When the American Revolutionary War Struck Québec

In the fall of 1775, just months after the start of the American Revolution, American commanders Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold led rebel troops north from the Thirteen Colonies. Their mission: to seize the province of Quebec, then under British control.

The American campaign in the Belle Province lasted several months and involved a series of engagements led by prominent historical figures. It reached its climax on December 31, 1775, when, in the early hours of the morning—amid a fierce snowstorm—the Americans launched their assault on Quebec City.

In this episode, Philipp Portelance, a doctoral student at the Université du Québec à Montréal and at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, specializing in military history, helps us reconstruct the decisive Battle of Quebec on December 31, 1775. Then, Luc Nicole-Labrie, coordinator for historical mediation at the National Battlefields Commission, joins us to explore in depth the American military campaign in the province of Quebec.

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Ariane Simard Côté: It is December 31, 1775, and we are standing on the Plains of Abraham. The sun has not yet risen, and the cold is biting. The wind cuts through. Heavy snow is falling. But despite these harsh conditions, about 1,000 American soldiers—rebels from the Thirteen Colonies—are preparing. They adjust their equipment, they check their muskets, they form into columns. In just a few minutes, they will launch a historic attack: the invasion of Quebec.

Welcome to Voyages dans l’histoire canadienne, a podcast that breaks down defining moments—and sometimes unsettling truths—about our country’s past. This podcast is funded by Canadian Heritage and produced by The Walrus Lab. I am your host, Ariane Simard Côté.

This episode marks the 250th anniversary of the invasion of Quebec during the American War of Independence. The American troops have already been camped on the Plains of Abraham for several weeks. They are led by two commanders: General Richard Montgomery, who in November 1775 succeeded in seizing control of Montreal, and Colonel Benedict Arnold, who arrived on the Plains after a grueling expedition across what is now the state of Maine.

Philipp Portelance: Arnold finally arrived with about 650 men. He would be reinforced by around 300–400 men under Montgomery. So altogether, we’re talking about roughly 1,000 Americans at most.

Ariane Simard Côté: Philipp Portelance is a doctoral student at the Université du Québec à Montréal and at Heidelberg University in Germany, specializing in military history. He is also Executive Director of Montreal’s Ancient Military Troops, an organization that promotes awareness of Quebec’s military heritage.

Philipp Portelanc: The defenders, meanwhile, numbered close to 1,200. And generally, when attacking a fortified position, it’s considered you need at least 1.5 times as many men as the defenders. So from the start, the Americans were outnumbered—and on top of that, they were facing entrenched defenders.

Ariane Simard Côté: In addition to the 1,200 British soldiers inside the city, about 600 militia and sailors were prepared to defend Quebec. That brought the number of defenders to around 1,800, further deepening the rebels’ numerical disadvantage. In other words, conditions were far from favorable for an American victory.

Philipp Portelance: By December 5, 1775, Arnold’s army doctor, Isaac Senter, noted that the number of sick men was already considerable—and would only grow. The American troops were highly undisciplined. It was essentially an improvised army of militia, people eager to fight for liberty but not used to strict control. They saw prolonged service as something like enslavement, so their willingness to fight was short-term. Ariane Simard Côté 02:53 – In fact, most of the American militia’s enlistment contracts expired on December 31, 1775—that is, today. But if the rebels could capture Quebec, there was a strong chance the men would agree to renew their service under Generals Montgomery and Arnold. Time was running out.

Philipp Portelance: Still, many in the army were determined to fight. Among them was an entire Canadian regiment formed by local recruits eager to drive out the English. Quebec was seen as the last major stronghold of British power. So even if the troops weren’t in the best shape that morning, there was strong determination. They believed that once Quebec was taken, they’d find food, warm clothing, and wood for heating—everything they needed to survive the winter.

Ariane Simard Côté: Time might not be on their side, but Montgomery and Arnold believed the weather was. A snowstorm was raging, and they were convinced it could work to their advantage.

Philipp Portelance: The decision was made to attack during a blizzard. With barely a thousand men in poor condition, facing superior numbers, the generals thought surprise was their best chance. They planned a coup de main—a sudden strike to seize the city without a prolonged artillery siege. The blizzard, they hoped, would hide their approach to the walls and perhaps lull the garrison into inattention or even sleep.

Ariane Simard Côté: But attacking in a snowstorm also had disadvantages.

