Arnold's march through Maine part 4 (Quebec 1775)

On 27 October, Hanchet and his men set off for Sartigan on foot while Arnold continued by canoe taking Steele and six others with him. After 15 miles (24km) he reached some rapids where his five craft all capsized. Two bateaux were destroyed, weapons and ammunition lost, but nobody drowned. Lashing the remaining supplies to the three surviving craft, they set off again. At the last minute one of the party noticed that the river led to a lethal waterfall, and they portaged round it. The next day Arnold's own canoe sank and he was forced to join one of the two overcrowded bateaux. However, as darkness fell, he spotted the lights of Sartigan ahead. Some way behind, Morgan's division was just crossing Height of Land. The men were now making soup from shoe leather and were so weak they struggled to climb the slope even without their bateaux. Several companies had already departed when Hull arrived. Dearborn set off to warn them using an abandoned canoe. Finding Goodrich, the two searched for a ford, sometimes wading up to their armpits, but without success, finding only one of Hanchet's men left behind as a punishment. The next day Dearborn began ferrying the men over the pond in the lone canoe, until Morgan, who had kept seven bateaux, arrived to help. Meanwhile, Hull had become lost while leading Greene's division out of Seven Mile Stream. For two days they marched through the snow, covering 15 miles (24km) around the indented shoreline and occasionally following blind tributaries. Eventually they found footprints in the mud and followed them down to the Chaudiere, passing the wreckage of Morgan's bateaux, which had suffered a similar fate to Arnold's, losing one man, the remaining flour, and Dr Senter's medical chest in the process. The men were now eating their belts and shoes, squirrel skins and Dearborn's Newfoundland dog. Many were also barefoot and their route could be traced by the bloodstains in the snow. Men who fell or lagged behind were abandoned as the column snaked along the Chaudiere for over 20 miles (32km). A private, retracing his route the following spring, found human bones scattered all along it. At noon on 2 November, a group of habitants delivered three head of catde, and canoes arrived with mutton, flour, and oatmeal. By the next evening the troops were in Sartigan, where they were fed and housed, although Dearborn considered the hospitality of the habitants somewhat expensive. Arnold summoned the local Indians. He promised that his men were there as liberators and, after defeating the British, they would go home and leave the red man in peace. Over 50 warriors enlisted on the spot and Arnold then set up his headquarters in the house of a seigneur who had been expelled for punishing anyone refusing to join the militia. Arnold next had a letter from George Washington to the people of Canada read out in the nearby church. Here he learned of the capture of St Johns in a letter from Montgomery. He immediately sent Meigs to find canoes, and a party of riflemen to reconnoiter the St Lawrence. By dawn on 8 November, the riflemen could see Quebec - and the two warships guarding the river.