Then, going on to Castleton, the committee, of which Captain Mott was chairman, arranged there the plan of operations.

A party of thirty men under Captain Herrick were to go to Skenesborough and capture Major Skene and his men, and go down the lake in the night with his boats to Sh.o.r.eham to transport the men a.s.sembled there across the water; while Captain Dougla.s.s was sent to Crown Point to concoct a scheme with his brother-in-law, who lived there, to hire the king's boats, on some plausible pretense, to a.s.sist in getting the men over to the New York sh.o.r.e.

Meanwhile Captain Phelps of Connecticut had gone to spy out the condition of Ticonderoga. In the guise of a simple backwoodsman, he easily gained admission to the fort on the pretext of getting shaved, and, after taking careful note of all that could be seen in the place, returned to Castleton and reported to his friends.

Agreeable to a promise made to the men when engaged that they should be commanded by their own officers, Colonel Ethan Allen was given the command of the force which was to attack Ticonderoga. After receiving his orders from the committee, and dispatching Major Gershom Beach of Rutland to rally the Green Mountain Boys, he went on to Sh.o.r.eham, where they were to a.s.semble.

Major Beach performed the almost incredible feat of making on foot the journey of sixty miles in twenty-four hours, over rough by-paths marked only by blazed trees, and along the wretched roads of the new country.

The forest-walled highway led him to the hamlets of Rutland, Pittsford, Brandon, and Middlebury, whose fighting men were quickly summoned. Along its course, he turned aside here and there to warn an isolated settler, to whose betterments he was guided by the songs of the earliest bobolink rejoicing over the discovery of a new meadow, by the sound of axe-strokes, by the drift of smoke climbing through the greening tree-tops from log-heap or potashery. Each man, as summoned, left his task unfinished,--the chopper his axe struck deep in the half-felled tree; the grimy logger his smoking pile; the sawyer his silenced mill with the saw stopped in its half-gnawed course through the great log; the potash-maker left the fire to smoulder out beneath the big kettles; and the farmer, though hickory leaves as large as a squirrel's foot calendared the time of corn-planting, exchanged the hoe for the gun.

Each took his firelock, bullet pouch, and powder horn from their hooks above the fireplace, and, bidding brief farewell to homefolk, set forth to the appointed meeting place. In little bands, by threes and twos and singly, scarred and grizzled veterans who had scouted the Wilderness with Rogers, Putnam, and Stark, men in their prime who had seen no service but in raids on the Yorkers, and beardless boys hot with untried youthful valor, took their way toward the lake. Most of them plodded the unmistakable course of the muddy highways till they struck Amherst's road leading to Crown Point; but some, with consummate faith in their woodcraft, took the shortest ways through the forest, now breasting the eastern slope of ledges whose dun incline of last year's leaves was dappled thick with the white bloom of moose-flowers and green tufts of fresh forest verdure, now scrambling down the sheer western wall of diluvian sh.o.r.es, now wading the mire of a gloomy mora.s.s, and now thridding the intricate tangle of a windfall.

On the evening of the 9th of May, 1775, they had come to the appointed place of meeting, a little cove about two miles north of Ticonderoga, where the mustering force was quite hidden from the observation of voyagers along the lake, and where the camp-fires might blaze behind the wide screen of newly leafing woods unseen by the garrisons of the two forts. Here the Green Mountain Boys were met by their adored leader, and awaited the arrival of the boats and their comrades coming from the southward.

Allen had just left Castleton when Benedict Arnold arrived there, and demanded the command of the expedition by authority of a colonel's commission just received from the Ma.s.sachusetts Committee of Safety, with orders to raise 400 men for the reduction of Ticonderoga. The committee in charge of the enterprise, in consideration of the conditions under which the men had engaged, refused to give him the command. But he persisted in demanding it, and at once set forward to overtake Allen, whom he found no more disposed to yield to his demand than the committee had been, nor would his men consent to follow another leader. Upon this, Arnold joined the force as a volunteer.

By the evening of the 9th, 270 men, all but forty of whom were Green Mountain Boys, had a.s.sembled on the sh.o.r.e of the little creek in Sh.o.r.eham now known as Hand's Cove, which is in summer a level expanse of sedgy marsh threaded by a narrow sluggish channel, but during the spring floods is a broad cove of the lake, its waters over-running the roots of the trees that grow upon the banks. Here the force anxiously awaited transportation, for the seemingly well-laid plans for securing boats had not proved successful. It was not till near morning that the watchers, often deceived by the cries of strange waterfowl, the sudden plunge of the muskrat, or his long wake gleaming in the light of the camp-fires, at last heard the unmistakable splash of oars, and saw the boats coming in among b.u.t.tressed trunks of the great elms and water-maples that stood ankle-deep in the spring flood. When scows, skiffs, dugouts, and yawls had crushed through the drift of dead waterweeds and made a landing, it was found that there were not enough of the motley craft collected to transport half the force.

