ican force, appeared before Quebec on the 5th of December. The garrison was then more numerous than the army which came to take the place. So greatly was the American force reduced, that it scarcely amounted to 1,000 men; while General Carleton had about 1,500 soldiers, militia, seamen, and volunteers, under his command.

General Montgomery sent a flag of truce to summon the garrison to surrender; but, contrary to usage among civilized nations, it was fired upon, as that of Ar

FIG. 69.-British Soldiers firing at the Flag of Truce.

nold had been. He therefore, in the depth of a Canadian winter, and in the most intense cold, erected batteries; but his artillery was too light to make any impression on the fortifications. He therefore determined to storm the town; and the assault was made on the morning of the 31st of December.

About four o'clock in the morning, in the midst of a violent storm of snow, two feints and two real attacks were simultaneously made. The real attacks were conducted by Montgomery and Arnold. Montgomery, advancing at the head of about 200 men, fell by the first discharge of grape-shot from the works. Several of his best officers being killed, his division retreated. Arnold, at the head of about 300 men, in a different quarter, maintained a fierce and obstinate con. flict for some time; but was at last wounded and repulsed. The death of Montgomery was the subject of much regret, as he had been universally loved and esteemed. On assembling after the assault, the provincials could not muster many more than 400 effective men, who chose Arnold their commander; and, in the hope of receiving reinforcements, resolved to remain in the vicinity of Quebec. Thus perished this gallant Irishman, a martyr to his love for liberty, fighting bravely in defence of his adopted country.

In front of the church of St. Paul's, in Broadway, at the corner of Fulton street, New York, may be seen a very plain monument with the following inscription :

"This monument is erected by order of congress, 25th January, 1776, to transmit to posterity a grateful remembrance of the patriotism, conduct, enterprise, and perseverance of Major-General RICHARD MONTGOMERY, who, after a series of successes, amid the most discouraging difficulties, fell in the attack on Quebec, 31st December, 1775, aged 37 years.

"The STATE OF NEW YORK caused the remains of Major-General Richard Montgomery to be conveyed from Quebec and deposited beneath this monument, the 8th day of July, 1818."

Sir Guy Carleton acquired much honor by the humanity with which he treat

ed all his prisoners. He fought as a soldier, and felt as a man. The Americans were not ignorant of their own great inferiority in point of numbers to the garrison, and were not without apprehensions of being attacked; but, although the garrison was three times more numerous than the blockading army, yet it was of such a mixed and precarious nature, that Sir Guy Carleton did not deem it prudent to march out against the enemy.

A small reinforcement from Massachusetts reached the American camp, and all the troops that could be spared from Montreal marched to join their countrymen before Quebec; but the month of February was far advanced before the army amounted to 960 men. Arnold, however, resumed the siege; but his artillery was inadequate to the undertaking, and made no impression on the works. Although unsuccessful against the town, he defeated a body of Canadians who advanced to relieve it.

While the American army lay before Quebec, the troops caught the small-pox from a woman who had been a nurse in an hospital of the city; and the loathsome disease spread rapidly among them. In order to mitigate the ravages of this destructive malady, many of the men inoculated themselves, regardless of orders to the contrary. The reinforcements, which were daily arriving, had recourse to the same practice; and so general- was the infection, that, on the first of May, although the army amounted to 2,000 men, yet not more than 900 were fit for duty. In this diseased state of the troops, medicines and everything necessary for the sick were wanting. The men were also scattered for want of barracks. Major-General Thomas, who had been appointed to the command of the American army in Canada, arrived in camp on the 1st of May. He found the troops enfeebled by disease, ill-supplied with provisions, and with only a small quantity of ammunition. The river was opening below; and he was well aware that as soon as ships could force their way through the ice, the garrison

would be reinforced. On the 5th of May, therefore, he resolved to retreat toward Montreal and on the evening of the same day, he received certain information that a British fleet was in the river. Next morning some of the ships, by great exertion and with much danger, pressed through the ice into the harbor, and landed some troops.

The Americans were preparing to retire: General Carleton marched out to

attack them; and as there was no hope of successfully resisting a force so muca superior, they made a precipitate retreat, leaving behind them their sick, baggage, artillery, and military stores. Many of those who were ill of the small-pox escaped from the hospitals and concealed themselves in the country, where they were kindly entertained by the Canadians till they recovered, and were able to follow their countrymen. General Carleton could not overtake the American army; but he took about 100 sick prisoners.