Philipp Portelance: The approach was extremely difficult. Some of the planned attacks never happened because troops got lost in the snow. Giving and relaying orders was already hard in 18th-century battlefields—add a blizzard, and it was even harder. Arnold’s men had also intended to bring a cannon with them, a six-pounder that could have been decisive. But the snow made transport impossible, and they were forced to abandon it.

Ariane Simard Côté: And so, at 4:00 a.m., in the snow and wind, the Americans split into three columns and began their march on the city.

Philipp Portelance: There is, in fact, the one that, for the Americans, would be on the left flank, led precisely by Arnold. They cross the Saint-Roch suburb with two Massachusetts battalions and the famous Morgan’s riflemen, who are from Pennsylvania and Virginia. In the center, it’s supposed to be a diversionary attack. The idea is to draw the defenders, since it’s known they are needed elsewhere. So, it’s mainly the Boston regiments and the Canadian regiment who are supposed to launch this divisional attack at the Saint-Jean Gate.

Philipp Portelance: One of the problems, especially because of the heavy snow, is that they will never actually reach the gates. And that’s one of the reasons why the central troops can be redeployed elsewhere. And indeed, on their right flank, there’s General Montgomery with his four New York battalions.

Ariane Simard Côté: Montgomery and his troops advance by the small bay of the Anse au Foulon, skirting along the St. Lawrence to go around Cap Diamant. When they are ready, they fire signal flares into the sky to tell the other two columns that the assault can begin. But the British troops, commanded by the governor of Quebec, Guy Carleton, notice this.

Philipp Portelance: It was really the only way to be able, over such a wide area, to give orders. But of course, it also sounds the alarm for the British who, initially, indeed, had to defend three locations. But soon those three become only two. The hour after, so from about 5 a.m., Montgomery and his men arrive. There is a first barricade that has been set up. They decide to cut through it. They chop the logs. Montgomery himself takes part. They manage to push through. They reach a second barricade. But at that point, there is also a blockhouse—something like a simple wooden guard tower, very rudimentary fortifications, really just a lookout post. But inside that blockhouse there are small cannons. And these cannons fire grapeshot at Montgomery’s troops. Grapeshot—if people know Pirates of the Caribbean—is like when you stuff all sorts of things into a cannon, except here it’s military. They loaded it with many balls—large iron balls. That blast fatally strikes Montgomery, hitting him in the head and killing him, which causes his troops to retreat at once.

Philipp Portelance: Meanwhile, Arnold’s troops start coming under fire. He arrives by the wharves near the first barricade, but he manages to seize that first barricade as well. On the other side of the Saint-Charles River, on Quebec’s shore, there were supposed to be other troops coming to join Arnold. But once again, because of the storm, they took much longer to even realize the attack had begun. Communication at the time was very difficult, so they only started to cross much later. That’s another important factor in the attack. If those troops had managed to join Arnold’s forces earlier, maybe that combined force would have been enough to take Quebec.

Ariane Simard Côté: Between 5 and 6 a.m., Arnold’s movements and those of his men are detected. Musket and cannon fire from the British walls rain down on them. Suddenly, a cannon blast strikes, and Arnold is hit in the leg—his Achilles tendons nearly torn apart.

Ariane Simard Côté: The colonel can no longer advance. His men drag him off the battlefield, and Commander Daniel Morgan then takes charge.

Philipp Portelance: His second-in-command, Morgan, becomes the leader at that moment. His assault goes fairly well at first—they succeed in taking the first barricade. They reach the second, which at that point is not yet defended by any British troops. But thinking the reinforcements will soon arrive—because they don’t know those reinforcements are delayed—they decide to wait. That delay gives the British enough time to bring troops over and man the second barricade. They also realize Montgomery’s assault has been stopped and that the Americans are retreating and won’t attack from the south. So they move all the troops from Cap Diamant to attack Morgan’s forces instead. That means that between 7 and 8 a.m., Morgan ends up surrounded on both sides.

Philipp Portelance: So from about 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., after two hours of fierce street fighting, when it becomes clear that the reinforcements coming from across the Saint-Charles have been completely captured, they realize they are surrounded. Having already lost many men, they decide to surrender, knowing they cannot win the battle.

