The Americans - part 2 (Quebec 1775)

New York

In 1775, New York raised four infantry regiments and an artillery company, with a total strength of 3,000 men. The gunners, under Captain John Lamb, came almost entirely from New York City, and were clothed in blue faced buff to avoid being mistaken for lowly infantrymen. After 31 December, almost all of the survivors re-enlisted in a new company under Lieutenant Isaiah Wool. In 1776, two new companies were formed in New York City, and assigned to Schuyler.

The infantry regiments were recruited from New York City, Albany and the Mohawk Valley, the northern Hudson valley, and the southern Hudson Valley, respectively. The 1st included several officers who had fought in the French and Indian War, while the 2nd had a strong Dutch influence.

Each regiment had 758 men, comprising a colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major, five "staff' (adjutant, quartermaster, surgeon, surgeon's mate, and chaplain), and ten companies, each with a captain, three lieutenants, three sergeants, three corporals, a drummer, a fifer, and 64 privates. Companies were based on existing militia units, whose own precedence determined each regiment's seniority, and the regiments tended to represent the majority politics - radical, or conservative - of these areas.

In April 1776, another four (later five) infantry regiments were raised, also numbered 1st to 4th. Three incorporated veterans of the 1775 campaign, but apparently only the 1st corresponded to its 1775 counterpart, the 2nd being based on the old 3rd and the 3rd around the old 4th. The 4th was a new unit, raised in Albany, whilst the old 2nd eventually became the 5th Regiment. Colonel John Nicholson also formed a provisional battalion at Quebec from the men remaining after the expiry of the second tranche of enlistments in April 1776, but the unit was disbanded and the men transferred to another regiment based in the Mohawk Valley (both of these corps employing three-year enlistments).

New Jersey

New Jersey raised three infantry regiments during the winter of 1775. Initially intended for Washington's Main Army, they were diverted to reinforce Schuyler, the 2nd arriving in Canada in March, and the 1st in May (the 3rd went to the Mohawk Valley). The two senior regiments were based on existing militia structures, the 1st recruiting in the north-east and the 2nd in the south-west; the 3rd appears to have been recruited "at large". Both the New Jersey and Pennsylvania contingents included a number of French and Indian War veterans.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania, not being a Royal colony, had no established militia, but formed volunteer units - "Associators" - during the 1770s. In January 1776, six infantry units (referred to as battalions, rather than regiments) were authorized, of which the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th served in Canada. One of their conditions of service was that they operated as a single brigade, under a Pennsylvanian general. One of the eight companies in each battalion consisted of riflemen, which brought complaints from officers concerned at how an asymmetrical seven-company unit would maneuver when the riflemen were detached. A seventh battalion - named after its commander, Colonel Aenas Mackay - was raised in the summer of 1776 to help defend the frontier of the Northern Department.

Due to a misunderstanding, Pennsylvania also formed an artillery company, which Congress later agreed to adopt. The unit was recruited by the engineer, Bernard Romans and led into Canada by Captain-Lieutenant Gibbs Scott.

The British and their allies (Quebec 1775)

The "British" forces comprised six distinct elements. In order of size, they were the Army ("Regulars"), the German Auxiliaries, the Militia (predominantly French-speaking Canadians), the Royal Navy, Indians, and Loyalists (i.e. loyal white civilians of British, Irish or American birth).

The Army

In 1775, this element of imperial defense was in short supply everywhere in North America. Of the five infantry regiments assigned to Canada, two - the 10th and 52nd Foot - had gone to Boston in October 1774 on the assumption that 3,000 militia would mobilize to oppose any invasion. This left the 8th Foot dispersed around the Great Lakes posts, and the 7th and 26th Foot - both at least ten percent under strength - defending the Province of Quebec. The 26th and all but two companies of the 7th were captured in November 1775, and spent over a year in captivity.

In May 1776, the 29th Foot arrived at Quebec, and in June, eight more regiments arrived from Europe (the 9th, 20th, 21st, 24th, 31st, 34th, 53rd, and 62nd Foot) and one (the 47th Foot) from Halifax. Of these ten units only the 47th Foot had seen action since 1762 (at Concord and Bunker Hill), although the 29th, 31st, and 34th Foot had all served in North America during the early 1770s. However, the light companies of the five senior regiments had trained in the new tactics devised by Sir William Howe in 1774, and were prominent in the 1776 campaign.

