Operations in Canada.--Affair of the Cedars.--Retreat from Montreal.
On the same day that Arnold made this retreat, Governor Carleton arrived
at Quebec. He had escaped in the night from the British fleet, which was
stopped by the American batteries at Sorel, and thence passed in a
small armed vessel down the river. By an official return at
Point-aux-Trembles, the entire force of the detachment, officers and
privates, consisted of six hundred and seventy-five men, being somewhat
more than half the number that marched from Cambridge. Arnold despatched
a messenger to General Montgomery, then at Montreal, describing his
necessitous condition for want of clothing, and a full supply was
immediately forwarded to him. By the capture of the small fleet at Sorel
under General Prescott, the Americans had gained command of the river
above Quebec; and as all the British posts in Canada had been taken,
except the capital, this was now the grand object to be attained.
Montgomery made all haste to join Arnold for that purpose; and, leaving
a small garrison at Montreal, he embarked about three hundred men,
several mortars, and Captain Lamb's company of artillery, on board
some of the armed vessels taken at Sorel, and went down the river to
Point-aux-Trembles. The command now devolved on General Montgomery, and
the two detachments marched immediately to the Heights of Abraham, where
they arrived on the 4th of December. Although the effective force of the
Americans was less than a thousand men, and the number bearing arms
in the city, including British, militia, and Canadians, amounted to
eighteen hundred, yet it was resolved to hazard an assault.
Colonel Arnold had written to General Washington from
Point-aux-Trembles, that it would require twenty-five hundred men to
reduce Quebec. Calmly viewed through the medium of historical evidence,
with a full knowledge of collateral facts and subsequent events, a
resolution for an immediate assault may now seem rash and ill advised.
But General Montgomery relied on the lukewarmness of the inhabitants,
and their readiness to abandon the British standard whenever they should
see a reasonable hope of protection from the assailants. He likewise
believed, that the large extent of the works rendered them incapable
of being defended at all points, and that in this respect the seeming
strength of the enemy was in reality an element of weakness. He moreover
derived a renovated confidence from the disposition of his officers and
troops, who seconded with promptness and zeal the views of their leader.
Notwithstanding the weight of these motives, and of others that might
have had their influence, it must ever be lamented, that a spirit so
elevated and generous, fraught with the noblest principles of honor and
chivalrous feeling, was doomed to be sacrificed in a conflict so utterly
unequal and hopeless of success. Leonidas died not a braver death, nor
with a self-devotion more worthy to place him among the first of heroes
and of patriots.
But we are not now concerned with the history of events, any farther
than to sketch very briefly the part acted in them by the subject of the
present narrative. General Montgomery found Arnold, as he said, "active,
intelligent, and enterprising." A quarrel happened between Arnold
and one of his captains, which drew three companies into a mutinous
combination; but the danger was checked by the decision and firmness
of the commander, who discovered the captain to be in the wrong, and
maintained subordination. Several attempts were made to send a summons
into the town; but Governor Carleton forbade all communication, and no
flag was suffered to approach the walls. Meantime preparations for an
attack were carried on. A battery was opened, from which five cannon
and a howitzer were brought to bear upon the town, but with very little
effect. There were slight skirmishes in the suburbs, houses were burnt,
and a few men killed.
Different plans of attack had been meditated, and it was at last
resolved to make a general assault upon the lower town. Montgomery was
to proceed with one division of the army along the margin of the St.
Lawrence around the base of Cape Diamond, and Arnold with his detachment
by the way of St. Roque. Each commander was to act according to
circumstances, and both parties were to unite if possible at the eastern
extremity of the town. At five o'clock in the morning of the 31st of
December they began their march. Arnold had already passed through
the suburb of St. Roque, and approached unperceived a picketed two-gun
battery or barrier across the street. It was attacked by Captain Lamb's
artillery, but was bravely defended for about an hour, when it was
carried, and the Americans pushed forward in the midst of a violent
snow-storm, till they arrived at a second barrier. Several lives had
been lost at the first barrier. Arnold was shot through the leg. The
bone was fractured, and he was obliged to be taken to the general
hospital; where he learned that Montgomery had been killed in forcing
a barrier at Cape Diamond, and that his troops had retreated. A very
severe contest was kept up by his own party at the second barrier for
three hours, without being able to force their way beyond it. While yet
in the heat of action, they were surrounded by a party, that issued from
one of the gates of the city in their rear, by which their retreat was
cut off, and between three and four hundred were taken prisoners. The
killed and wounded were about sixty.