Allen, Easton, Arnold, and eighty others at once embarked, and, crossing the lake, landed a little north of Willow Point, on the New York sh.o.r.e, when the boats returned to bring over those who, under Warner, remained at the cove. Day was now dawning, the rugged horizon line of forest and mountain becoming each moment more distinct against the eastern sky, and it became evident that, if the attack was much longer delayed, there would be no chance of surprising the garrison.

Allen, therefore, determined to move forward at once, without waiting to be joined by those who remained on the other sh.o.r.e. Briefly addressing his men, who were drawn up in three ranks, he called on those who would voluntarily follow him to poise their firelocks. Every musket was poised, the order was given to right face, and Allen placed himself at the head of the centre file; but when he gave the order to march, Arnold again a.s.serted his right to take command, and swore that he would be first to enter the fort. Allen as stoutly maintained his right, and, when the dispute waxed hotter, turned to one of his officers and asked, "What shall I do with the d.a.m.ned rascal? Shall I put him under guard?"

The officer, Amos Callender of Sh.o.r.eham, advised them to compromise the untimely dispute by agreeing to enter the fort side by side, to which they both a.s.sented, and the little column at once moved forward in silence, guided by a youth named Beeman, who, living near by, and having spent many of his idle hours in the fort, was well acquainted with the entrances and all the interior appointments.

Captain Delaplace and his little garrison of a lieutenant and forty-two uncommissioned officers and privates[61] were sleeping in careless security, not dreaming of an enemy near, while two or three sentinels kept listless guard. The drowsy sentry at the sallyport, now come upon so suddenly by the attacking party that he forgot to challenge or give an alarm, aimed his musket at the leader and pulled trigger. The piece missed fire, and, Allen running toward him with raised sword, the soldier retreated into the parade, when he gave a loud halloo and ran under a bomb-proof. The Green Mountain Boys now swiftly entered the fort, and, forming in the parade in two ranks facing the east and west rows of barracks, gave three l.u.s.ty cheers. A sentry made a thrust with his bayonet at one of the officers, and Allen dealt him a sword cut on the head that would have killed him, had not the force of the blow been broken by a comb which kept his hair in place.[62]

He threw down his gun and asked for quarter. Allen demanded to be shown the apartment of the commandant, and was directed to a flight of stairs leading to the second story of the west row of barracks. Mounting to the door at their head, Allen ordered Captain Delaplace to "come forth instantly, or he would sacrifice the whole garrison." The bewildered commandant came to the door with his breeches in his hand, when Allen demanded the immediate surrender of the fort, "By whose authority do you demand it?" asked Delaplace, and Allen answered, "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Delaplace attempted to parley, but Allen cut him short, and, with his drawn sword over his head, again demanded an immediate surrender. Having no choice but to comply, Captain Delaplace at once ordered his men to parade without arms, and Ticonderoga with all its cannon and military stores was surrendered to the Green Mountain Boys.

Warner presently arrived with the remainder of the force, and after some convivial celebration of the almost bloodless conquest was dispatched by Allen, with about one hundred men, to take possession of Crown Point, which was held by a sergeant and twelve men, and on the 12th Warner and Peleg Sunderland reported its capture on the previous day to the governor and council of Connecticut. Captain Remember Baker, who had received orders to come with his company from the Winooski and join the force, after meeting and capturing two small boats on their way to St.

John's with the alarming news of the surrender, arrived at Crown Point nearly at the same time with Colonel Warner.[63] Skenesborough was taken possession of by Captain Herrick, Major Skene made prisoner, and his schooner seized. Callender was sent with a small party to seize the fort at the head of Lake George, an exploit easily accomplished, as its sole occupants were a man and woman.

Thus, by no heroic feat of arms, but by well-laid plans so secretly and promptly executed that they remained unsuspected till their purpose was accomplished, the two strongholds that guarded the pa.s.sage to the head of the lake fell into the hands of the Americans, with 200 cannon, some mortars and swivels, and a quant.i.ty of military stores, all of which were of incalculable value to the ill-supplied patriot army.

