775 . In early December, she teamed up with a group under Arnold's command that had come a difficult journey through the wilderness of northern New England . Carleton had fled Montreal for Québec and reinforcements arrived just in time to reinforce the city's limited defenses before the attacking Americans arrived. Concerned that soon expiring conscripts would weaken his army, Montgomery marched through the valley of the Saint Lawrence River towards Quebec in the dead of winter . There he wanted to meet Arnold's group in the lower town and then overcome the city ​​walls around the upper town. Montgomery's army withdrew early after he was fatally hit, but Arnold's group initially continued to fight. Arnold was wounded and Morgan continued the attack in his place until he was forced to surrender. Arnold held an ineffective siege until the spring before he had to withdraw in the face of approaching British reinforcements.

During the battle and the subsequent siege, French-speaking Canadians were active on both sides of the conflict. American troops received supplies and logistical support from the population, while local militias were also represented among the city's defenders. When the Americans withdrew, they were accompanied by some of their supporters; those who stayed behind faced criminal prosecution after the British regained control of the province of Québec .

background

Richard Montgomery

Shortly after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in April 1775 managed a small, by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold listed group, which on May 10, Lake Champlain location Fort Ticonderoga take (see Battle of Ticonderoga ). Another attack by Arnold on Fort Saint-Jean (now Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ) worried the British authorities in Montreal . These actions led both the British and rebel leaders to consider the possibility of an invasion of Québec by insurgent units of the Second Continental Congress . General Guy Carleton , Governor of the Province of Quebec , began mobilizing the defense forces. After initially discarding the idea of ​​an attack on Québec, Congress approved the invasion of Major General Philip Schuyler if he deemed it necessary. As part of the American propaganda offensive, letters from the Congress and Parliament of New York circulated in Québec pledging residents to get rid of their oppressive government. Arnold, who had not been considered for command of the invading force, convinced General George Washington to authorize a second expedition through the wilderness of what is now Maine directly to the city of Quebec .

In September 1775 the Continental Army set out for Québec. According to a proclamation by General Schuyler, their aim was "if possible to drive out the troops of Great Britain who are receiving their orders from a despotic government ... as they seek to bring their fellow citizens and brothers under the yoke of harsh slavery." Brigadier Richard Montgomery led the army from Ticonderoga and Crown Point along the Rivière Richelieu , successfully besieged Fort Saint-Jean (now Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ) and took the city of Montreal on November 13th . Shortly after Montgomery left Ticonderoga, Arnold led a force of 1,100 men from Cambridge, Massachusetts, through Maine towards Quebec.

The invading Americans firmly believed that the French-Canadian Catholic population would rebel against British rule. Since the British had gained control of the province during the Seven Years' War in 1760 , complaints and disagreements had risen with the Protestant English-speaking forces and authorities. These tensions were however relieved in 1774 with the Quebec Act , which guaranteed freedom of religion and restored the civil code in private law (at the same time the Quebec Act was condemned as one of the "intolerable laws" in the Thirteen Colonies ). The majority of the Francophone population chose not to play an active role in the American campaign: the influential Catholic clergy had succeeded in portraying British rule as the guarantor of French culture.

British preparations

Defense of the Province

Guy Carleton

Carleton had begun preparations to defend the province immediately after hearing the news of Arnold's first attack on Saint-Jean. Although he concentrated most of his modest troop contingent at Fort Saint-Jean, he left small British garrisons in the cities of Montreal and Québec. Carleton followed the progress of the American invasion and occasionally received intercepted messages between Montgomery and Arnold. Lieutenant Governor Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, who was responsible for the defense of the city of Quebec in Carleton's absence, organized a militia unit of several hundred men in September. He made the pessimistic assessment that only about half are reliable. Cramahé also made numerous requests for reinforcements to the military leadership in Boston , but nothing came of it. Various troop carriers were driven off their course and ultimately reached New York . Vice Admiral Samuel Graves , commander of the fleet in Boston, refused to provide ships for transports to Québec because the approaching winter would soon freeze the Saint Lawrence River .

