Arnold's march from Cambridge to Quebec

Front matter

SKETCH MAP

or

ARNOLD'S ROUTE..

Preface

IT seems very singular that no thoroughgoing history of the American invasion of Canada in 1775 and 1776 has yet been written. This may be due partly to a preconceived idea that nothing of real importance was involved in it, partly to the fact that in appearance the campaigns proved a total failure, and partly to the prominence of the ill-starred Arnold from becfinninof to end.

On turning my attention to this neglected field, I soon discovered that Arnold's march from Cambridge to Quebec would have to be studied as if nothing had ever been written upon it. When the data for this inquiry were mostly in hand, the announcement of a book on the subject appeared, and seemed to promise an escape from the labour of clearing so much of the way. The promise was not perfectly fulfilled, however, as may be discovered from the notes of the present volume ; and

VHl

Preface now, after a number of delays, the results of my investigations are offered. The purpose here is to ascertain facts, not paint a picture ; and the foliage of the subject has been ignored.

I wish it were feasible to acknowledge in detail my indebtedness to the hundreds of persons who have courteously given me items of information. After beginning a list of their names, I have felt that it would be unfair to stop short of completeness ; and a complete list would be hard to make as well as too long for any one to read. Let me record a general but sincere acknowledgment of obligation and of gratitude.

Mention must be made, however, of the Historical Societies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and, still more particularly, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania ; the Congressional, Lenox, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and Boston Public Libraries ; the Archives Office, Ottawa, and the Public Records Office, London ; and the notes tender acknowledgments to a few individuals, also, for special assistance.

J. H. S.

Hanover, June 15, 1903.

Contents

The second number refers to the Notes.

CHAPTER

Introduction ....

Introduction

LATE in the summer of 1775, General Schuyler moved against Canada by the way of Lake Champlain ; and, to meet this attack, General Carleton, the British Governor, concentrated his forces near Montreal. At this time Washington felt able to spare a portion of the troops besieging Boston, and he concluded to despatch a small force under Benedict Arnold through the Kennebec Valley against Quebec, hoping either to gain possession of the Canadian capital, or to aid Schuyler by drawing Carleton to its defence.

The route of Arnold's detachment lay through an unknown region, a wilderness ; and it would be a fascinating as well as difficult problem simply to disentangle the facts of the march, and so clear the way to a sound history of the expedition. Where did the gates of the wilderness open and close upon these daring

2 Introduction

patriots ? What lakes were furrowed by their keels ? At what bastion did they storm the granite wall of the Appalachians? How did they surmount the difficulties of the way, and what were the steps of their progress ?

But questions of still greater moment are involved in our inquiry. The march itself was a campaign, ^ — a campaign against the forest and the flood, against fatigue, sickness, and famine. The contest proved close and pitiless, and the issue remained long in doubt. In so keen a struororle, the smallest of circumstances was enough to throw the victory this way or that. We cannot understand it at all unless we understand it thoroughly ; and therefore every detail not only enlists attention and repays interest, but in a special degree requires the most careful study.

A STUDY of the route that Arnold followed might go back a long way, for the geology of the region predestined an expedition like his ; but it will be more convenient and quite as useful to begin with attempts at the delineation of it. It is very curious to observe how the truth about this highway between south and north glimmered and faded for many years, before coming clearly out in the full light of knowledge; and it is worth while to see how the region was represented on a few maps out of the many which have been examined.

We may begin with a map of North America preserved in the French Navy Department.^ * Both the Kennebec and the Chaudiere are here beaded with a lake, and a straight waterway lies between them. The drawing is undated, but internal evidence proves that it was done no later than the year 1682. In 1698,

* The " superior figures " refer to notes, which will be found at the conclusion of the text.

however, Hubert Jaillot dedicated to the Dauphin a map that parted the two rivers, though in other respects it was no doubt incorrect enough. After another interval of about the same length, John Senex, of the Royal Society of London, produced a chart in which the separation of the St. Lawrence basin from that of the Atlantic Ocean was emphasised (1710). Guillaume Delisle ~ followed this fashion presently in two maps published at Paris (i 722 and I 750), and in one issued at Amsterdam.^ The Sieur dAnville in his map of 1 746 adhered to the same opinion.

