Philip Schuyler

Following the capture of Ticonderoga, Arnold and Allen note that it is necessary to hold Ticonderoga as a defense against attempts by the British to militarily divide the colonies, and also note that Quebec is poorly defended.

They each separately propose expeditions against Quebec, suggesting that a force as small as twelve hundred to fifteen hundred men will be sufficient to drive the British military from the province.

Congress had at first ordered the forts to be abandoned, prompting New York and Connecticut to provide troops and material for purposes that were essentially defensive in nature.

Public outcries from across New England and New York had challenged the Congress to change its position.

When it becomes clear that Guy Carleton, the governor of Quebec, is fortifying Fort St. Johns, and is also attempting to involve the Iroquois in upstate New York in the conflict, Congress decides that a more active position was needed.

On June 27, 1775, Congress authorizes General Philip Schuyler to investigate, and, if it seems appropriate, begin an invasion.

Arnold, passed over for its command, goes to Boston and persuades General George Washington to send a supporting force to Quebec City under his command.

General Carleton had become keenly aware of the danger of invasion from the south following the raid on Fort St. Johns, and had requested, without immediate relief, reinforcements from General Thomas Gage in Boston.

He sets about raising local militias to aid in the defense of Montreal and Quebec City, which meet with only limited success.

In response to the capture of Ticonderoga and the raid on Fort St. Johns, he sends seven hundred troops to hold that fort on the Richelieu River south of Montreal, orders construction of vessels for use on Lake Champlain, and recruits about one hundred Mohawk to assist in its defense.

He himself oversees the defense of Montreal, leading only one hundred and fifty regulars, since he relies on Fort St. Johns for the main defense.

The defense of Quebec City he leaves under the command of Lieutenant-Governor Cramahé.

Guy Johnson, a Loyalist and British Indian agent living in the Mohawk Valley in New York, is on quite friendly terms with the Iroquois of New York, and is concerned for the safety of himself and his family after it becomes clear that Patriot sentiment has taken hold in New York.

Apparently convinced that he can no longer safely conduct Crown business, he leaves his estate in New York with about two hundred Loyalist and Mohawk supporters.

He first goes to Fort Ontario, where, on June 17, he extracts from native tribal leaders (mostly Iroquois and Huron) promises to assist in keeping supply and communication lines open in the area, and to support the British in "the annoyance of the enemy".

From here, ...

...Johnson goes to Montreal, where, in a meeting with General Carleton and more than fifteen hundred natives, he negotiates similar agreements, and delivers war belts "to be held ready for service".

However, most of those involved in these agreements are Mohawks; the other tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy largely avoid these conferences, seeking to stay neutral.

Many of the Mohawks remain in the Montreal area after the conference; however, when it seems uncertain whether the Americans will actually launch an invasion in 1775, most of them will have returned home by the middle of August.

The Continental Congress seeks to keep the Six Nations out of the war.

In July 1775, Samuel Kirkland, a missionary who is influential with the Oneidas, brings to them a statement from Congress that "we desire you to remain at home, and not join either side, but to keep the hatchet buried deep."

While the Oneidas and Tuscaroras remain formally neutral, many individual Oneidas express sympathy with the rebels.

General Philip Schuyler begins using Fort Ticonderoga in July 1775, as the staging ground for the invasion of Quebec that will be launched in late August.

Although Fort Ticonderoga is not at this time an important military post, its capture has several important results.

Rebel control of the area means that overland communications and supply lines between British forces in Quebec and those in Boston and later New York are severed, so the British military command makes an adjustment to their command structure.

This break in communication is highlighted by the fact that Arnold, on his way north to Saint-Jean, had intercepted a message from Carleton to Gage, detailing the military troop strengths in Quebec.

Command of British forces in North America, previously under a single commander, is divided into two commands.

General Carleton is given independent command of forces in Quebec and the northern frontier, while General William Howe is appointed Commander-in-Chief of forces along the Atlantic coast, an arrangement that had worked well between Generals Wolfe and Amherst in the French and Indian War.