Allen at once sent a report of the capture of Ticonderoga to the Albany committee, and asked that provisions and a reinforcement of 500 men might be sent to the fort, as he was apprehensive that General Carleton would immediately attempt its recapture. He also reported the capture to the Ma.s.sachusetts government, and on the 12th sent the prisoners under guard to Connecticut, at the same time apprising Governor Trumbull of the preparations being made to take a British armed sloop then lying at St. John's.

Ticonderoga had not been many hours in possession of its captors when Arnold again attempted to a.s.sume command, as no other officer had orders to show. But the soldiers refused to serve under him, declaring that they would go home rather than do so. To settle the question of authority, the committee issued a written order to Colonel Allen directing him to keep the command of said garrison for the use of the American colonies till further orders from the colony of Connecticut or from the Continental Congress.

The capture of the English sloop was now undertaken. Arnold, in command of the schooner taken at Skenesborough and now armed with a few light guns, and Allen of a batteau, set forth on this enterprise, favored by a brisk south wind, more propitious to Arnold than to his coadjutor, for it wafted his schooner so much more swiftly onward that he reached St.

John's, made an easy capture of the larger and more heavily armed sloop, made prisoners of a sergeant and twelve men, and still favored by the wind, which now shifted to the north, was well on his way up the lake with his prize when he met Allen's sluggish craft, some distance south of St. John's, and saluted him with a discharge of cannon. After responding with a rattling volley of small arms, Allen and his party went on board the sloop, and further celebrated the successful issue of the expedition by toasting Congress and the cause of the colonies in b.u.mpers furnished forth from the ample stores of his Majesty's navy. The vessels then pursued their way up the lake, past unfamiliar headlands and islands whose fringe of dark cedars was now half veiled in the misty green of the opening deciduous leaves, now sailing in mid-channel with low sh.o.r.es on either hand, on this La Motte and Grand Isle, on that the pine-clad plains and Valcour, the scene of Arnold's future desperate naval fight, and now, when the Isles of the Four Winds and solitary Wajahose, far astern, hung between lake and sky, they hugged the cleft promontory of Sobapsqua[64] and the rugged walls of the western sh.o.r.e, till Bullwagga Bay was opened and the battlements of Crown Point arose before them and their present voyage ended.

The Americans now had complete control of the lake, the only armed vessels afloat upon its waters, and all the forts except St. John's. Yet for a time a greater value seemed to be attached to the cannon and stores received than to the military importance of the forts taken.

After the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, more than a month pa.s.sed in a wrangle of the commanders for the supremacy, and dissatisfaction and insubordination of the men, before the garrisons were effectively strengthened by a force of a thousand men under Colonel Hinman, who was put in command of the posts by the government of Connecticut, to which, in the division of affairs, this quarter had been relegated.

FOOTNOTES:

[59] Ethan Allen.

[60] Mott's Journal in Chittenden's _Capture of Ticonderoga_.

[61] Allen's own accounts of the number do not agree. In his report to the Albany committee he gives the number of prisoners taken as one captain and a lieutenant and forty-two men, while in his _Narrative_ it "consisted of the said commander, a lieutenant, Feltham, a conductor of artillery, a gunner, two sergeants, and forty-four rank and file." The first number, given in the report made on the day following the capture, is probably the correct one.

[62] Goodhue's _Hist. of Sh.o.r.eham_.

[63] Ira Allen's _History of Vermont_.

[64] "Pa.s.s through the Rock," Split Rock.

CHAPTER VIII.

GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS IN CANADA.

On the 23d of June, 1775, the Continental Congress, recognizing the services of Allen and his a.s.sociates, voted to pay the men who had been employed in the taking and garrisoning of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and "recommended to the Convention of New York that they, consulting with General Schuyler, employ in the army to be raised for the defense of America, those called Green Mountain Boys, under such officers as said Green Mountain Boys shall choose." With a copy of these resolutions, and a letter from John Hanc.o.c.k in his official capacity as President of Congress, Allen and Warner presented themselves before the convention on the 4th of July. They were admitted in spite of the opposition of their old enemies, the speculators. Acting upon this recommendation of Congress, the convention ordered that an independent body of troops, not exceeding five hundred men including officers, be forthwith raised of those called Green Mountain Boys, under officers of their own election.