On November 3rd, Québec was told that Arnold's expedition had been successful and that the city was approaching. Cramahé began to reinforce the guards and had all boats removed from the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River. The news of Arnold's imminent arrival led to further drafts into the militia, which now numbered 1,200 or more. Two ships arrived on the same day and another on November 4th. They transported volunteers from St. John's Island and Newfoundland that could add around 120 men to the local militia. A small convoy led by the HMS Lizard arrived the same day, so some Marines joined the defenders of the city.

Lieutenant Colonel Allan Maclean , who had previously attempted to break the siege of Saint-Jean, arrived on November 10 with 220 men from the Royal Highland Emigrants . The regiment had intercepted a message from Arnold to Montgomery at Trois-Rivières and had rushed to Québec to help with the defense. The arrival of this seasoned unit raised the morale of the city militia and Maclean immediately took over the defense.

Carleton arrives in Quebec

As a result of the capture of Fort Saint-Jean, Carleton gave up Montreal and returned to Québec by ship, narrowly escaping capture. Immediately after arriving on November 19, he took command from Maclean. Three days later, he published a proclamation that any man of service in town who did not contribute to the defense would be considered and treated as a rebel or spy. Those who did not take up arms were given four days to leave the city. 200 British and 300 French Canadian residents joined the defenders as a result.

Carleton pointed out the weaknesses in the city's defenses. He ordered the erection of two barricades and palisades along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, within the area covered by his cannons. He assigned his troops to various defensive positions along the city walls and the inner redoubts and made sure that the less experienced militia were under tight control.

Arnold's arrival

Benedict Arnold

The men Arnold chose for his expedition were volunteers from New England units that had taken part in the siege of Boston . They were divided into two battalions for the duration of the expedition. A third battalion included riflemen from Pennsylvania and Virginia under the command of Lt. Col. Daniel Morgan . The march through the Maine wilderness was long and difficult in cold and damp conditions; it lasted significantly longer than Arnold or Washington expected. Bad weather and capsized boats led to the loss of a large part of the supplies that had been brought with them. About 500 of the original 1100 men died or turned back. Those who returned, including one of the New England battalions, took much of the remaining supplies with them. The remaining men were starving when they reached the first French-Canadian settlements in early November. On November 9th, the 600 survivors of Arnold's expedition arrived in Point-Lévis on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River, across from the city of Québec. Despite the condition of his troops, Arnold immediately began to find boats to cross the river. He was ready by the late evening of November 10th, but a storm held him up for three days. On the other side of the river, he led his men up to the Plains of Abraham on the Colline de Québec , about two kilometers from the city wall.

Montgomery and Arnold invasion routes

The troops approaching Québec were very poorly equipped: Arnold had no artillery, each of his men carried only five cartridges , more than 100 rifles were unusable and his clothes were gradually ragged. Although he was outnumbered by a ratio of 1: 2, Arnold called on the city to surrender . Both envoys were fired at by British cannons, which meant that the claim was rejected. Arnold came to the conclusion that he could not take the city by force, which is why he blocked it on the west side. On November 18, the Americans heard a (false) rumor that the British wanted to attack them with 800 men. At a council of war they decided to lift the blockade. Thereupon Arnold led his men 20 miles upriver to Pointe-aux-Trembles to wait for Montgomery, who had just taken Montreal.

Montgomery's arrival

Map of the city of Québec with the location of the units (1777)

Montgomery arrived at Pointe-aux-Trembles on December 1st. His troops included 300 men from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd New York Regiments, some artillerymen, around 200 men from the 1st Canadian Regiment (recruited by James Livingston ) and a further 160 men led by Jacob Brown (formed from regiments that were dissolved due to expired Convictions). They were reinforced a few days later by a number of companies assigned by Major General David Wooster (to whom Montgomery had left command in Montreal). The artillery brought in consisted of four cannons and six mortars. Montgomery also brought winter clothes and other supplies for Arnold's men. These came from British ships that did not manage to flee Montreal in time. The Americans quickly made their way to Québec and besieged the city from December 6th. A messenger sent by Montgomery gave Carleton a personal letter asking him to surrender. Carleton denied the request and burned the letter unread. Montgomery tried again ten days later, with the same result. The besiegers sent further messages, which were mainly addressed to the townspeople. They claimed their position was hopeless and indicated that things would improve if they stood up and supported the Americans.

