Les Chutes Chaudieres, Joseph LeGare around 1840
Two hundred forty two years ago, in the summer of 1775, The Continental Congress, just after appointing George Washington as Commander in Chief, orders Major General Phillip Schuyler to take Canada if he finds doing so “practicable” and not “disagreeable to the Canadians. After the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May, Congress invites the 80,000 Canadians (mostly of French origin) in Quebec, to join in opposing the British. The Canadians are cool to the idea but Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold are hot. They had just captured fort Ticonderoga in May, virtually without firing a shot, stoking their already large ambitions.
As General Schuyler prepares his troops in Western New York to invade Canada via the easier and more traditionally used approach via Lake Champlain, George Washington assigns Benedict Arnold to lead the right flank, an expedition from Massachusetts through the Maine wilderness to the shore of the St. Lawrence River directly opposite Quebec City.
Benedict Arnold is a 34 year old successful Connecticut merchant filled with military ambitions. After his bold gamble and resulting easy victory at Fort Ticonderoga, this next adventure, the taking of Quebec, would provide even more glory and military honors. Arnold’s optimism is exceeded only by his ignorance of the terrain of the northeast. In late September his force of about 1,100 starts up the Kenebec River to traverse the Maine wilderness to Quebec.
Arnold’s painful march to Quebec has become the stuff of legend, including the loss of foodstuffs, portages of 200 heavy boats (bateaux) over great distances. The boats along with ammunition and supplies weigh 400 pounds each. While Arnold thinks he will be demanding the surrender of Quebec within 3 weeks from Sir Guy Carlton, the British General serving as Governor, it takes his band 6 weeks just to cross the Maine wilderness, making it to the St. Lawrence River on November 8th. Out of the 1,100 men who started, about 400 turn back, and about 100 more fall sick or dead on the trip.
On September 19th, Arnold’s force sails from Newburyport to the mouth of the Kenebec River, a distance of about 150 miles. The river is wider at its mouth, allowing their ships to reach Gardinerstown on September 22nd. There, the narrowness of the river forces them to switch to small boats (bateaux) or march along on the shore. Rocks and brush came right to the edge of the river making portage difficult.
“Each bateau was poled upstream by a sweating crew, assisted by lines from soldiers tugging from the difficult banks. Scouts made their way in advance, sending back reports for the bateaux crews.”[1]
Not until October 11th does the expedition reach The Great Carrying Place, a portage of 12 miles. Way before then, the boats leak and a great part of the foodstuffs are ruined. The men fish for trout to replenish their food supply. Many are exhausted from carrying the heavy boats such a great distance. With many of the foodstuffs ruined, a diet of salt pork and the drinking of stagnant water causes many cases of diarrhea.
From here the trip becomes even harder and more dangerous. They enter the Dead River, which not only has a strong current against them, but is filled with sunken logs and brush further impeding their progress. After October 19th a heavy rain falls for three days, overflowing the Dead River’s banks, and making travel still harder.
The wilderness begins taking its toll. “High winds, freezing temperatures and incessant rains made the passage difficult and rest nearly impossible. On October 22nd their camp was swamped by water which rose 8 feet in nine hours.”[2]
On October 25th at a council of War, Lt. Colonel Roger Enos’ division of about 300 men votes to turn back. Arnold lets them go rather than face a mutiny.
Near the end of October, the expedition finishes the 30 miles to reach the Height of Land, the watershed between the Kenebec and Chaudiere Rivers. By now, snow is falling, many men are sick, and without enough food or clothing. But they still have to cross Lake Magantic and travel down the Chaudiere River to the St Lawrence.
“Finally, they reached the Chaudiere. But they were now completely out of food and survived only by eating moccasins, shot pouches, and soap.”[3]
At last, on November 8th, this exhausted band of travelers reaches the St Lawrence River on the shore opposite Quebec City. By this time, however, they are in no condition to fight and the actual battle, which takes place on December 31st, results in a devastating loss for the Americans. It is amazing that Arnold's men arrive at all, and thus this “little excursion” passes into history as one of the 18th Century’s most difficult and remarkable military expeditions.
Barry Singer
West Windsor, New Jersey
The author, a volunteer with the Historical Society of Princeton, is a speaker about the American Revolution and conducts historic walking tours in Princeton.
[1] For a fuller discussion of the march: Barry M. Gough, Arnold’s March to Quebec in 1775, From an Address Given to the United Empire Loyalists, Grand River Branch, Waterloo, Ontario, November, 1975
[2] Ibid.
[3] For a further details of the expedition and map: Craig L. Symonds, A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution, The Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America, 1986, 23