When this order, forwarded by General Schuyler, was received in the Grants, a convention of the town committees was called, which met at the house of Mr. Cephas Kent, innholder, in the township of Dorset, on the 26th of July, and, after electing a chairman and clerk, at once proceeded to elect the officers of the regiment. Ethan Allen, who had previously proposed to the New York convention a list of officers in which his name appeared first, followed next by Warner's, now offered himself as a candidate for the lieutenant-colonelcy, which was the rank of the commander. But he received only five votes, while Warner was given forty-one. As may well be imagined, he was greatly mortified by the result, which he charged to the old farmers who did not incline to go to war, while with the young Green Mountain Boys he claimed to be a favorite.[65] Though it seemed like a slight to the acknowledged leader of the Green Mountain Boys to elect his junior and subordinate to the command of this regiment, if not an act of calm and dispa.s.sionate judgment, it was one of which future events proved the wisdom; for the less impetuous but no less brave Warner was the safer commander in regular military operations. It is noticeable that neither Baker, c.o.c.kran, nor Sunderland, Allen's intimate a.s.sociates in resistance to New York, was elected by the Dorset convention, though they were on his list of proposed captains.

A copy of the proceedings was forwarded to General Schuyler, with a letter briefly setting forth that this action had been taken in compliance with the orders of Congress and General Schuyler's recommendation, in no wise acknowledging the authority of New York, but as independently as other colonies contributing a military force to the Continental army.

There were then no more regular troops in Canada than served to garrison the posts, and the governor, General Carleton, attempted to raise an army of Canadians and Indians for offensive operations, for the equipment of which 20,000 stand of arms had been sent from England. But the habitants had no stomach for fighting, and, though martial law was proclaimed, refused to arm for the invasion of the southern provinces, while they declared their willingness to defend their own. The governor urged the Bishop of Quebec to exercise his ecclesiastical authority to effect this purpose, but the prelate adroitly excused himself. An attempt was made, through the influence of the son of the late Sir William Johnson, to engage the Indians in the contest, but they prudently declined to take part in it. Of all the Canadians, only the French _n.o.blesse_ showed any willingness to support the governor, and they were too few to be of much account.

The Americans, apprised of these futile attempts, determined to invade Canada before reinforcements should arrive from England. Two thousand men were to be raised in New York and New England, and commanded by Generals Schuyler and Montgomery.

Among the prizes secured by the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point was a quant.i.ty of materials for boat-building, which now became available. With ready Yankee apt.i.tude, the soldiers turned their hands to the construction of batteaux for the transportation of the troops down the lake, and the surrounding forests rang for many a summer day with the busy stroke of axe and hammer.

Montgomery reached Crown Point in August, and upon receiving news that Carleton was preparing for offensive operations, and had several armed vessels at St. John's ready to transport his forces up the lake, at once set forth with what troops had arrived. With sweep and sail, the lazy flotilla of batteaux was urged down the lake to Isle la Motte, where Montgomery was joined by Schuyler, who though ill had hastened on from Albany. They then moved on to Isle aux Noix, and there so disposed their forces as to prevent the pa.s.sage of the enemy's vessels. From this point they issued a proclamation to the Canadians, a.s.suring them that their army was not in any way directed against them, but against the British, and inviting them to join in the struggle for liberty.

Ethan Allen, whose patriotic ardor had not been cooled by his recent rebuff, had, by invitation of the generals, accompanied them to Isle aux Noix. He held no commission, but was considered as an officer, and was upon occasion to be given the command of detachments. He was now employed, with Major Brown and accompanied by interpreters, to distribute this proclamation among the Canadians, and satisfactorily performed the duties a.s.signed him. On the 6th of September, the American army, not more than a thousand strong, advanced toward St. John's, and landed a mile and a half from the fort. This they found too strong to warrant an a.s.sault, and after a reconnoissance, in which they were attacked by a party of Indians, and suffered a slight loss while inflicting a somewhat greater one, they withdrew next morning to the Isle aux Noix, to await the arrival of artillery and reinforcements. It was during these operations that the brave Captain Remember Baker was killed. He was held in great esteem by his friends, and his death, being the first that occurred in the military operations in this quarter, created more stir, says Ira Allen, than the death of a thousand later in the war. Montgomery's reinforcements having arrived, he again moved upon St. John's on the 17th, and laid siege to the place, but, with his undisciplined troops and slender supply of ammunition, his progress was slow. Parties were sent out through the country, and were favorably received by the Canadians, who contributed men and provisions, the latter the more valuable contribution.