On December 10th, the Americans set up their largest artillery battery about 640 meters from the wall. The frozen ground made it impossible for them to entrench themselves, so they formed a wall of snow blocks. The damage caused by the battery in the city was minor. Montgomery realized that he was in a very difficult position as the defenses of the city could not be breached due to the lack of heavy artillery. The maximum draft period for Arnold's men ended at the end of the year and no new ammunition came in from the colonies. In addition, it was very likely that the British would receive reinforcements in the spring. This meant that he either had to act or withdraw. Montgomery believed his only chance at taking the city would be during a night blizzard , when his men could climb the walls undetected.

While Montgomery was planning the attack on the city, he received a visit from Christophe Pélissier, a French living in Trois-Rivières. Pélissier was a political supporter of the Americans and director of the Saint-Maurice ironworks. They discussed holding a provincial convention to elect representatives to Congress. Pélissier advised waiting until Québec was taken. Otherwise the residents would not dare to act in this way due to a lack of security. They agreed that the ironworks would provide ammunition for the siege. Pélissier did this until the withdrawal of the Americans in May 1776, after which he fled and finally returned to France .

A snowstorm hit Québec on the night of December 27, causing Montgomery to prepare its troops. However, the storm subsided and he broke off the attack. That same night a sergeant from Rhode Island deserted and revealed the plan of attack to the British. He envisaged two deception maneuvers against the western wall, while two attacks should be carried out on the lower city . Arnold would break through the defensive line at the north end of the Lower City, followed by Montgomery on the south side by the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Both groups would meet in the lower town and together launch an attack on the upper town. The new plan was only communicated to the senior officers.

Course of the battle

Montgomery's attack

Livingston's deception was aimed at the Porte Saint-Jean

Another storm raged on December 30th and Montgomery gave the order to attack again. Jacob Brown and James Livingston led their militia units to their assigned positions that night; Brown at the Bastion of Cap Diamant , Livingston outside the Porte Saint-Jean. When Brown reached his position between 4 and 5 a.m., he fired flares. His and Livingstone's men then opened fire on their targets. Montgomery and Arnold saw the signals and headed for the Lower City.

"The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Québec", painting by John Trumbull (1786)

Montgomery led his men down a steep snow-covered path to the outer defenses. The storm had turned into a blizzard , making the advance difficult. At last Montgomery's men reached the outer palisade, where an advance party of carpenters saw their way through. Montgomery himself sawed the second palisade and led 50 men down a street to a two-story house. This building was part of the defenses and actually served as a log house , which was manned by 15 militiamen with muskets and cannons. The defenders opened fire at close range and Montgomery was on the spot by a grapeshot -Salve that hit his head, killed. The few survivors of the advance detachment fled back to the palisade; only the later Vice President Aaron Burr and a few companions escaped unharmed. Many of Montgomery's officers were wounded in the attack; one of the few remaining and uninjured officers led the survivors back to the plains of Abraham. They had to leave Montgomery's body behind.

Arnold's attack

As Montgomery advanced, Arnold and most of the troops approached the barricades at Sault-de-Matelot at the northern end of the lower town. They passed the outer gates and some British cannon batteries undetected. When an advance command tried to bypass the Porte du Palais, they were taken under heavy fire by the British on the city wall above them. The height of the walls made shooting back impossible, so Arnold ordered his men to run forward. They pushed through a narrow street, where they came under fire again as they approached a barricade. Arnold was hit in the ankle when he was about to organize his men for a storm on the barricade. He was carried back after handing over command to Daniel Morgan . Morgan managed to take the barricade but struggled to advance because of the narrow, winding streets and the damp gunpowder. He and his men holed up in a few houses to dry the powder and arm themselves, but they came under increasing fire. Carleton realized that the attacks on the northern gates were deception and began to concentrate his troops in the lower city. About 500 British advanced through the Porte du Palais and retook the first palisade, encircling Morgan and his men in the lower town. He saw no way out and surrendered. The battle ended at 10 a.m.

