History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original RecordsDuncan, Francis
History
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original Records
Duncan, Francis
Great Britain. Army. Royal Regiment of Artillery
The siege of Quebec was the next episode in the Canadian part of the
war. It was totally unsuccessful; and the gallant commander of the
Americans—General Montgomery, who had fought under Wolfe at the same
place—was killed. The Artillery present in Quebec belonged to No. 3
Company, 4th Battalion; but they were very few in number. They were
under the command of Captain Jones, whose services on the occasion
received the highest praise. A sort of blockade of the town was kept up
by General Montgomery's successor—Arnold,—but it was indifferently
conducted; and as soon as a man-of-war was able to get up through the
ice, General Carleton sallied out and routed the American forces in a
most thorough manner. Very little more was done in Canada during the
war. The loyalty of the inhabitants was unmistakable; and it cannot fail
to surprise one who remembers for how very brief a time the French
Canadians had been under British rule. Even later in the war, when the
French fleet came to render active assistance to the Americans, and the
Admiral appealed to the French colonists to rise, his appeal was
unsuccessful. Either the British rule had already become popular,
because, on the whole, kind and just; or the sympathies of the French
Canadians—although, perhaps, not with the English—were still more averse
from the American cause, which was associated in their minds with the
old New England enemies who had waged with them such an incessant
border-warfare. The loyalty of Canada is one of the marvels of English
history. It seems unalienable, as it certainly is unselfish. Tested,
sixteen years after its conquest, by the great American War; and again
in the present century by the second American War; tried sorely by a too
paternal Colonial Office, which retarded its advancement, its hindrance
made all the more plain by the spectacle, across the frontier, of the
American Republic attaining a marvellous wealth and development; exposed
to risk from enemies whom it did not know, and in quarrels in which it
had no share, merely on account of its connection with England;
suffering, without indemnity, loss of life and of treasure by invasion
from lawless banditti, who thought to strike England through her
dependency; chilled by neglect, and depressed by words which, if they
had any meaning at all, insinuated that she was a burden to the parent,
and half suggested to her to take her leave, and to quit the Empire of
which she had been so staunch a member;—tested, tried, endangered,
suffering, and neglected, the loyalty of Canada remains undimmed. It is,
as has been said, a marvel! Let England take heed that she do not
underrate this treasure of a people's tried affection.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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