Arnold then wrote to Cramahe, offering to spare private property if he surrendered. It took two attempts to deliver the letter, the officer chosen being forced to take cover from cannon fire despite being under a flag of truce. On 16 November, Cramahe called a council of war, at which MacLean announced that the garrison now numbered 1,178, that the 5,000 civilians already had enough food to last until spring, and that food and firewood were still coming in through the American lines. Not surprisingly, the vote was unanimous in favor of holding out.
Two days later, Arnold learned that MacLean was planning a sortie. An inventory of his own military supplies revealed that over 100 muskets had been irreparably damaged and that his musket men had less than five rounds each. Even Morgan, with whom Arnold had quarreled the previous day over rations, agreed that the only option was to retreat 20 miles (32km) to Pointe aux Trembles and await the arrival of Montgomery. By dawn the next day, the troops pulled back through the villages along the north bank of the river and Hanchet abandoned Point Levis.
At Pointe aux Trembles the men enjoyed home comforts while Arnold ordered shirts, stockings, caps and mittens, ammunition, rum, and money from Montreal. Whilst awaiting Montgomery, Arnold experienced the first signs of discontent with his style of leadership. When Arnold ordered Hanchet to transport cannon to Sillery by bateaux he refused. Later in the siege, several captains would ask Montgomery to transfer them from Arnold's command.
On 2 December, a schooner and two smaller vessels, both loaded with Montgomery's troops, arrived at Point aux Trembles. The combined force returned to Quebec, Montgomery setting up his headquarters in St Foy. With his New Yorkers occupying the Plains of Abraham, he sent Arnold's musket men to St Roche and the riflemen to the meadows along the St Charles River. He then had a message to the merchants shot into the city with arrows and used a local woman to deliver an ultimatum to Carleton. Carleton read the document, ordered a servant to put it in the fire and had the old woman put in jail and later drummed out of the city.
Carleton now assigned his Regulars, Marines, and Emigrants to MacLean, and the sailors to Captain John Hamilton of the Royal Navy. Colonel Henry Caldwell took command of the British militia and Noël Voyer the French, while the engineer, James Thompson, had blockhouses, gun platforms and barricades built to cover the main streets of the Lower Town. Meanwhile, Montgomery began the bombardment of the city from a battery of five mortars in St Roche, but two days of shelling produced few casualties and merely improved the confidence of the civilian population. Much more damaging were the efforts of the riflemen, who began picking off defenders on the ramparts. However, the dangers were not one-sided - cannon on the walls made it dangerous for the Americans to show themselves. One shell destroyed Montgomery's sleigh, killing his horse, while he was conferring with his officers.