This affair being thus unhappily terminated, the command fell again upon
Colonel Arnold. By an exact return two days after the action, the
whole number of troops under him was a little short of eight hundred,
including Colonel Livingston's regiment of Canadians, which amounted
to about two hundred. With this mere shadow of an army he resolved to
maintain a blockade of the city, till reinforcements should arrive. The
winter had now set in with its usual-severity, and a scene of long and
dismal suffering from cold and privations appeared in prospect. "Many of
the troops are dejected," he said in a letter to General Wooster,
"and anxious to get home, and some have actually set off; but I shall
endeavour to continue the blockade, while there are any hopes of
success." Fortunately the besieged were nowise inclined to make
excursions beyond the walls, being contented to wait the opening
of spring for a relief from England, which might then certainly be
expected. Nor was the investiture at any time so complete, as not
to admit occasional intercourse with the country, by which the most
pressing want, that of wood, was supplied. Pickets and guards, it is
true, were stationed in every direction; but, with a force so feeble and
scattered, little more could be done, than to keep up the formality of a
blockade. Why the enemy did not sally, and attack the American camp,
has never been explained. It is probable the governor did not think
it prudent to put the loyalty of the inhabitants to a test, which the
contingencies of events might turn to a disadvantage, especially as he
felt secure in remaining quiet.
As soon as the news of the storming of Quebec reached Congress, they
promoted Arnold to the rank of brigadier-general, as a reward not less
of his gallant conduct on that occasion, than of his extraordinary
enterprise and military address in conducting his army through the
wilderness. Additional troops were likewise immediately ordered to
Canada. During the winter a few companies, and fragments of companies,
from New-Hampshire and Massachusetts, and part of Warner's regiment from
Vermont, arrived at the encampment, having walked on snow-shoes, carried
their own provisions, and braved all the perils of frost and exposure
incident to such a march in so rigorous a climate.
With these means the Americans kept their ground, undisturbed by the
enemy, till spring. Breastworks and fortifications were constructed
of snow, which, by being rolled into a mass and saturated with water,
immediately congealed into solid ramparts of ice. The prisoners within
the city were kindly treated by Governor Carleton. He sent out Major
Meigs for their clothes and baggage, allowed them to be supplied with
money and other conveniences by their friends, and, after they were
released, they bore a unanimous testimony to the humanity and good
usage extended to them by the British commander. The remains of General
Montgomery were interred with suitable marks of respect. * In a journal
kept by an English officer during the siege, it is said that ninety-four
of the prisoners were Europeans, who petitioned in a body to join a
regiment of Royal Emigrants in the British service.
* When General Montgomery was killed, he had in his pocket a watch,
which Mrs. Montgomery was very desirous to obtain. This was made known
to General Arnold, and he applied to Governor Carleton, offering
any price for the watch, which he might choose to demand. Carleton
immediately sent it out, but would suffer nothing to be received in
return.
After several of them had deserted, by leaping from the walls and
sliding down the precipice on the surface of the snow, the remainder
were put in confinement and retained as prisoners. *
* This journal is curious, and may be found in the second volume of
Smith's History of Canada.
General Wooster had passed the winter at Montreal in a state of repose,
which his countrymen were not prepared to expect from a man, who had
gained the reputation of a bold and active officer in the last war. On
the 1st of April he appeared at Quebec, and, being superior in rank,
succeeded to the command. At this time the number of troops had
increased to two thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, of whom about
eight hundred were sick, mostly of the small-pox. A cannonade was opened
upon the city from a battery of six guns, two howitzers, and two small
mortars, on the Heights of Abraham, and another of three guns and one
howitzer, at Point Levy. Preparations were begun for pushing the siege
with vigor, but at this time an accident happened to General Arnold
by the falling of his horse upon his wounded leg, which bruised it so
badly, that he was laid up for a fortnight. He likewise complained
of the coldness and reserve of General Wooster, who neither asked his
advice nor took his counsel; and his temper was not formed to brook
neglect, nor indeed patiently to act a second part. It is moreover to be
considered, that he and General Wooster were townsmen and neighbors, and
with that class of his fellow-citizens he had commonly found means to be
at points. The condition of his wound was an apology for asking leave of
absence, which was readily granted, and he retired to Montreal.