Ariane Simard Côté: Thus, after about six hours of fighting, the battle ends. On the British side, Governor Carleton and his men suffer only a handful of losses—five or six dead, according to sources, and about fifteen wounded. But for the American rebels, out of roughly 1,000 attackers, there are about 50 dead, 30 wounded, and more than 400 taken prisoner. But the story doesn’t end there.

Philipp Portelance: What’s interesting to know as well is that on the morning of January 1st, since the day continued, there was confusion on both sides about what had really happened.

Philipp Portelance: It wasn’t clear exactly what had occurred. The Americans had no news at that time. They didn’t know if the Lower Town had been captured, or if they were winning. Even the city garrison wasn’t sure if another attack might follow. It was only on January 2nd that Major Meigs was sent under parole—meaning he pledged not to escape—into Arnold’s camp to tell them that, yes, the attack had failed and they had lost. Ariane Simard Côté 10:20 – So the battle was over. The city of Quebec and the British had held firm. But many stories remain to be told. The Battle of Quebec marked a decisive moment—undoubtedly a key turning point in a much broader military campaign that stretched over several months and whose traces can still be seen in Quebec and in Canada today. To help us better understand this bold but ultimately unsuccessful American attempt in Quebec, Luc

Nicole-Labrie joins us.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: Hello, hello.

Ariane Simard Côté: To start, could you briefly introduce yourself to our listeners?

Luc Nicole-Labrie: Yes, I am the coordinator for historical mediation at the National Battlefields Commission. That’s the organization that protects and promotes the Plains of Abraham and several other parks in Quebec City, notably Parc des Braves. I’ve now been working for the commission for over 18 years. In my role, I handle historical research related to interpretive activities, educational programming, and part of the exhibitions as well.

Ariane Simard Côté: So you’re the perfect person to talk to us about this today. We’re really lucky to have you with us. In the first part of the episode, we talked about the Battle of Quebec, which took place on December 31, 1775. It was an American invasion attempt that didn’t come out of nowhere. Could you place us a bit more in the historical context of the time? What was happening in Quebec and in the United States toward the end of 1775? Luc Nicole-Labrie 11:42 – I’ll even go back a little in time, because I think it’s important to put it into context.

Perfect for me, I could say I’m almost lucky, I can go all the way back to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. You’ll say, that’s a bit far, maybe not that far, but at the same time it’s important to understand it. Why that battle is kind of… I’ll say a turning point in what will happen in the thirteen colonies, right? Because the war happening then, the Seven Years’ War as we call it, here in Québec, in French Canada often called the War of Conquest—that war was essentially between, yes, the British and the French, but it was also the American colonists, meaning the people of the thirteen colonies, and the people of New France, right?

At the start, the people of the thirteen colonies were looking to expand their territory westward. That’s one of the causes of that war. And why do I go back to that war to talk about the context of 1775? Well, it’s because the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies still felt they hadn’t received their due, in the end. One of the main reasons they had fought was to expand their territory, to have more space for the roughly 1.5 million colonists in those thirteen colonies as well.

By 1775, there are tensions, big ones. It feels like the British Crown comes to take resources from America, comes to take our taxes—in other words, our money. And so, with this lack of territorial gains, this lack of new powers independent of the Crown, it feels like we’re not getting our money’s worth—that the Crown doesn’t respect the weight or importance of what these thirteen colonies represent.

Meanwhile, back in 1759–1760 on the Plains, there are battles, but the British take Québec and from 1763 on, with the Royal Proclamation, they set up an English government. So it becomes the Province of Québec, a 14th British colony in America. And that 14th colony takes up part of the territory that the thirteen colonies had wanted. But on top of that, there’s a sense that the British will be somewhat lenient with the inhabitants of the Province of Québec.

There are reasons for this, right?

Because the Province of Québec is relatively isolated six months a year, because of winter among other things. But the British also need to give out perks, give things to make sure the inhabitants of the Province of Québec—those French, those Canadians, I’ll say of French origin—feel like British subjects.

