Back at Camp, Arnold wrote to David Wooster confirming the defeat and Montgomery's death and begging Wooster to relieve him. At one point, fearing a sortie by the garrison, he issued muskets to the patients in the hospital. Of his own command, at least 30 were dead (20 more bodies were found after the spring thaw and several reportedly fell through the ice while fleeing across the frozen rivers) and 42 wounded, the latter being among the 426 prisoners now under guard in Quebec. Another dozen had been slain alongside Montgomery. Carleton had lost six dead (Anderson and five militia privates) and one militiaman wounded.
Montgomery's body was found the next day and given a quiet but decent burial on 5 January, along with Macpherson and Cheeseman. Two days after the attack, Meigs was allowed out on parole to collect the personal belongings of those captured and bring them into the city. With 100 men leaving as their enlistments expired, Arnold now had barely 600 fit men. Wooster would not leave Montreal, however, as, with only 600 men himself, he feared the defeat would inspire an uprising. He sent Antill and Hazen to Albany to tell Schuyler, who, though shocked, could send no reinforcements as the enlistments of his own men were about to expire, and he needed the rest to oppose Johnson, who was rallying Indians and Loyalists in the Mohawk Valley. General Washington was equally powerless to help, as the refusal of Congress to authorize long-term enlistments (or even to offer bounties for re-enlistment) had left his own army short of men. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were asked to raise one regiment each specifically for service in Canada. However, even these colonies were struggling to find recruits; those that could, refused to allow their men to serve in "mixed" units. At this point, Washington considered resigning.