The Americans retreated about forty-five miles, and then halted a few days; but afterward proceeded to Sorel, in a deplorable condition, and encamped there. In this interval some reinforcements arrived; but General Thomas was seized with the small-pox, and died. He was succeeded in command by General Sullivan.

The British had several military posts in Upper Canada; and the Americans established one at the Cedars, a point of land which projects into the St. Lawrence, about forty miles above Montreal. Captain Forster, who had marched from Oswyatchie, appeared before this post with a company of regulars and a considerable number of Indians; and the American commanding officer surrendered the place after a short resistance. An American party of about 100 men, under Major Sherburne, left Montreal to assist their countrymen at the Cedars; but as they approached that place, on the day after the surrender, and ignorant of that event, they were suddenly and unexpectedly attacked by a body of Indians and Canadians. After defending themselves for some time, the Americans were overpowered, and many of them fell under the tomahawks of the Indians The rest were made prisoners.

Arnold, who in the month of January had been raised to the rank of brigadiergeneral, and who then commanded at Montreal, was desirous of recovering the

Cedars, and of relieving the prisoners there; and for these purposes marched toward that place, at the head of about 800 men. But on his approach Captain Forster gave him notice, that unless he agreed to a cartel, which had already been signed by Major Sherburne and some other officers, the Indians would put all the prisoners to death. In these circumstances, Arnold reluctantly signed the cartel, and retired.

Before the end of May, the British force in Canada was greatly increased; and, including the German mercenaries, was estimated at 13,000 men. That force was widely dispersed; but Three Rivers, about ninety miles above Quebec and as much below Montreal, was the general point of rendezvous. A considerable detachment, under General Frazer, had already arrived there. That detachment General Sullivan wished to surprise; and appointed General Thompson to command the troops in the expedition sent out for that purpose. The enterprise failed; Thompson was made prisoner, and his detachment dispersed, but without any great loss.

The royal military and naval forces having been collected at Three Rivers, a long village so named from its contiguity to a river which empties itself into the St. Lawrence by three mouths, advanced by land and water toward the Sorel. General Sullivan had retreated up that river; and General Burgoyne was ordered cautiously to pursue him. On the 15th of June, General Arnold quitted Montreal, crossed the river at Longueille, marched on Chamblée, and conducted the army to Crown Point, with little loss in the retreat. Thus terminated the invasion of Canada, in which the American army endured great hardships, and sustained considerable loss, without any advantage to the cause in which it was engaged.

Historical annals rarely furnish so striking and interesting occurrences as might be recorded, were the detail fully given of the memorable march of the Americans in order to penetrate Quebec. Honorably as it has been commemorated, its difficulties, dangers, and privations, can never be sufficiently appreciated. We read of the passage of the Alps with a just sentiment of admiration; yet it is not certain but that the privations and difficulties of those enterprises were surpassed in the expedition of Arnold. Their batteaux had to be dragged by the soldiers over water-falls, portages, and rapid streams, and such parts of the march as was not made by rivers, was performed for a distance of three hundred miles through thick woods, over lofty mountains, and deep morasses. A part of the detachment actually abandoned the undertaking and returned to Cambridge to avoid starvation. Those who persevered were actually compelled, in order to appease the torments of hunger, to devour dogs, reptiles, and their very cartridge-boxes. Among the patriots of this tried corps of invincibles were the late Col. Burr and Col. Samuel Ward, recently deceased in the city of New

York.

Although the Americans had failed in their attempt on Canada, they still occupied Crown Point and Ticonderoga. General Carleton resolved to drive them from those posts; but that was an arduous task, for the British had not a ship on Lake Champlain to oppose the American navy; and it was deemed unadvisable to advance, without first gaining the command of the lakes. The great aim was to obtain possession of the upper parts of the Hudson, to march to Albany, make themselves masters of the country in General Washington's rear, and open a communication between the British army in Canada and that at New York. The task was arduous; and General Carleton labored with unwearied assiduity in providing the means of gaining a superiority on the lakes. In about three months, his efforts were crowned with success. Early in October, he had a formidable fleet, which rose, as if by magic, upon Lake Champlain. It consisted of the Inflexible, carrying eighteen 12-pounders, one schooner, mounting