In this war, however, cooperation between the two forces will prove to be problematic and will play a role in the failure of the Saratoga campaign in 1777, as General Howe apparently abandons an agreed-upon northern strategy, leaving General John Burgoyne without southern support in that campaign.

News of Johnson's Montreal meeting had prompted General Schuyler, who also has influence with the Oneidas, to call for a conference in Albany, to be held in mid-August.

Attended by about four hundred natives (primarily Oneidas and Tuscaroras, and only a few Mohawk), Schuyler and other vn commissioners explain the issues dividing the colonies from Britain, emphasizing that the colonists are at war to preserve their rights, and are not attempting conquest.

The assembled chiefs agree to remain neutral, with one Mohawk chief saying, "It is a family affair" and that they will "sit still and see you fight ... out".

They do, however, extract concessions from the Americans, including promises to address ongoing grievances like the encroachment of white settlers on their lands.

The primary thrust of the invasion is to be led by General Schuyler, going up Lake Champlain to assault Montreal and then Quebec City.

The expedition is to be composed of forces from New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, as well as the Green Mountain Boys under Seth Warner, with provisions supplied by New York.

However, Schuyler is overcautious, and by mid-August the colonists are receiving reports that General Carleton is fortifying defensive positions outside Montreal, and that some native tribes have joined with the British.

While Schuyler was at the native conference, Montgomery had received word on August 25 that ships under construction at Fort St. Johns were nearing completion.

Taking advantage of Schuyler's absence (and in the absence of orders authorizing movement), Montgomery, leads twelve hundred troops that had mustered at Ticonderoga up to a forward position at Île aux Noix in the Richelieu River, arriving September 4.

Schuyler, who is falling ill, catches up with the troops en route.

He dispatches a letter to James Livingston, a Canadian prepared to raise local militia forces in support of the American effort, to circulate in the area south of Montreal.

The next day, the forces go down the river to Fort St. Johns, where, after seeing the defenses and a brief skirmish in which both sides suffer casualties, they withdraw to Île aux Noix.

The skirmish, which involves mostly natives on the British side, is not supported from the fort, prompting the natives to withdraw from the conflict.

Any additional native support for the British is further halted by the timely arrival of Oneidas in the area, who intercept a Mohawk war party on the move from Caughnawaga toward St. John's.

The Oneidas convince the party to return to their village, where Guy Johnson, Daniel Claus, and Joseph Brant had arrived in an attempt to gain the Mohawks' assistance.

Refusing to meet directly with Johnson and Claus, the Oneidas explain to Brant and the Mohawks the terms of the Albany agreement.

Brant and the British agents leave without any promises of support. (In a more formal snub of the British, the war belt that Guy Johnson had given to the Iroquois in July will be turned over to the American Indian commissioners in December 1775.)

Hazen is living on half-pay in Saint-Jean in 1775 at the start of the Revolutionary War.

When Benedict Arnold raided Fort Saint-Jean on May 18, Hazen had reported the news of that raid (as well as the capture of Fort Ticonderoga) first to the military authorities in Montreal, then to Governor Guy Carleton in Quebec, before returning home to consider the consequences the conflict might have on him and his lands.

The American invasion of Quebec arrives near his home at Saint-Jean on September 6.

On this day, Hazen meets with General Philip Schuyler, explaining to him that Fort Saint-Jean is well-defended and unlikely to be taken by siege, and that the local habitants are unlikely to assist the American effort.

This gloomy portrait leads Schuyler to consider retreating; but the arrival of additional American troops, and a more optimistic assessment from James Livingston, a grain merchant living near Chambly, encourages the Americans to renew the attack.

Livingston will go on to form the 1st Canadian Regiment in November 1775.

General Schuyler becomes too ill to continue following this first skirmish, so he turns command over to Montgomery.

Schuyler leaves for Fort Ticonderoga several days later.

After another false start, and the arrival of another eight hundred to one thousand men from Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York, as well as some of the Green Mountain Boys, Montgomery finally begins besieging Fort Saint-Jean on September 17, cutting off its communications with Montreal and capturing supplies intended for the fort.