Here again he was at the head of affairs. Montreal was in the hands of
the Americans under a military government; and, there being no officer
present equal to himself in rank, he of course assumed the command.
For the first six weeks he had little to do; but the catastrophe at the
Cedars, in which nearly four hundred men surrendered to the enemy by a
disgraceful capitulation, and a hundred more were killed or taken in a
brave encounter, called him out to meet the approaching foe, and avenge
the barbarous murders and other cruelties, which had been committed by
the savages on the prisoners. He hastened to St. Anne's, at the western
part of the Island of Montreal, with about eight hundred men, where he
arrived in the afternoon of the 26th of May. At this moment the enemy's
batteaux were seen taking the American prisoners from an island about
a league distant from St. Anne's, and proceeding with them to the main
land on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence. Arnold's batteaux were
still three or four miles behind, making their way slowly up the rapids,
having fallen in the rear of the troops, who marched along the shore.
They did not reach St. Anne's till nearly sunset. Meantime a small party
of Caghnawaga Indians returned, whom Arnold had sent over the river in
the morning with a message to the hostile savages, demanding a surrender
of the American prisoners, and threatening in case of a refusal, or if
any murders were committed, that he would sacrifice every Indian that
should fall into his hands, and follow them to their towns, which he
would destroy by fire and sword. The Indians sent back an answer by the
Caghnawagas, that they had five hundred prisoners in their power,
and that if Arnold presumed to land and attempt a rescue, they would
immediately put them all to death, and give no quarter to any that
should be captured.
This threat, however, did not deter Arnold from pursuing his object. He
filled the boats with his men, and ordered them to row to the island,
where the prisoners had been confined. He there found five American
soldiers, naked and almost famished, who informed him that all the other
prisoners had been taken to Quinze Chiens except two, who, having been
unwell, were inhumanly butchered. From this island he advanced towards
Quinze Chiens about four miles below; but, when the boats came within
three quarters of a mile of the shore, the enemy began to fire upon them
with two brass field-pieces, and soon afterwards with small arms. The
boats rowed near the shore, but without returning a shot; and, as it was
now become dark, and Arnold was unacquainted with the ground, and his
men were much fatigued, he thought it prudent to return to St. Anne's.
He immediately called a council of war, and it was unanimously
determined, that an attack should be made early the next morning.
The enemy's forces, consisting of forty British troops, one hundred
Canadians, and five hundred Indians, were commanded by Captain Forster;
and the principal officer among the American prisoners was Major
Sherburne. A little after midnight Lieutenant Park arrived at St. Anne's
with a flag, bringing articles for an exchange of prisoners, which had
been entered into between Major Sherburne and Captain Forster. This
commander had assured Major Sherburne and the other American officers,
that he could not control the Indians, and that all the prisoners would
inevitably be murdered as soon as an attack should begin. The prisoners
were crowded together in the church of Quinze Chiens, where they were
guarded, and would fall an easy prey to the fury of the savages. In this
distressing dilemma, revolting as it was to every principle of honor
and justice, the dictates of humanity pointed to but one course. Major
Sherburne accepted such terms as were imposed upon him; and the
treaty was sent to be confirmed by General Arnold, with the positive
declaration on the part of Captain Forster, that the fate of his
companions in arms depended on his acquiescence. By the terms of the
capitulation, it was agreed that the prisoners should be released on
parole, in exchange for British prisoners of equal rank taken by the
Americans. Six days were allowed for sending the prisoners to St. John's
within the American lines. Four American captains were to go to Quebec
and remain as hostages, till the exchange should be effected. Reparation
was to be made for all property, that had been destroyed by the
Continental troops. Such was the tenor of the articles as modified and
approved by General Arnold. The British commander had at first insisted,
that the American prisoners should not again take up arms, and that they
should pledge themselves not to give any information by words, writing,
or signs, which should be prejudicial to his Majesty's service. These
terms were rejected without discussion. Fifteen Canadians, who were with
the American troops at the Cedars, were not included in the treaty, as
Captain Forster declared that he had positive orders to that effect. *
* A different account of this affair is given by General Wilkinson,
(Memoirs, Vol. I. p. 46,) but the above narrative is taken from a letter
written by General Arnold a few hours after the capitulation was signed,
and directed to the Commissioners from Congress then at Montreal. These
circumstances invest it with every claim to be considered strictly
accurate.