This was the first defeat for the Continental Army. Carleton reported 30 Americans killed and 431 prisoners, including about two-thirds of Arnold's unit. He said that "many perished on the river" trying to escape. Maclean wrote that 20 more bodies were discovered when the snowmelt the following May. Arnold reported around 400 missing or prisoners; his official report to Congress mentioned 60 dead and 300 prisoners. In comparison, the British losses were small. Carleton's first report to General William Howe mentioned only five dead or wounded, but other eyewitness accounts mentioned up to 50. In his official report, Carleton pegged five dead and 14 wounded. The British recovered Montgomery's body on New Year's Day 1776. Lieutenant-Governor Cramahé funded a simple military funeral that took place on January 4th. The remains were transferred to New York in 1818.

siege

Memorial plaque in Québec

Arnold refused to withdraw. He was outnumbered by a ratio of 1: 3, the temperatures were below freezing and many men returned to their homeland because their conscription had reached the maximum duration. Nevertheless, he decided to besiege Québec. The siege had relatively little impact on the city; Carleton said that he would have enough stored supplies by May. Immediately after the battle, Arnold sent two officers to Montreal to inform General Wooster of the defeat. They continued to Philadelphia to report to Congress and seek assistance. In response to the report, Congress mandated reinforcements to be deployed. During the winter months, small companies of hastily assembled regiments from New Hampshire , Massachusetts, and Connecticut headed north to supplement the garrisons in Québec and Montreal. Epidemics (especially smallpox ) in the camp outside Québec claimed numerous lives, as did the general shortage of food. Most of the contagions came from infected civilians who had been let out of the city. Governor Carleton approved of this practice because it massively weakened American siege efforts. At the beginning of April Arnold was replaced by General Wooster, at the end of April General John Thomas took his place.

Although Carleton appeared to have a significant advantage in terms of military strength, he did not attack the American camp and stayed behind the city walls. Montgomery had learned from pre-battle analysis that Carleton had served under James Wolfe during the 1759 Siege of Quebec . He knew that the French general Louis-Joseph de Montcalm was defeated in the battle of the Plains of Abraham because he had left the protection of the defenses. A year later, Governor James Murray had similarly lost the Battle of Sainte-Foy . Montgomery assumed that Carleton was unlikely to repeat these mistakes. On March 14th, the miller Jean-Baptiste Chasseur arrived in town and informed Carleton that 200 men were standing by on the south bank to attack the Americans. They had been mobilized to attack an American cannon battery at Point-Lévis. However, an advance command of this loyalist militia was defeated on March 25 near Montmagny by pro-American militias.

When General Thomas arrived, the conditions in the American camp had deteriorated to such an extent that maintaining the siege was out of the question. Thomas began preparing to retreat. The arrival of a small British fleet on May 6th with 200 soldiers on board (the vanguard of a much larger force) accelerated American preparations for departure. The retreat turned into almost a hasty escape when Carleton and most of his troops left the city to face the disorganized enemy. The Americans, weakened by smallpox (General Thomas succumbed to the epidemic during the retreat), withdrew to the border at Fort Ticonderoga.

aftermath

On May 22, before the Americans were completely driven from the province, Carleton ordered an investigation to identify those Canadians who had helped the American invasion force. Three shop stewards (two French Canadians and one British) toured the province counting Canadians who had provided active assistance. Their count showed 757 pro-American sympathizers. Carleton was reasonably lenient with minor offenses and even released a number of offenders who had committed more serious offenses on parole. Once the Americans were pushed back across the border, action against their supporters became tougher. Traditionally, they were sentenced to forced labor to repair the damage caused by the American withdrawal. As a result of these measures, public support for the Americans fell to a minimum for the remainder of the war.