At this time, much against his wishes, for he would rather have taken part in the siege, Ethan Allen was dispatched by Montgomery on a mission similar to that in which he was previously engaged. With a guard of about eighty men, mostly Canadians, he pa.s.sed through the parishes on the Richelieu and up the St. Lawrence to Longueuil, "preaching politics," as he says, and meeting "with good success as an itinerant."

On his way thence to La Prairie, he fell in with Major Brown, who was out on the same errand, and now proposed to Allen that they should attempt the capture of Montreal. His plan was, that Allen should return to Longueuil, and, there procuring canoes, cross his men to the island of Montreal, a little below the town; while Brown, with about 200 men, should cross above it. Allen readily fell in with it, and, making haste back to Longueuil, obtained a few boats and collected about thirty recruits. In the course of the night he got his party across the river, and, setting a guard between his position and the town, with orders to let no one pa.s.s, awaited the signal which Brown was to give when he had effected a crossing. Allen waited with growing impatience, while daylight grew and sunrise came. All the world began to be astir, and yet Brown made no sign. Unsupported as he now found himself, he was in sorry plight, and would have recrossed the river, but he had only boats enough to transport a third of his force at a time, and the attempt would certainly result in the capture of the other two thirds. He determined to maintain his ground if possible, and that, in any event, all should fare alike. He dispatched messengers to Brown at La Prairie, and to L'a.s.somption, to a Mr. Walker, who was in the interest of the Americans, urging them to hasten to his aid.

Montreal was already alarmed, and the governor and his party were preparing to retire on board the vessels of war, when a spy, who had escaped from Allen's guards, brought them information of Allen's condition. Upon this, Carleton marched out to attack the presumptuous invader, with forty regulars and "a mixed mult.i.tude" of Canadians, English, and Indians, numbering nearly 500, and Allen perceived that it would be a "day of trouble if not of rebuke."[66] About two o'clock in the afternoon, the British force began firing from the cover of woodpiles, ditches, and buildings, Allen's men returning the fusillade from positions quite as favorable, till near half the enemy began a flank movement on their right. Observing this, Allen dispatched half his force, under a volunteer named Dugan, to occupy a ditch on their flank; but Dugan took the opportunity to escape with his detachment, as did one Young, posted on the other flank with a small force, and Allen was left with only forty-five men, some of whom were wounded. He began a hopeless retreat, which was continued for a while. An officer pressing close upon the rear fired his gun at Allen, the ball whistling past his head.

Allen's shot in turn missed his enemy, as both were out of breath with running. Allen now offered to surrender if a.s.sured of quarter for himself and his men, which was promised by this officer. Whereupon Allen gave up his sword and surrendered his party, dwindled to thirty-eight, seven of whom were wounded. A painted and half-naked Indian rushed toward them, and within a few yards aimed his gun at Allen, who, seizing the officer to whom he had delivered his sword, made a shield of him, and kept him spinning around, as the Indian swiftly circled about the two, in a vain attempt to fire a shot that should kill only the Green Mountain Boy. Another Indian then took part in the attack, and Allen's shrift would have been short, had not an Irishman and a Canadian come to his rescue. He was then well treated by his captors, walking to the town between a British officer and a French gentleman, who, though he had lost an eyebrow in the action, "was very merry and facetious." But when General Prescott, who throughout the war never missed an opportunity of exhibiting his brutality, met them at the barracks and learned that the prisoner was the captor of Ticonderoga, he showered a torrent of abuse upon him, while he shook his cane over his head. Allen shook his fist at the general, and told him "that was the beetle of mortality for him if he offered to strike." An officer whispered to Prescott that it was inconsistent with his honor to strike a prisoner. Prescott turned his wrath upon the Canadians, and ordered a sergeant's guard to kill thirteen of them; and when Allen had somewhat dramatically but successfully interposed to save their lives, Prescott roared at him, with an oath, "I will not execute you now, but you shall grace a halter at Tyburn!" By Prescott's orders he was taken on board a vessel of war and manacled like a common felon, and presently, with other prisoners, was sent to England. Landing at Falmouth, clad in the fawn-skin jacket and red woolen cap that he wore when taken, his strange appearance excited a curiosity that not a little gratified him. From his capture till he was exchanged in 1778, he suffered on shipboard and in prison, with brief intervals of kinder treatment, a hard and cruel captivity, from which he emerged, however, with a spirit unsubdued, and unswerving loyalty to his country's cause. The attempt upon Montreal has generally been characterized as rash; yet, if Brown had not, for some unexplained reason, failed to perform his part in it, it is more than probable the undertaking would have succeeded. It was one of those daring enterprises which if successful receive the highest praise, if unsuccessful are scouted as foolhardy.