In 1763, for example, if they wanted to take part in colonial activities, they were required to take the Test Oath—so change religion, renounce Catholicism. They imposed the English language, they theoretically ended the seigneurial system. And then in 1774, in fact, a law was passed in England—the Québec Act—where essentially those requirements were ended. English was no longer imposed, religion was no longer imposed. In fact, Catholics were allowed to keep their religion. That Québec Act became part of what were called the “Intolerable Acts.” A series of laws passed by the British Parliament, demanding more taxes among other things. The Québec Act was one of them. And it’s really in this context that we are in 1775—where the colonies say enough is enough. The thirteen colonies, they say it’s too much, they start sending strong letters to the Crown. There are even first clashes—in April, May 1775, the famous battles of Lexington and Concord. Those are still today seen as almost the beginning of the War of Independence, even if officially war hadn’t been declared. And it’s in this context that the colonies have already gathered in Continental Congresses. They’re together, trying to determine the right path forward. Luc Nicole-Labrie 15:20 – Those laws arrive along with the Québec Act. And by summer 1775, it’s clear war is almost inevitable. The Continental Congress sends what’s called the Olive Branch Petition, a kind of last attempt to say to the Crown: “Listen, we’re giving you a chance, but you’re leaving us no choice but to rebel against you. Please answer our demands.” Of course, it’s a king in Europe, maybe a bit distant, maybe also because well—he’s the king and that’s how it works. But the British Parliament doesn’t give enough weight to the demands of the thirteen colonies. And indeed, we head toward war.

Ariane Simard Côté: We head toward war. Just to give us context—because we talked about 1760—but in 1775, how many inhabitants exactly were there in Montréal and in Québec City?

Luc Nicole-Labrie: It’s said that at the end of New France, so around 1760–63, there were about 60,000 to 70,000 inhabitants in all of New France. You might say, “Well listen, the Province of Québec isn’t all of New France.” True, we lost some parcels of land, but the areas with the most inhabitants were Montréal and Québec City—towns of about 6,000–7,000 up to 8,000–10,000 people.

Roughly speaking, those two cities, plus Trois-Rivières, which had a few thousand people. But essentially, settlers were spread out in the St. Lawrence Valley, extending to the Great Lakes but concentrated around Montréal and Québec City.

Ariane Simard Côté: And so, in the United States there was a desire to invade our territory here in Québec, and this was not the first invasion attempt. In 1775 there had been one a month earlier, in November 1775, when American troops invaded and then took control of the city of Montréal.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: You’re absolutely right to say that. Fundamentally, it’s the same operation. In June 1775 George Washington was named commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army. And in the Thirteen Colonies one of the first things people thought was: if we want to wage war effectively against the British, our first operation should be—

So, apart from the skirmishes already happening on the ground, we knew trouble was brewing around Boston, among other places. Lexington and Concord are towns in Massachusetts, so we expected problems there. Boston would be an important focal point. There would be a siege of the city of Boston in the autumn of 1775. So that’s one thing, but also the northern province—the Province of Québec—would be a problem. Why? First, it’s strategic: if those British territories aren’t taken, the British will always be able to keep sending reinforcements from Europe via the St. Lawrence Valley.

Ariane Simard Côté – Mhmm.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: So we say, strategically, we must do something. The second thing we say is: maybe it will be easy to take the Province of Québec. Why do we say it’ll be easy? Because of the people there. Already in 1774–75 many merchants from the Thirteen Colonies came to trade, notably in Montréal, which remained an important commercial hub for what was left of the fur trade at the time—toward the backcountry and other places along the river—and they returned to the Thirteen Colonies saying, “Listen, it’ll be easy. The British haven’t put a lot of troops in Montréal like they have in Québec; there isn’t a huge defense. If we mount at least a somewhat coordinated attack, we’ll have a chance to capture the place easily.” And the third thing people thought was: “Also, these are French people—the inhabitants don’t like the British.”

Luc Nicole-Labrie: So they’ll take our part pretty quickly; we’ll give gifts, we’ll make concessions to the First Nations, hoping for First Nations support or at least their neutrality—things the people of the Thirteen Colonies thought they could obtain. And with popular support from the French—i.e., the Canadiens, as they were already called in New France and still called in 1775—we’d assume all these arguments mean we should go for it. So Washington decided: we will launch an official invasion. He appointed General Philip Schuyler. Schuyler’s mission, essentially, was to lead troops from Ticonderoga (Rogers’ camp), in northern New York State on the shores of Lake Champlain. From there, the goal was to move up, capture Fort Saint-Jean (the main gateway defense for Montréal),

Luc Nicole-Labrie: then Chambly, and then finally capture the city of Montréal before proceeding on to Québec. That is the main invasion plan aimed at Québec. It’s a little particular because another officer arrived and went to see General Washington—a colonel named Benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold went to Washington and said: “General, to improve your chances, I think I can march directly on Québec and surprise the French there. We’ll go through the rivers of northern Massachusetts—today’s State of Maine—and by that route descend into what is now the Chaudière River, the Beauce, which will allow us to strike at Québec. It may turn out that I can capture Québec without enormous effort. If I have a sufficient force of volunteers it will take a few weeks and that’s it. With General Schuyler taking Montréal and me taking Québec, well, the colony will essentially be ours.”

