The Formation of an American Nation

cthulhu: No, this isn't quite the collaboration I had been planning, though the timeperiod is virtually the same. This is something I've had in mind for a while now.

Lord E: Now, now. I can't give anything away, now can I?

bluelotus: Thanks! I hope you like the story.

Petrarca: Well, I know who you're rooting for, now don't I?

September – October 1775

The march from Massachusetts to Quebec was only half of a grand operation against Canada. The other column expected by those frozen men, who stood across from the fortress city, was just then approaching by way of Montreal and a hard-fought campaign of their own via Lakes George and Champlain and then up the St. Lawrence Valley. This was the main column of the invasion of Canada, under the command of Richard Montgomery, who was at last reaching the outskirts of Quebec with a mere three hundred fifty men. The journeys of both columns, and the twists of fate that brought an American army into Canada, had their roots with the fall of Fort Ticonderoga in May.

After the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord in April, the colonists contemplated direct aggressive action against the British. In lieu of an immediate invasion of Canada, they chose a more modest attack on Fort Ticonderoga, which guarded the traditional route of march south from Montreal into the Hudson Valley and New England. The operation was commanded by two prominent leaders, Ethan Allen, who had made a reputation for himself forming the Green Mountain Boys, a rugged group of frontiersmen who opposed settlement in Vermont by those loyal to New York. A speculator and a man prone to agitation, Allen was the choice of Connecticut to capture the fort, which brought him into opposition against the choice of Massachusetts – Benedict Arnold. Like Allen, Arnold was a veteran of the French and Indian War, had served in the militia, and he had been a druggist and trader before the outbreak of the Revolution made him a colonel. Bickering and posturing, Arnold and Allen managed to pull off the capture of Ticonderoga on May 16th.

On May 26th, following upon over a year of diplomatic overtures to the Canadians, the Continental Congress issued another strong appeal to their northern neighbors:

” To the oppressed inhabitants of Canada. FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN,

Alarmed by the designs of an arbitrary Ministry, to extirpate the Rights and liberties of all America, a sense of common danger conspired with the dictates of humanity, in urging us to call your attention, by our late address, to this very important object.”

The appeal was partly in explanation of the American attack on Ticonderoga which, although south of the traditional border with Canada, could be perceived as an aggressive move. Throughout the coming campaign, such considerations and sensitivity was important to the American government.

Soon after, word came that the British Governor-General of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton, was negotiating with the Indian tribes on the colonial frontier, and contemplating an invasion of his own into New York. Rather than await the British campaign, the colonists decided to plan one of their own. General Philip Schuyler, commander of the newly formed Northern Department in New York, was tasked by Washington to capture Montreal. Indeed, his prominent subordinate, Ethan Allen, had already ventured to state that: ”I would lay my life on it, that with fifteen hundred men I could take Montreal.” Schuyler would be given command of precisely that.


Anticipating an easy march and the aid of French-Canadians frustrated with British rule, Schuyler’s column set out confidently on September 4th. Discovering that the British were building two strong warships for operations on Lake Champlain, the American army arrived on the 6th to begin an attack on Ft. St. John’s, which guarded passage from the lake up the Richelieu River. Repulsed by strong resistance, Schuyler’s forces pulled back and returned on the 10th, investing the fort in earnest. For over a month, the invasion became bogged down in a siege of the river fort. Contending not only with the British but with bilious fever and rheumatism, Schuyler sent Montgomery northward to operate against Ft. Chambly, a British storage depot, as well as to attempt active recruiting of Canadians into the fight.


By the 12th, Schuyler had bowed out and returned to Ticonderoga, giving overall command to Montgomery. On the 25th of September, a major blow to morale occurred when Ethan Allen, during an impetuous attack on Montreal, was captured the city, to be shipped to England in irons. Even as Benedict’s Arnold began its march through Maine, the main invasion column remained stuck outside St. John’s. To help relieve the situation, Montgomery again dispatched a force to the north against Ft. Chambly under Major Brown. In an interesting note, both armies included significant contingents of Canadians, two hundred fifty militia in Carleton’s army and almost three hundred in the American force. Yet as October waned, the invasion of Canada was still very much in the balance.

Icarus: Don't give me any pressure or anything.

Petrarca: We shall see.

cthulhu: Dublin?!? You are getting way ahead of yourself!

