CHAPTER IV.

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.