Luc Nicole-Labrie: And then maybe we could have a 14th colony—or at least perhaps, because we shouldn’t forget this. Already in the discussions—this is a kind of parenthesis here—it wasn’t guaranteed that the Thirteen Colonies were saying to our good friends in the Province of Québec, “you’ll stay with us forever.” There was a very good chance that the Province of Québec would become a bargaining chip in peace negotiations after the war. We mustn’t forget that; that possibility was already on people’s minds. So we’re really not imagining that it would automatically become part of the new nation. It could happen. But depending on how the war unfolded, depending on how things went, it wasn’t impossible that the Province of Québec would end up being nothing more than a bargaining chip. So that was a bit of the plan, the basic idea. That’s why we can imagine there were really two—I’ll say two operations—but Benedict Arnold’s, in theory, was also a kind of diversion. Because rather than going through Lake Champlain—that large, fairly obvious waterway the French knew very well—he imagined that by going through northern Massachusetts, a place far less monitored, far less populated, where the British weren’t really keeping an eye, people might think Arnold was heading toward the Maritimes. And that might split British resources northward. So in reality, there was this kind of strategic thinking at play. That’s why, in Québec as such, there were two invading forces, but really it was the same overall invasion operation.

Ariane Simard Côté: And it wasn’t easy. On the way up, they lost many troops there. In fact, when they tried to arrive, it weakened them in the end. And is that the reason they lost when they got to Québec?

Luc Nicole-Labrie: Well, we can’t attribute it only to that, but certainly it didn’t help them. Benedict Arnold’s expedition is an adventure in itself. To give you a sense: they got the go-ahead to leave Cambridge around September 11. It took more than a week before they could actually leave Cambridge and Boston and move up the coast because of poor conditions. Arnold had estimated the journey would take about three weeks. They expected a trip of roughly 300–350 kilometers. In reality, the journey ended up being over 560 kilometers. It lasted more than five weeks. Right from the start, Arnold had problems: he’d had boats built in northern Massachusetts, but when he saw them, he wasn’t satisfied with their quality. He had to have them rebuilt, which wasted time.

Ariane Simard Côté: It’s not going well.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: Yes, it’s not going well at all. No, no. And during that period they had truly immense problems. They were surprised by weather conditions; sometimes they camped in places that the next morning were flooded because the river had risen from the rain. About 300 to 400 men turned back from his expedition, which had started with about 1,100 men. So losing 300 to 400 is significant—we’re talking nearly a third of the men. At one point they were sick, without food, without energy, and they turned back. By the time they reached the beginning of the Chaudière River—before arriving around what is now Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, which was the first small settlement—

Luc Nicole-Labrie: And I say very, very small—we’re talking at most a few hundred people. By then the men were completely starving. They had had no food for at least two weeks. The soldiers were eating the untanned leather from their gear, their shoes. They ate soap. Some historical sources even mention a poor dog that didn’t survive the journey because it was eaten by the troops. It was warrior-like endurance, but very intense. Finally, when they reached what is today the Beauce, local people came to meet them. They were able to buy some provisions, to get some food—but the force was still utterly exhausted when it arrived on the south shore of Québec. There they regrouped. By roughly November 13 they numbered about 600 men. They bought boats, and with the help of a few Indigenous guides who also helped negotiate for boats,

Luc Nicole-Labrie: in the night of November 13 to 14 they crossed the river to arrive at Québec. They were the first to arrive there. They reached the Plains of Abraham on November 14. Imagine: these 600 men, weakened, after a horrific journey, are told, “Go to the Plains, try to look threatening, we’ll demand the city’s surrender.” And that’s what they tried on the morning of November 14. And—well, I’ll let you guess if the British handed over the city to the Americans at that point. The answer is no. Québec’s defenses were organized.

