Having received reinforcements, though in want of artillery and ammunition, and having engaged the Indians in a treaty of neutrality, Montgomery returned to St. John’s, which he besieged with but little success, though he took Fort Chambly, at a few miles distance, where he was fortunate enough to obtain several pieces of cannon and a considerable quantity of powder. Colonel Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, being sent out, during the siege of St. John’s, with a detachment of about eighty men, to secure a party of hostile Indians, met on his return with another officer as rash and daring as himself, and they, without orders, madly determined to attempt the surprise of Montreal. Montreal did not yield so easily as Ticonderago fort had done; Allen was taken prisoner, treated with great severity, and sent to England in irons. Montgomery, however, having renewed the siege of St. John’s, that fort surrendered on the 3rd of November, after which he advanced rapidly to Montreal, which Carleton had abandoned, making his escape down the river to Quebec. The following day, Montgomery, having engaged to leave the inhabitants undisturbed in the free exercise of their laws and religion, took possession of the town, where his troops found a very welcome supply of woollen goods, with which they were enabled to clothe themselves—a necessary circumstance at the commencement of a rigorous Canadian winter. Although the kindness of Montgomery’s disposition and conduct induced many Canadians to enlist under his arms, he suffered greatly from the insubordination and desertions of his own troops; while others, the time of their service being expired, returned to their own homes. Nevertheless, with the remnant of his army, amounting merely to about 300 men, he proceeded rapidly towards Quebec, expecting to meet there General Arnold, with his detachment of 1,000 men, who was to advance thither by the Kennebec.
The hardships which Arnold and his men had in the meantime endured, in the trackless and desolate forests of Maine, at the commencement of winter, were almost incredible; nevertheless, on the 9th of November, he arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec. Could he have immediately crossed the St. Lawrence, the city, which was indifferently defended and which was alarmed at his approach, might easily have been taken; but, for want of boats, it was not until the 13th that he was able to cross, and by that time Carleton, who had escaped from Montreal, had gained the city and put it in a state of defence. On the night of the 13th, therefore, Arnold crossed with his army, now reduced to 700 men, and ascending the cliffs to the Heights of Abraham, as Wolfe had done before, hoped to take the city by surprise. Finding, however, the garrison prepared for his reception, and not being strong enough to hazard an assault, he retired twenty miles down the river, there to await the arrival of Montgomery.
Montgomery joined Arnold on the 1st of December, all his Connecticut men having by this time returned home, so that the united forces of the two generals did not amount to 1,000. On the 5th, a message to surrender being sent to Carleton, the messenger was fired upon. It was then resolved to batter the town, but their artillery was found insufficient for the purpose, and after a siege of three weeks, during which the assailants suffered incredibly from the severity of the season, an assault was resolved upon as the only chance in their desperate circumstances. On the last night of the year, therefore, in the midst of a violent snow-storm, and with the ground several feet deep in snow, the American troops set forth in four divisions, commanded by Montgomery, Arnold, Brown and Livingston; and whilst the two latter were to make a feigned attack on the Upper Town, the two former, each at the head of their respective forces, were to assault the Lower Town at two opposite quarters. Montgomery had already passed the first barrier, the enemy flying before him, when the discharge of a piece of artillery deprived this brave man and two other officers of life. Disheartened by the death of their leader, the next in command ordered a retreat. Arnold, in the meantime, was boldly pushing his way forward into the town, when a ball, while cheering his men onward, shattered his leg. He was unwillingly borne from the combat, while Daniel Morgan, at the head of his Virginian riflemen, pushed forward and made himself master of the second battery. For several hours he and the fragments of the companies who now met, sustained their ground, but at length, overcome by superior numbers, they were obliged to surrender as prisoners of war. Not less than 400 men perished in this unfortunate attempt, and 300 more were made prisoners. Wounded as he was, Arnold retired with the small remains of his army to a distance of three miles, where, covering his camp with ramparts of frozen snow, he kept Quebec in a state of blockade through the winter.
Carleton treated his prisoners with great kindness; they were well fed and clothed, and afterwards allowed a safe return home. This humane policy greatly strengthened the British interests in Canada. Reinforcements arrived early in the spring for Arnold, but small-pox had already broken out among the troops, of which frightful disease General Thomas, who was sent out to supersede Arnold, died. The Americans retreated; and one by one, before midsummer, nearly all the posts which had been taken by them fell into the hands of the British.
