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Battle of Quebec (1775)
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The Battle of Quebec was an attempt on December 31, 1775, by American colonial rebels 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 extensive help because the St. Lawrence River was frozen, and had to rely on the French-speaking militia of the city, who turned out in high numbers.
Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery were the two primary rebel commanders in the assault, which failed. The battle was the climax of the rebels' invasion of Canada and put an end to any hopes of French Canada rising in rebellion with the colonists. The battle didn't actually repulse the invasion; this occurred six months later with the arrival of 4,000 troops, who forced the Continentals to leave Quebec.
BattleThe 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 militia. Montgomery advanced his brigade towards it at a walk, and the militia responded with a volley that cut down Montgomery and the brigade's two other highest ranking officers. The next highest ranking officer ordered a retreat, while the militia continued to snipe at them.
Benedict Arnold was unaware of 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 colonists were attacked from the street and surrounding row houses by hundreds of militia. A British counterattack reoccupied 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 colonists of Montgomery's brigade were killed or wounded 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.
SiegeArnold refused to give up and retreat;despite being outnumbered three to one, the sub-freezing temperature of the winter and the mass desertions of his men after their enlistments expired on December 31, 1775—laid siege to Quebec. This siege had little effect on the city.
Arnold (now a Brigadier General) was reinforced with Wooster's brigade in March 1776, bringing their strength to 2,000 men.
While the Continental rebels were unable to mount a new assault on the city, the siege continued until John Burgoyne's division of 4,000 men arrived on May 6, 1776, which forced the colonial army to retreat south, back to New York.
AftermathClément 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 with the help of the French. But the plan was not implemented. 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 causing misery for the Quebecois who might support him.
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