The Canadian Campaign: Arnold’s Expedition to Quebec, September-December 1775

Arnold and His Troops Cross the St. Lawrence River

Justin H. Smith, Arnold’s March from Cambridge to Quebec: A Critical Study (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903), p. 237.

Justin H. Smith, Arnold’s March from Cambridge to Quebec: A Critical Study (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903), p. 237.

“A correct plan of the environs of Quebec, and of the battle fought on the 13th September, 1759 : Together with a particular detail of the French lines and batteries, and also of the encampments, batteries and attacks of the British army, and the investiture of that city under the command of Vice Admiral Saunders, Major General Wolfe, Brigadier General Monckton, and Brigadier General Townshend drawn from the original surveys taken by the engineers of the army.”. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-591/wcl000697. In the digital collection William L. Clements Library Image Bank. William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.

“A correct plan of the environs of Quebec, and of the battle fought on the 13th September, 1759 : Together with a particular detail of the French lines and batteries, and also of the encampments, batteries and attacks of the British army, and the investiture of that city under the command of Vice Admiral Saunders, Major General Wolfe, Brigadier General Monckton, and Brigadier General Townshend drawn from the original surveys taken by the engineers of the army.”. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-591/wcl000697. In the digital collection William L. Clements Library Image Bank. William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. “Benedict Arnold.” New York Public Library Digital Collections.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. “Benedict Arnold.” New York Public Library Digital Collections.

In the early morning hours 11 November 1775, Arnold’s rejuvenated soldiers boarded canoes at Point Levis and paddled up the St. Lawrence River toward Quebec City. They landed just west of the city at a small cove that Maj. Gen. James Wolfe and a force of British soldiers had used in 1759 to reach Quebec without alerting the then-French garrison. Major Meigs recalled how the Patriot troops performed a similar feat under British noses. A few days later, Arnold’s soldiers travelled upriver to Montreal where it joined the troops commanded by General Montgomery.

"On the evening of this day [11 November 1775], at nine o’clock, we began to embark our men on board 35 canoes, and at 4 o’clock in the morning we got over and landed about 500 men, entirely undiscovered, although two men-of-war were stationed to prevent us. We landed at the same place that General Wolfe did, in a small cove, which is now called Wolfe’s Cove."

Maj. Return J. Meigs in his journal
Sources
  • Meigs, Return J. Journal of the expedition to Quebec under the command of Col. Benedict Arnold in the year 1775 (New York: Privately printed, 1864), p. 21.