In the midst of the anxieties and disturbances of the preceding year, the new province, which is now Kentucky, received still further accession of settlers through the means of Richard Henderson, a North Carolina lawyer, a man of great enterprise and energy, who had purchased a large tract of country from the Cherokees for a few wagon-loads of goods. Henderson, now associated with Boone, the bold hunter and settler of the wilderness, who had already established himself at Boonesburgh, and with other early settlers, especially an adventurous backwoodsman named Harrod, the founder of Harrodsburg, proceeded to organise themselves as the province of Transylvania. Courts and a militia were established, and laws enacted; and soon after a delegate sent thence to the continental congress at Philadelphia. Unfortunately for the new colony, Virginia laid claim to the territory as lying within her charter, and the Transylvanian delegate could not be recognised. About the same time that this early settlement of Kentucky was going forward, 400 families from Connecticut left their old homes to seek new ones under General Lyman, in the province of West Florida.
While the Americans were wasting their strength in unsuccessful attempts in Canada, the seaports of New England were kept in continual alarm by British cruisers, who not only landed to obtain supplies of which the royal forces were in great need, but also sailed under orders to lay waste and destroy in case of resistance. Hence Falmouth, now Portland, a rising town of 500 houses, was burned by Lieutenant Mowatt, which caused an increase of exasperation in the minds of the colonists, and led them also to attempt maritime warfare. Congress authorised the fitting out of thirteen war-frigates, and the raising of two battalions of marines. Privateering was established, and courts of admiralty formed for the adjudication of prizes. All ships of war employed in harassing the colonies, and all vessels bringing supplies to the British forces, were declared lawful prizes.
Great anxiety existed in the mind of the commander-in-chief, owing to the extreme scarcity of ammunition and military stores in his army. The utmost efforts were used to discover lead mines in the country, and to establish the manufacture of saltpetre; a secret committee was also formed for the importation of powder and lead from the West Indies. Another cause of anxiety, and still the greater, existed in the insubordination of the army itself. At the close of 1775, the term of enlistment having in many cases expired, thousands had marched away to their homes, disgusted with the hardships and discomforts of military life. The enthusiasm of patriotism had died out in many breasts; whilst jealousies among the officers, selfishness and faithlessness, gave reason for an anxious looking forward to the future.
In the meantime, the petition of congress to the king, or “the Olive Branch,” as it was called, and which had been intrusted to the care of Richard Penn, grandson of the proprietary, and long time resident in America, had been presented. This was the last hope of the colonists for reconciliation, and the tidings regarding it were anxiously waited for. The news came. His majesty deigned no reply; and in his opening speech to parliament accused the Americans of hostility and rebellion, and declared the object of their taking up arms to be the establishment of their own independence. In vain did the friends of America in the House of Commons earnestly advocate their cause; in vain did the merchants of London again remonstrate against coercive measures; a bill was passed declaring them rebels, prohibiting all trade with the thirteen colonies, and making their ships and goods and all persons trafficing with them, lawful prize. The same act authorised the impressment of the crews of all captured vessels for service in the royal navy. Commissioners of the crown were, however, empowered to pardon and remit from penalty all such colonies or individuals as by ready submission merited such favour. Furthermore, treaties were entered into by the British government with the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel and other German princes, for 17,000 men to be employed against the Americans. Twenty-five thousand additional English troops and a large fleet, abundantly supplied with provisions and military stores, were ordered to America.
These tidings convinced America that she had no longer anything to hope from the mother-country; sorrow, indignation and anxiety filled all hearts. These measures gave, however, by no means unqualified satisfaction, even in England. It is worth recording, as an instance of noble sacrifice to principle, that Lord Effingham, and the eldest son of the Earl of Chatham, threw up their commissions rather than act in this American war, which they considered so unjust. The office of commander-in-chief having been offered likewise to General Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, was declined by him naturally enough, and that rank was now held by General Howe.
Howe and his army spent their winter in Boston as best they could, suffering greatly from want of supplies. Fuel was obtained by pulling down houses, and the poorer class of inhabitants were sent out of the city, in order to decrease the consumption of food. Three companies, however, of “Loyal American Associators” were formed; and, spite of puritanism, balls and a theatre were got up by the British officers, and the largest of their meeting-houses was turned into a riding-school.