Quebec, Invasion of (1775)

The Invasion of Quebec in 1775 is the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

The objective of the campaign is to gain military control of the British Province of Quebec (modern day Canada), and convince the French-speaking Canadiens to join the revolution on the side of the Thirteen Colonies.

One expedition leaves Fort Ticonderoga under Richard Montgomery, besieges and captures Fort St. Johns, and very nearly captures British General Guy Carleton when taking Montreal.

The other expedition leaves Cambridge, Massachusetts under Benedict Arnold, and travels with great difficulty through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec City.

The two forces join  there, but are defeated at the Battle of Quebec in December 1775.

Montgomery's expedition sets out from Fort Ticonderoga in late August, and begins besieging Fort St. Johns, the main defensive point south of Montreal, in mid-September.

After the fort is captured in November, Carleton abandons Montreal, fleeing to Quebec City, and Montgomery takes control of the city before heading for Quebec with an army much reduced in size by expiring enlistments.

There he joins Arnold, who had left Cambridge in early September on an arduous trek through the wilderness that has left his surviving troops starving and lacking in many supplies and equipment.

These forces join before Quebec City in December, where they assault the city in a snowstorm on the last day of the year.

The battle is a disastrous defeat for the Americans; Montgomery is killed and Arnold wounded, while the city's defenders suffer few casualties.

Arnold then conducts an ineffectual siege on the city, during which Loyalist sentiments are boosted by successful propaganda campaigns, and General David Wooster's blunt administration of Montreal serves to annoy both supporters and detractors of the Americans.

The British send several thousand troops, including General John Burgoyne and Hessian allies, to reinforce those in the province in May 1776.

General Carleton then launches a counter-offensive, ultimately driving the smallpox-weakened and disorganized American forces back to Fort Ticonderoga.

The Americans, under Arnold's command, are able to hinder the British advance sufficiently that an attack cannot be mounted on Fort Ticonderoga in 1776.

The end of the campaign sets the stage for Burgoyne's campaign of 1777 to gain control of the Hudson River valley.

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