Burgoyne also brought four companies of artillery. Prior to that, Carleton had only a single company of regular gunners, most of whom were captured at St Johns.

German Auxiliaries

Most of the German contingent in Canada came from Brunswick (Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel), with one infantry regiment and an artillery company from Hesse-Hanau. The first division of 2,282 Brunswickers and 668 Hessians arrived in June; the second division, 2,000 Brunswickers, arrived in September. During 1776, only the artillerymen saw serious action, primarily at Valcour Island, where they manned two gunboats and some ordnance on Thunderer, and performed creditably. Von Riedesel used the winter of 1776 to adapt the tactics and clothing of the entire corps to North American conditions.

The Militia

Following the acquisition of New France in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the British by and large retained the administrative infrastructure, including the militia. Each parish provided a company of men when required by the authorities, based on a fixed quota (leaving enough men to maintain farming and business). From 1759, there were three administrative "brigades" based on Montreal, Trois Rivieres, and Quebec. All males between 16 and 60 years old were eligible. On paper, 15,000 men were available to France in the previous conflict, but only a third were mobilized at any time, of whom 80 percent were employed in transport and supply. In 1775, Carleton's lack of Regulars led the militia to form the bulk of every combat formation in the field. Never enthusiastic, the militia was further de-motivated by Carleton's apparent lack of aggression, and if not employed immediately tended to go home.

The Quebec City militia - effectively a separate force - was mobilized in September 1775, and served until May 1776 (but continued to attend parades and social events until 1783). There were 11 companies of "Canadian Militia" (reduced to eight in December), six companies of English-speaking colonists, or "British Militia", and one company of artillery.

The Royal Navy

The senior service was involved in most actions of the campaign. A detachment from the schooner Gaspe served at St Johns, albeit less than impressively. At Quebec, nine companies were formed from the crews of the warships and merchantmen in the harbor, whilst the frigate Lizard and the "snow" Fell were moored in the St Lawrence to command the river.

In 1776, 700 men were drafted from the fleet that relieved Quebec, to man the Lake Champlain flotilla. Whilst Arnold's fleet usually attracts all the attention, the breakdown, transportation, and reassembly of the four major British vessels was a far more impressive technical achievement.

Indians

Lord Dartmouth sanctioned the use of Indians in July 1775 - a move that generated much controversy at the time, and more as the war progressed (although Congress had authorized the raising of a "minuteman" company from Stockbridge warriors four months earlier). Military and civil control was exercised via the Department of Indian Affairs, established in 1754 to counter French superiority in this aspect of colonial warfare. There were two districts - north and south - each with a superintendent reporting to the commander in chief in North America.

In 1775, the northern district, under Guy Johnson, ran from Canada to the Pennsylvania-Virginia border. It contained around 8,500 warriors, but few of these were available initially, as the invasion isolated the western and southern tribes until late 1776. The main sources of manpower available to Carleton were the Iroquois (or Six Nations) of the Mohawk Valley, and Caughnawaga (Seven Nations) of the St Lawrence Valley. The Iroquois were traditional allies of the British, but the Caughnawaga had previously served the French and were believed (with some justification) to be lukewarm. In fact, both groups were the focus of efforts by Congress -including visits by their Stockbridge "brothers" - to negotiate their neu¬ trality. A few Oneida and Tuscarora actually fought against the British).

Carleton was the only senior British officer in North America to speak out against using them, as much for military as humanitarian reasons. Their fearsome reputation was a double-edged sword and their unique approach to warfare - based on returning home with as much loot and as few casualties as possible - made controlling them a problem. Nevertheless, they were invaluable as scouts: Carleton employed 50 warriors in this role in mid-1775, and over 640 led his advance into New York a year later. War parties usually operated under the direction of officers of the Indian Department (often seconded Regulars), French militia officers or local Army officers. Tactically, they were by no means naive: the Iroquois employed a rudimentary form of "fire and movement" and were adept at using cover to close with the enemy. Whilst acts of cruelty were committed occasionally, most of the atrocities ascribed to them - for example, at The Cedars - were either exaggerated, or completely false, often being used to justify attacks and land-grabbing by colonists.