Between May 6 and June 1, 1776, nearly 40 ships arrived in Québec. They transported over 9,000 soldiers under the command of General John Burgoyne . Among them were around 4,000 German soldiers under Friedrich Adolf Riedesel , mostly from the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel (see soldier trade under Landgrave Friedrich II of Hessen-Kassel ). These troops spent the winter of 1776/77 in the province and were used in the ultimately failed Saratoga campaign .

literature

  • Jeremy Black: The Three Sieges of Quebec . History Today, London 2009.
  • James L. Nelson: Benedict Arnold's Navy . McGraw Hill, New York 2006, ISBN 978-0-07-146806-0 .
  • WJ Wood, John SD Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War . Da Capo Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2003, ISBN 978-0-306-81329-0 .
  • Michael P. Gabriel: Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero . Farleigh Dickinson University Press, Madison (New Jersey) 2002, ISBN 978-0-8386-3931-3 .
  • Hal T. Shelton: General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution: From Redcoat to Rebel . New York University Press, New York 1996, ISBN 978-0-8147-8039-8 .
  • George Stanley: Canada Invaded 1775–1776 . Hakkert, Toronto 1973, ISBN 978-0-88866-578-2 .
  • Gustave Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783 . Harvard University Press , Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1967, OCLC 70781264 .
  • Justin H. Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony . GP Putnam's Sons, New York City 1907, OCLC 259236 .

Web links

Commons : Battle of Québec (1775)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. Pp. 44-45.
  2. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. Pp. 47-49, 63.
  3. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. P. 97.
  4. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 1, p. 326.
  5. ↑ Stanley: Canada Invaded 1775-1776. Pp. 37-80.
  6. ^ Black: Three Sieges of Quebec. Pp. 50-55.
  7. ↑ Stanley: Canada Invaded from 1775 to 1776. Pp. 21-36.
  8. ^ A b Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, pp. 10-12.
  9. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, pp. 14-15.
  10. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, pp. 9-10.
  11. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, p. 16.
  12. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, p. 21.
  13. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 1, pp. 487-490.
  14. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, p. 95.
  15. ↑ Shelton: General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution. P. 130.
  16. ^ A b c Wood, Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War . P. 49.
  17. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, pp. 97-98.
  18. ↑ Nelson: Benedict Arnold's Navy. Pp. 76-132.
  19. ^ Wood, Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War. P. 44.
  20. ^ Wood, Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War. P. 46.
  21. ^ A b c Wood, Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War. P. 47.
  22. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, p. 86.
  23. ↑ Gabriel: Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero. P. 143.
  24. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, pp. 100-101.
  25. ^ A b Wood, Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War. P. 48.
  26. ↑ Gabriel: Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero. Pp. 185-186.
  27. ↑ M.-F. Fortier: Christophe Pélissier . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
  28. ↑ Gabriel: Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero. P. 163.
  29. ^ Wood, Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War. P. 50.
  30. ↑ Gabriel: Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero. P. 167.
  31. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. P. 106.
  32. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, p. 130.
  33. ^ Wood, Eisenhower: Battles of the Revolutionary War. P. 51.
  34. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, p. 145.
  35. ↑ Gabriel: Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero. P. 164.
  36. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, pp. 581-582.
  37. ↑ Gabriel: Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero. P. 170.
  38. ^ Stuart RJ Sutherland: Richard Montgomery . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
  39. ↑ Stanley: Canada Invaded 1775-1776. P. 86.
  40. ↑ a b c Jacques Lacoursière: Histoire populaire du Québec: Des origines à 1791 . Septentrion, Sillery 1995, ISBN 2-89448-050-4 , pp. 433 .
  41. ^ Brendan Morrissey: Quebec 1775: The American Invasion of Canada . Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1-84176-681-X , pp. 25 .
  42. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. P. 126.
  43. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. Pp. 136-142.
  44. ^ Smith: Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony. Volume 2, pp. 248-249.
  45. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. P. 130.
  46. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. Pp. 131-132.
  47. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. Pp. 141-146.
  48. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. P. 151.
  49. ↑ Nelson: Benedict Arnold's Navy. P. 212.
  50. ↑ Stanley: Canada Invaded 1775-1776. Pp. 108, 125, 129, 145.
  51. ↑ Lanctot: Canada and the American Revolution 1774–1783. Pp. 164-165.

Coordinates: 46 ° 48 '54.4 "  N , 71 ° 12' 8.3"  W.