Congress refused to ratify this convention, except on such conditions as
the British government would never assent to; and a general indignation
was expressed at the subterfuge of barbarity by which it was extorted,
so contrary to the rules of civilized warfare, and so abhorrent to the
common sympathies of human nature. Since the compact was executed in due
form, however, and by officers invested with proper authority, General
Washington considered it binding, and expressed that opinion in decided
language to Congress. In a military sense this may be presumed to have
been a right view of the matter, and perhaps in the long run it was
politic. The stain of ignominy, which must for ever adhere to the
transaction, may be regarded as a punishment in full measure to the
aggressing party, and as holding up an example, which all who value a
good name, or have any respect for the universal sentiments of mankind,
will take care not to imitate. General Howe wrote a complaining and
reproachful letter to Washington on the proceedings of Congress; but the
actual sense of the British authorities may be inferred from the fact,
that the subject was allowed to drop into silence, and the hostages were
sent home on parole.
Arnold returned with his detachment to Montreal. Disasters began to
thicken in every part of Canada. The small-pox had made frightful
ravages among the troops and was still increasing, provisions and
every kind of supplies were wanting, the inhabitants were disgusted
and alienated, having suffered from the exactions, irregularities, and
misconduct of the Americans, who seized their property for the public
service, and paid them in certificates and bills, which were worthless;
reinforcements had come in so sparingly, that it was now impossible to
withstand the force of the enemy, augmented by a large body of veteran
troops recently arrived from Europe; confusion reigned every where, and
a heavy gloom hung over the future. At this crisis, Franklin, Chase, and
Carroll, arrived at Montreal as a committee from Congress. The state
of affairs was already too desperate to be relieved by the counsels
of wisdom, or the arm of strength. The American troops under General
Thomas, driven from Quebec and pursued up the St. Lawrence, took post
at Sorel. General Sullivan succeeded to the command; a last attempt
was made to hold the ground, but it was more resolute in purpose than
successful in the execution; the whole army was compelled precipitately
to evacuate Canada, and retire over the Lake to Crown Point.
Montreal was held till the last moment. Arnold then drew off his
detachment, with no small risk of being intercepted by Sir Guy Carleton,
and proceeded to St. John's, making, as General Sullivan wrote, "a very
prudent and judicious retreat, with an enemy close at his heels." He
had two days before been at St. John's, directed an encampment to be
enclosed, and ordered the frame of a vessel then on the stocks to be
taken to pieces, the timbers numbered, and the whole to be sent to Crown
Point. General Sullivan soon arrived with the rear of his retreating
army, and preparations were made for an immediate embarkation. To this
work Arnold applied himself with his usual activity and vigilance,
remaining behind till he had seen every boat leave the shore but his
own. He then mounted his horse, attended by Wilkinson his aid-de-camp,
and rode back two miles, when they discovered the enemy's advanced
division in full march under General Burgoyne. They gazed at it, or, in
military phrase, reconnoitred it, for a short time, and then hastened
back to St. John's. A boat being in readiness to receive them, the
horses were stripped and shot, the men were ordered on board, and
Arnold, refusing all assistance, pushed off the boat with his own hands;
thus, says Wilkinson, "indulging the vanity of being the last man,
who embarked from the shores of the enemy." The sun was now down,
and darkness followed, but the boat overtook the army in the night at
Isle-aux-Noix.