Meanwhile the siege of St. John's progressed slowly, princ.i.p.ally through lack of ammunition. But on the 18th of October the fort at Chambly, further down the river, and garrisoned by about 100 men of the British Seventh Regiment, surrendered to Majors Brown and Livingston, and among the most important of its captured stores were 120 barrels of gunpowder, which enabled Montgomery to push the siege with more vigor. As gratifying if not as useful was the capture of the colors of the regiment, the first trophy of the kind received by the Continental Congress.

General Carleton was making all possible efforts for the relief of St.

John's, whose garrison of 500 regulars and about 200 other troops was bravely defending it. He had collected a force of 800 regulars, militia, and Indians, which he embarked at Montreal, with the design of landing at Longueuil and joining Colonel McLean at the mouth of the Richelieu, where that officer was posted with a few hundred Scotch emigrants and some Canadians. Colonel Seth Warner with 300 Green Mountain Boys was keeping close watch of Carleton's movements, and when the flotilla drew near the south sh.o.r.e of the St. Lawrence, the rangers poured upon it a destructive volley of small-arms and a shower of grapeshot from a four-pounder. Carleton's force retired in confusion, and when McLean's Canadians got news of the disaster they took French leave of him, and he with his Scotchmen retired in haste to Quebec. Left now without hope of relief, St. John's capitulated on the 3d of November, and a considerable number of cannon, a quant.i.ty of military stores, and 600 prisoners fell into the hands of the Americans. The prisoners were sent by way of Ticonderoga into the interior of New England.

Montgomery now marched to Montreal, which Carleton had secretly quitted the night before. The inhabitants proposed a capitulation, which Montgomery refused, as they were incapable of making any defense.

Promising them perfect protection of person and property, he marched his army into the place, and took peaceable possession on the 13th.

Colonel Easton had been sent with a detachment to the mouth of the Richelieu, where he erected a battery of two guns, and, being reinforced by a gunboat from St. John's on the 17th, he captured, as they attempted to pa.s.s on their way to Quebec, eleven sail of armed vessels freighted with provisions and military stores, and having on board General Prescott and 120 officers and privates.

The term of enlistment of Warner's men having now expired, they presently returned to their homes, not long after to be recalled, with their leader, in the stress of the Northern winter, by the urgent appeal of the commander of the army in Canada.

During the occurrence of these events, Arnold was engaged in his memorable expedition against Quebec by way of the Kennebec. Arriving at the mouth of that river on the 20th of September, he set forth with an army of 1,100 men, embarked in heavy batteaux, to voyage up the wild stream where hitherto had floated only the light craft of the Indian, the scout, and the hunter. Battling with dogged persistence against the angry rush of rapids, and now dragging their bulky craft over portages of swamp or rugged steeps, they made their slow and weary progress through the heart of the pitiless wilderness at the rate, at best, of little more than four miles a day. Through constant strain of toil and hardship many fell sick, and in the pa.s.sage of the rapids much of their provisions was lost, so that the horror of starvation was added to the heavy measure of their suffering. Men killed and ate their dogs, or gnawed their shoes and the leather of their cartouch boxes, to allay the pangs of hunger. When the head of the Kennebec was reached, Colonel Enos, who was ordered to send back the sick, himself went off with three companies, a council of his officers having decided that it was impossible to proceed, for lack of provisions. But Arnold, with his remaining force, held on his way with desperate determination, and, coming to the Chaudiere, followed it till on the 3d of November they came to the first house that they had seen for a month, and there procured some supplies. At Sortigan, the first village reached, they were kindly received by the Canadians and bountifully supplied with provisions. A proclamation prepared by Washington was distributed among the Canadians. It invited them to join the Americans and a.s.sured them protection of person, property, and religion, and was well received by them. With the aid which these people afforded, Arnold made an easy march to Point Levi, arriving there on the 9th with about 700 men.

Twenty-four hours pa.s.sed before his coming was known in Quebec. There was such dissension among the British inhabitants in consequence of the opposition of the English merchants to the Quebec Bill, that the city was in no condition for defense. The French citizens had no inclination to take up arms against the Americans; and had Arnold the means of transportation across the broad St. Lawrence, it is probable that he might easily have taken the city. Three days later Colonel McLean arrived there with 170 of his regiment of Scotch emigrants, and at nine in the evening of the next day Arnold began embarking his men in canoes.