Vincent Julien: Sure it's risky. My early game moves are mirroring the historical invasion, so it looks paltry and foolhardy in game terms.

Faelin: Well, the scenario starts regularly in 1773. I moved it to 1775 and the armies are smaller than they typically are in the game, so you'll see smaller units moving around, bigger than historically, since 1,000 men can't take a town if their life depended on it, but not the monstrosities you typically see in the game. Plus I added some custom events of my own as with my last AAR.

bluelotus: The armies are spread out to endure winter attrition, and I still don't know if it'll be enough. If I moved the 15k army at Massachusetts to Stadacone at once, they would die fast. If I use successive movements of small armies, I think I might do better. We shall see though!

Director: Thanks! I hope you like it. I've tried to do my best to research Canadian history, which is fascinating and I've never had a chance to look into before. The points of view of the Canadian population is really interesting to read about in 1775.

October – November 1775

By mid-October, with Montgomery’s forces besieging Ft. St. John’s and Arnold’s column slogging its way through the hinterland of Maine, the reality of an American invasion of Canada was beginning to materialize. For the British, it was a surprisingly bold move against their control of the St. Lawrence Valley, yet for the Canadians, the arrival of American armies provoked varying reactions.

For the most part, the average Canadian colonist chose a prudent neutrality towards either side. There was still the lingering hostility towards the British government, mainly due to its anti-Catholic policies, although the recent Quebec Act of 1774, which granted religious freedom and provisions for French civil law, had some effect in minimizing these tensions. Unfortunately for the British, there were increasing calls from the southern colonies for Canadian neutrality in the coming conflict, and this was being met with some sympathy. Merchants such as Thomas Walker were angered over the failure to implement English law in Canada. The merchants expressed their views in letters, pamphlets, and addresses, and though the seigneurs and clergy remained loyal to the Crown, most of the populace was open to calls for neutrality. Thus, Canadian merchants dealt with either army and Canadian families provided shelter for whichever army was passing through. Yet there would be prime examples of support for both sides.

Prominent merchants such as Godfrey de Tonnancour were loyal supporters of George III. De Tonnancour became a colonel in the Canadian militia in September and helped Carleton convince neutral Canadians to rally to the British cause, with some effect. He was aided in this by the notary Jean-Baptiste Badeaux, who remarked that “I admit that although I find some virtues in several of the republicans, I find great defects in a republic in general; I see in it much more error and ostentation than true greatness of soul.” But by October, Carleton was faced with strong resistance to militia service and the desire of many Canadians for neutrality. In some cases, as with De Tonnancour and Badeaux, they were forcibly prevented from joining their militia to Carelton’s forces. With barely a few thousand British regulars to defend Canada, the governor still remarked that it would be “unadvisable to attempt assembling any Number of them, except it becomes absolutely necessary . . . .”.

There were supporters of the Americans as well. Like the British, however, the Americans faced the neutrality of the territory they were marching through. While this aided in the securing of provisions and their route of march, and though a few, such as the carpenter Clément Gosselin, initially joined their ranks, neither side benefited from the support of the population. The situation was not likely to change unless the course of the invasion swung decisively in either side’s favor.


A sign of this occurred with the fall of Ft. Chambly on October 19th. Bolstered by the arrival of reinforcements from Ticonderoga under General David Wooster, Montgomery’s army repulsed Carleton at Longeuil on the 30th. The road to Montreal and the Richelieu River was now open to the Americans, along with two recently captured warships.

Carleton elected to pull back from Montreal and retreat down the St. Lawrence, leaving the city open to American occupation. He narrowly avoided capture in his retreat. The Americans landed on the Île des Sœurs near the city on the 11th, where General Montgomery received a committee of leading citizens. He promised not to force loyalists to actively oppose the British government, guaranteed a ”peaceable enjoyment of property…” and the ”free exercise of religion”. On the 13th, Montgomery’s forces marched in unopposed, seizing valuable stores, warships, as well as preventing the escape of many leading civilians down the river.


As Congress had instructed in its original orders, it remained only to defeat the British forces in Canada “if practicable and . . . not . . . disagreeable to the Canadians.” Four days earlier, Arnold’s column had at last emerged on the St. Lawrence, and now the two American columns were just over two hundred miles from each other, with only Quebec standing between them and the achievement of their aims.