Quebec campaign, 1775–76, of the American Revolution. The Continental Congress decided to send an expedition to Canada to protect the northern frontier from British attack and to persuade Canada to join the revolt against England. Late in Aug., 1775, Gen. Philip Schuyler led troops up Lake Champlain and captured St. Johns; illness forced him to turn over his command to Gen. Richard Montgomery, who proceeded to capture Montreal in Nov., 1775. In Sept., 1775, General Washington sent Benedict Arnold to lead an expedition against Quebec by way of the Kennebec and Chaudière rivers in Maine. When this force arrived, it was so weakened by the incredibly hard march, illness, desertion, and lack of supplies that Arnold was forced to wait for Montgomery before attacking. The unsuccessful assault was launched in the early morning of Dec. 31, 1775. The Continentals withdrew after Montgomery was killed, Arnold wounded, and Daniel Morgan captured. Arnold and Montgomery's successor, David Wooster, continued the siege until spring, when British reinforcements enabled Sir Guy Carleton to push the Americans, now commanded by Gen. John Thomas, back to Crown Point on Lake Champlain.
See H. Bird, Attack on Quebec (1968).
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