Loyalists

Dozens of English-speaking Canadians served as volunteers, but the only formal unit of white Loyalists was the Royal Highland Emigrants (later the 84th Foot). Originally two separate corps, it soon became a two-battalion regiment, recruiting in every colony, and even direct from Scotland (being a Provincial unit, this was illegal, but MacLean circum¬ vented the law by having native Scots swear the oath after arriving in America). Numbers were high thanks to unusually generous bounties, the use of traditional Highland dress, and the patronage of their first colonel, Gage, who prevented "poaching" by other units.

The regiment fought in every major action of the campaign, except Valcour Island, usually with distinction, particularly at St Johns and Quebec. It remained on the Provincial establishment until 24 December 1778, and on 10 April 1779, company strength was officially increased from 50 rank-and-file to 70. By 1783, the unit had served everywhere from the Great Lakes to Nova Scotia and from the North Atlantic to Florida. The only blot on its record was the high desertion rate of men recruited from the Continentals captured at Quebec which, along with Burgoyne's dislike of MacLean, saw the unit left in Canada during the 1777 campaign.

Major General John Sullivan (Quebec 1775)

Major General John Sullivan (1740-95) was born in Somersworth, New Hampshire, the son of Irish immigrants. He practiced law and was reputedly so greedy and litigious that he was once attacked by a mob. Despite this, he became a major in the militia and was elected to both the First and Second Continental Congress, aligning himself with the radicals and welcoming a split with Great Britain.

In December 1774 he seized 100 barrels of powder from Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth, promised the Governor that his followers would disperse, and then promptly went back and took 60 muskets and 15 cannon. Seven months later, he was sent to Boston with the rank of brigadier general, but also remained active in politics, campaigning for a distinct government for New Hampshire. After the British evacuation, he was ordered to Canada with six regiments, but soon found himself in command of an army facing the twin scourges of smallpox and a superior enemy. Attempting to take the offensive, faulty intelligence led to the defeat at Trois Rivieres, after which he saw retreat as the only option. He withdrew to Crown Point, only to find that he had been replaced by Gates.

After complaining to Congress in person, Sullivan returned to take command on Long Island, only to be superseded again - this time by Putnam - and then captured at Brooklyn. He was exchanged in September for Richard Prescott, served under Washington in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania campaigns, and commanded at Rhode Island (1778) and against the Iroquois (1779). Illness contracted during the latter campaign forced him to resign his commission and enter Congress. He chaired the inquiry into the 1781 mutinies, and later became governor of New Hampshire and a federal judge.

Brigadier General Benedict Arnold (Quebec 1775)

Brigadier General Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the great-grandson of a governor of Rhode Island. As a young man, he courted physical danger and personality clashes, and was regarded by his peers as a natural leader. Apprenticed to a local apothecary, he soon set up his own business and later became a smuggler. As the political rift with Great Britain grew, these interests led him to oppose restrictions on trade, and he became a natural ally of the radicals.

By 1774, Arnold was a wealthy merchant, an accomplished sailor, and captain of the second company of the Connecticut Governor's Foot Guards. Within 24 hours of hearing of events at Lexington, he seized the New Haven powder magazine - upsetting a French and Indian War veteran named David Wooster in the process - and marched to Boston. Proposing the seizure of Fort Ticonderoga and its much-needed artillery and supplies, he was given a commission by Massachusetts, which was later rescinded, much to his annoyance. In June, the death of his wife forced him to return to New Haven, where he was laid low by an attack of gout. He then received a third blow when the Massachusetts Congress refused to pay most of the expenses he claimed to have incurred in its service.

In September, General George Washington persuaded him to command one of the expeditions into Canada. The march to Quebec and the attack on the city illustrated his dynamic leadership, but the legal problems that followed his period as governor of Montreal showed another side to his character (as would a similar post in Philadelphia after the Saratoga campaign). He became embroiled in a court-martial instigated by Brown, Easton, and Hazen following the mysterious loss of supplies Arnold had seized from local merchants and sent to St Johns. When the court refused to hear one of his witnesses, Arnold challenged the members to a duel and only the intervention of Gates prevented further unpleasantness.

Arnold was a complex character: the creation of the Lake Champlain fleet showed his immense dynamism, the attack on Quebec his bravery (both traits that would surface again at Saratoga). However, avarice and "creative" accounting skills led to controversy throughout his Continental service, and also after the war, while his sensitivity to personal slights - real or imagined - contributed as much to his decision to change sides as his flirtations with the Loyalists in Philadelphia.