Ariane Simard Côté: Exactly. They protected their colonies. And so, from more of a Québec side, or from what was called the Canadian nation at the time: do you think George Washington was right, ultimately, to believe the Québécois would give in? What exactly about the culture then—the Franco-Canadian, Québécois, or anti-British identity? How did that play out at the time?

Luc Nicole-Labrie: It’s all very interesting, because there were really two or three factors that were more important to consider. One factor depended on where you lived. If the Continental forces—that is, the rebels at the time, the people from the Thirteen Colonies—if they simply passed through your area and asked you for things, for example food, cattle, supplies, and they had actual money to pay you, maybe you would support them—no problem. You’d say, “Yes, yes, we’ll support them, they pay, it’s a good thing, maybe it will help us.” But on the other hand, if you lived in a city and knew your city was likely to be the target of an attack, you might say, “No, I’ll take up arms,” especially since, in the case of Québec, we mustn’t forget the city had already been attacked twice in the past fifteen or sixteen years.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: So, there are still many people in Québec who had lived through the siege—that is, the siege of 1759 and 1760. So for them, the idea of the city being attacked again is maybe not their favorite thing, not really the situation they would prefer. That’s the first point. Second, we mustn’t forget that there are lots of questions, lots of arguments—it depends on who’s doing the persuading. Of course, some people would listen to what those from the Thirteen Colonies were saying: “You’ll have your freedom, you’ll be rid of the British, it will be good for you, trade will improve.” And some would say, “Yes, that’s good, I’m in, I agree.” On the other hand, there were others who would say, “Well, last year, in 1774, we had the Québec Act.”

Luc Nicole-Labrie: The clergy, among others, became very strong spokespeople for the Crown, because they would point out: “We’ve just been allowed to keep our language, our religion. Are the British really so bad?” That was a legitimate question. And there were people who were receptive to that argument. So really, the question was: which side do you ally yourself with? It’s quite difficult, in the end, to evaluate the exact proportions of people who joined each side in the conflict. But we can imagine it was roughly: a third of people supported the rebels, supported the Thirteen Colonies; another third definitely supported the British and actively defended the colony against the invaders; and another third who just watched, uncertain, waiting to see which way things would go. It also varied by region. In some areas, people were very sympathetic to the rebels, while in others, they proudly supported the Crown. That’s the landscape we’re looking at.

Ariane Simard Côté: Thank you, that’s fascinating. So you also spoke about the 600 soldiers, the rebels led by Benedict Arnold, who arrived on the Plains of Abraham on November 13. Those same troops waited six more weeks, then they attacked the city of Québec with the forces of General Richard Montgomery on December 31, 1775. They tried, but it didn’t work. And in the spring of 1776, the American troops left Québec and never came back. Why did they leave, and why did they never return?

Luc Nicole-Labrie: It was a very long campaign, as you know—you mentioned it yourself. It was General Montgomery who led it. If you remember, at the start of our conversation I told you the main invasion was supposed to be carried out by General Schuyler. So where was General Schuyler? Well, he fell ill, so he gave Montgomery the chance to finish the invasion. Montgomery captured Montréal. Arnold, after his show of bravado on November 14, when he demanded Québec’s surrender and was repelled, waited—for Montgomery’s arrival at Québec, among other things.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: Montgomery had passed through Montréal. They probably had supplies, perhaps uniforms or winter coats, more appropriate clothing for the season. So Arnold would wait. Because Arnold certainly didn’t have enough men to take on a fortified city like Québec. Even if the fortifications weren’t in their best state, it was still a city with enormous stone walls, huge ramparts.

