Introduction
Introduction
On June 27, 1775, following orders from the Continental Congress, George Washington ordered American troops to attack Quebec from two points.
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| Thomas Walker, an American merchant living in Canada, traveled the Quebec countryside trying to recruit Canadians to join the American cause. (As portrayed by Wayne Best in Canada: A People's History) |
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Richard Montgomery, a former British army captain, now an American Brigadier-General, led one force of a thousand men up Lake Champlain, along the Richelieu River to the St. Lawrence. They planned to attack Fort St. Jean, then take Montreal.
The second army of 1,200 men was led by Benedict Arnold. His name would later enter the American lexicon as a synonym for treachery, but he began the Revolution heroically. Arnold planned a surprise attack on Quebec, moving north from the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine, coming into Canada on the Dead River, then up the Chaudière River.
Arnold had been everything; a sea captain, a horse trader, a smuggler. Now he wished to try his hand at conquest. Arnold had often done business in Canada and one of his partners was the merchant spy Thomas Walker who sent him a message that Canada was ripe for the taking:
"The bulk of the people both English and Canadians wish well to your cause...
Few in this colony dare vent their griefs but groan in silence and dream of confiscations and imprisonments, offering up their prayers to the throne of grace to prosper your righteous cause which alone will free us from those fears and apprehensions that rob us of our peace."
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