Benedict Arnold’s Disastrous March to Quebec

As the army marches on Quebec, a second force races to join them. Colonel Benedict Arnold, an enterprising young officer from Connecticut, has convinced Washington to give him 2,000 men to reinforce Montgomery. His route is treacherous through a wilderness of thick forests, rivers, and swamps. Our march has been attended with an amazing deal of fatigue. I have been much deceived. Our route is longer and has been attended with a thousand difficulties I never apprehended. Many of Arnold's men give up and turn back. But in early December, he arrives outside Quebec and links up with Montgomery. Their combined force is just 1,200 men. Quebec sits on an imposing bluff over the St. Lawrence River. It's the most well-fortified city in North America with 20-ft walls and 114 cannon. The extremely able British governor, Guy Carleton, has prepared for a siege recruiting hundreds of militia and stockpiling ammunition and supplies. The Americans are under pressure. It is midwinter. But just as at Boston, they face the prospect of hundreds of troops going home in a few days when their enlistments expire. So, Arnold and Montgomery decide to risk an immediate assault. In the early hours of the 31st of December, under cover of a blizzard, the Americans attack. But, it is a disaster. They are met by organized, determined British resistance. General Montgomery is killed. His men routed. Colonel Arnold is badly wounded. While hundreds of his men are surrounded and captured. The remnants of the Northern Army, about 600 men, are isolated, frozen, ravaged by smallpox, and hundreds of miles from friendly territory. For now, Arnold stubbornly holds his position outside Quebec.