Ariane Simard Côté: And also a maze, right? The city of Québec is full of winding streets. It was well designed for defense.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: You’re right. Getting in was not easy, no matter which side you attacked from or which gate you managed to capture. So they were really stuck in that situation. Yes, Arnold waited. And when Montgomery arrived, he brought about 1,000 men with him to Québec. But he also saw all the problems, which led to the battle.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: He saw all the obstacles. They chose a moment they thought was ideal. Montgomery died, as you know, on December 31, 1775. By the spring, there were maybe 400 rebel prisoners from the Battle of Québec—so the force was reduced to fewer than 1,000 men. And in theory, their enlistments were over: most of Arnold’s volunteers, and a good part of Montgomery’s men, had signed contracts that expired December 31, 1775. They had signed up thinking: *“I’ll go to Québec, volunteer, maybe win some honors of war, maybe pick up a few spoils here and there”—*because that was the reality of war. By spring 1776, they hadn’t had that success. They had fewer than 1,000 men. And as time went on, the less chance they had of relying on circumstances to help them.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: They knew things weren’t going well. Arnold himself had been wounded on December 31, so he couldn’t lead easily anymore. The Continental Army’s high command knew the situation and sent another general to take over command of the troops: General John Thomas. He arrived in spring 1776. And what did he see? Once again, men in poor condition, lacking resources, heavily struck by a smallpox epidemic. So when he arrived, he said: “No—the army is sick. I’ll organize the retreat, we’ll go back to the Thirteen Colonies and save what we can.” It was a failure. During the retreat there were battles—at Trois-Rivières, at Les Cèdres west of Montréal Island. And General Thomas himself died—of smallpox. So things were really going very badly.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: So, they finally retreated through Fort Saint-Jean, toward Lake Champlain. In the fall of 1776 there was a battle called the Battle of Valcour Island, a naval battle, which once again gave the British the chance to finally push back and get rid of these rebel troops from the territory, from the Province of Québec. But if we only look at what happened—if I stopped the story here—you might say, “Well, that’s it then, the Americans lost, the American rebels had nothing left to do. It was a total defeat.” Except the British hesitated a little. If they had pursued more aggressively in 1776, or if they had been quicker during the summer, they probably would have dealt a devastating blow to the Continental Army by inflicting even greater defeats. But it wasn’t decisive—not even at the Battle of Valcour Island. The Americans managed to retreat without suffering huge losses, which probably allowed them to regroup.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: And already by 1777, the following year, came the Saratoga campaigns. And those were really the first major victories of the Continental Army at last—victories so significant that they even convinced France to join the Continental Army for the final years of the war. That was, in a way, an indirect consequence of Governor General Guy Carleton’s hesitation—his reluctance to pursue the Americans as far as perhaps he should have.

Ariane Simard Côté: To weaken them further, in fact.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: Exactly. It’s easy for us to say in 2025. But back then, things were different. It was like a domino effect. All this to say that even though it was a defeat on the battlefield for the American rebels, you can’t really say it was pointless. Ultimately, the revolution’s goal in attempting the invasion of Canada in 1775–76 was not entirely in vain. Ariane Simard Côté 32:49 – This is really fascinating—hearing you explain all of this in such detail, it’s incredible. Maybe we could talk now about the impacts on our society today. Is there a legacy of this American invasion? Do we still see traces of it?

Luc Nicole-Labrie: I’d say the biggest legacy, which we haven’t mentioned at all yet, is the arrival of the first large German communities. Oh yes! Because beginning in 1776, the British called upon a great number of them. For a long time they were called mercenaries, but I think that word is a bit reductive. In reality, it was a contract: the British Crown signed agreements with various German states, essentially to send part of their armies here to America. It’s said that more than 30,000 of these German soldiers came to America to support the British. And quite a few of them stayed, especially in the St. Lawrence Valley.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: So many people today with German-sounding names, who say, “No, no, my family has been here for 150–200 years,”—there’s a good chance their ancestors were those German troops who came to support the British during the 1775–76 invasion. Another thing I forgot to mention: there were also about 10,000 Loyalists who arrived in the Province of Québec. These Loyalists settled in the south of what is now Québec, in the Eastern Townships. Many towns in that region date from that wave. A large portion of Loyalists also became the historic core of Ontario’s population around the Great Lakes. This was absolutely major, and must not be forgotten. Many of these Loyalists settled, and those who had participated in the defense of the colony were even granted land as a reward for their role in defending the colony.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: And that’s not something whose importance should be minimized in Canadian history.

Ariane Simard Côté: Wow! Thank you so much, Luc Nicole-Labrie, for joining us. Thank you for the richness of your storytelling—it makes us want to hear more. We’ll come to Québec to attend your talks and hear more of your lectures. This was really, truly fascinating. Thank you for being here with us.

Luc Nicole-Labrie: It was my great pleasure.

Ariane Simard Côté: Thank you for listening to Voyages dans l’histoire canadienne. This podcast is funded by Canadian Heritage and created by The Walrus Lab. Transcripts are available in English and French. To read them, visit thewalrus.ca/CanadianHeritage. This episode was produced by Jules Ownby, who also did the sound design. Amanda Cupido is the executive producer.