The battles of the world : $b or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military eventsBorthwick, J. Douglas (John Douglas)
History
The battles of the world : $b or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military events
Borthwick, J. Douglas (John Douglas)
Battles; Military history
Having resolved to invade Canada, the Americans entered it in the
fall of 1775, in two directions--by Lake Champlain and by the
sources of the Kennebec River. The first division, under General
Montgomery, was very successful. After obtaining possession of
Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and St. Johns, he advanced towards
Montreal. His force was very considerable, while there were but few
British soldiers in Canada. General Carleton, who succeeded General
Murray in the military command, had been repulsed at Longueuil;
so that Montgomery had only to take possession of the city, which
he did on the 19th of November. The naval force in the river, and
all the military stores and provisions, were surrendered into his
hands, and General Prescott, with the volunteers and soldiers,
became prisoners of war. Finding plenty of woollen cloth in the
city, General Montgomery took the opportunity of new-clothing his
troops, who had suffered much from the severity of the weather. The
second division of the American army, under General Arnold, reached
the St. Lawrence on the 9th of November. They had traversed,
with dreadful fatigue, the forests and swamps in the District of
Maine, and arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec, worn out and
dispirited. Quebec was at this time defenceless; and had General
Arnold been able to cross the river, that capital, and with it
the territory of Canada, must have passed into the hands of the
Americans. Fortunately all the shipping had been removed to the
other side, and it was not until the 14th that he was able to cross
over. He landed 500 men at Wolfe’s Cove, and waited near that place
in the hope of being joined by Montgomery from Montreal. General
Carleton, the British Governor, was at this time occupied, with
his troops near Montreal, in endeavouring to repulse Montgomery.
The latter wished to effect a junction with General Arnold, that
they might unitedly attack the fortress. Perceiving that the safety
of the country depended upon the possession of Quebec, Carleton
effected a masterly movement to reach that place. In this, he was
assisted by Captain Bouchette, R.N., who conveyed him through the
American forces by night, in a canoe with muffled paddles. He
arrived at the citadel of Quebec on the 19th, whilst the Americans
thought him busily engaged with Montgomery, near Montreal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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