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.The war between the American colonials and the British wasbarely two months old when the Second Continental Congressauthorized a military campaign to the north against the Britishpresence in Canada, if.it will not be disagreeable to theCanadians. 58 Some Americans believed that the St.LawrenceRiver region could become a fourteenth colony of America.Although thousands of British troops had been stationed in theAmerican colonies throughout the late 1760s and early 1770s,the British had garrisoned perhaps as few as 700 redcoats in War along the River 73Canada under the command of General Guy Carleton.Americanmilitary leaders organized a two-pronged attack aimed atcapturing both Montreal and Quebec, the same towns theBritish had targeted during the French and Indian War.The American commanders appointed to lead the maincolumn of American troops north were General Philip Schuylerand his second in command, Irish-born General RichardMontgomery, a former British officer who had fought in theSt.Lawrence region during the French and Indian War.They wereto move north along the Champlain Valley, seize the British gar-rison of St.John s and Fort Chambly along the way, and thenadvance on Montreal.After capturing the town, they were tomove downriver to Quebec.As part of a diversionary tactic,another American unit, under the command of Benedict Arnold,who would later gain infamy as a turncoat, was to marchthrough the northern backcountry of Maine and land down-river from Quebec.The plan was bold, and its success hingedon both armies reaching their goals before the onset of winter.Unfortunately, Schuyler proved slow in setting out on hisleg of the mission.He dallied through much of the summerof 1775, adding new recruits to his army, collecting supplies,building transport boats, and negotiating with the Iroquoisfor peaceful passage across their lands.When Schuyler becameill, Montgomery took command of his forces and, urged byGeneral George Washington, set out on August 28, 1775, boundfor Montreal.The campaign set out on water as astrange flotilla, cobbled together out of almost no propermaterials, but with a great deal of energy and hope, pushingnorth down [Lake] Champlain from the shaky Americanbase at Ticonderoga.shoving off toward the mysteriousimmensity of Canada, with the Green Mountains dusk-cloaked on their right and the Adirondacks catching the lastflecks of sunset gold on their left.59 74 THE ST.LAWRENCE RIVERHis army made rapid progress across northern New York,but when Montgomery and his men reached St.John s, theresulting siege against the 500 British troops inside the garri-son took eight weeks.By the time the garrison surrenderedon November 3, cold temperatures were already beginning toplague Montgomery s army.Despite the arrival of winter,however, the Americans moved on, and within 10 days of thefall of St.John s, Montreal also fell, surrendering withouta fight.Unfortunately for the Americans, General Carletonescaped from Montreal and set out downriver to Quebec tohelp organize its defense.Montgomery delayed his advance by two weeks, allowing hismen to rest and recover from the difficult march into Canada.In the meantime, General Arnold reached the outskirts ofQuebec on November 8, but his army was in poor condition.The march through the thick wooded regions of Maine hadnearly defeated his men.The advance had been forced to passrepeatedly through frigid swamp water and engage in exhaust-ing portages around several rivers.Food became so scarceduring the winter that Arnold s men nearly starved and at onepoint [had] been reduced to living on boiled candles androasted moccasins. 60 In fact, Captain Dearborn s huge blackdog disappeared into a cook-pot. 61 By the time Arnold s forcesreached the St.Lawrence, his men were weary, hungry, sick,and nearly unfit for battle.When Montgomery and Arnoldreconnoitered in December, only about 1,000 men in thetwo armies were ready for duty.Nevertheless, the comman-ders decided to launch a night attack against Quebec and itsdefenders on December 30.The British forces in the town were ready and preparedfor the attack.The streets were thick with snowdrifts as theAmericans advanced.Arnold, personally commanding no morethan 650 men, slipped past the Quebec gates and into town,where he and his forces came under immediate fire
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