Two maps of 1755 show still further enlightenment. John Mitchell of London drew some ponds at the extremity of the Kennebec, — that is to say, the West Branch or Dead River ; and put one of them very near the " Amaguntick " lake ^ ; and he labelled the upper waters of the Kennebec, " Carriages to Quebec," signifying, however, not that people could drive from that point, but that they could walk and " carry " their vehicles, — their canoes. That same year Thomas Jefferys, another cartographer of London, did even better. He brought the southern and the northern streams very near together, and inscribed at this place : " Indian and French Rendezvous extremely proper for a fort which would restrain y^ French and curb y^ Abenaki Indians."

The next year marks a reaction. In 1756 Nolin, in his Carte du Canada, induced a continuous line of water to connect the Kennebec with the St. Lawrence at Quebec, for, as this indicates, the old opinion had not yet quite expired ; but Seale, the engraver of an English map dated New Year's Day, 1771, followed wiser counsels, and refrained from joining the Kennebec and the Chaudiere.

In 1776 appeared "A New Map of the Province of Quebec . . . from the French Surveys connected with those made after the war [of I 754-1 763] by Captain Carver and other officers in his Majesty's Service." It was printed for Robert Sayer and John Bennett, and bore the engraved date : " i6th February, 1776."

Of course Arnold had then crossed the wilderness, and had proved certain things about its topography ; but none of the geographical fruits of this expedition can be supposed to have made their way into a London map of that date. Confirmation of this view is found in the fact that on August 14th of the same year Sayer and Bennett appeared with a new map ; and in this, not only were there substantial changes, but an attempt was made to indicate " Arnold's rout." The map of February i6th is thus of special interest as illustrating the opinions about this region accepted by well informed cartographers at the time Arnold set out, and for that reason a portion of it is reproduced here.

Dated the very next month (March 25, 1776), we find a map that bears these words : " Middle British Colonies in North America, first published by Mr. Lewis Evans of Philadelphia in 1755, and since corrected and improved, as also extended, . . . by T. Pownall, M. P." Here we observe Dead River drawn fairly near the truth, with a lake at the extreme end, and not far from it a stream running into "Amaguntaeg" Pond."* Why not select this, instead of Sayer and Bennett's map, as representing current opinion at the time of Arnold's march ? Because there is a look of special knowledge about it, and in a moment we shall find our suspicion confirmed.

Were these maps clear guesswork ? By no means. Their authors tried, we may be sure, to obtain good information, and there were certain sources they could tap. Indians, of course, roamed through the wilderness, and some of them could draw a httle, as even the most ilHterate of guides can do to-day. Better yet, they could tell a white man how to draw ; and there is a map in the possession of the Historical Society at Skowhegan, Maine, drawn in this way by Major Goodwin of our army in 1825, that shows about what the process might be expected to produce, — a rough but valuable sketch. White men also traversed these forests occasionally. French missionaries, and in particular Jesuits, came down from Quebec to labour among the savages. As a regularly settled missionary in the Kennebec wilderness, Gabriel Dreuillettes stands first in order. About the middle of the seventeenth century he found himself domiciled among the Abenakis.^ His intercourse with Quebec must have been somewhat constant, and we know that he twice went south to Boston.*^ Near the close of the century, the Fathers Bigot were often among the Indians of Maine, and one of them appears to have been a regular missionary in the Kennebec region. Most famous of them all, Sebastien Rale' dwelt among his dusky converts on the banks of the Kennebec, in the very track that Arnold followed, for many years, and must have been well acquainted with every Indian path to Quebec.

lo Arnold's March

From the French, at least, these missionaries had no reason to conceal their knowledge, and many hints must have reached the cartographers in this way.

Other sources existed. Thomas Jefferys in his Explanation for the New Map of Nova Scotia (1755) said :

" The Remainder of the Kennebek to its Head, where it interlocks with the La Chaudiere, and also the course of this last River to its Exit in the River St. Lawrence, is taken from an Eye-draught made by a French Deserter in 1754."

Pownall, as we have already hinted, possessed special information, and it seems worth while to quote what he said in his Topographical Description of North America (i 776), especially as some of his discoveries may have leaked through his agents into the public mind.

" . . . As the River Kenebaeg has been now rendered famous as a Pass, by a March of some Spirit and Enterprize made by the Americans, following its Course, across the land to St. Lawrence or Canada River, I shall here give a more particular and detailed Description of it than I should otherwise have entered into.

" This River, in the Year 1754 and 1755, was talked of as a Rout by which an Army might pass, the best and shortest Way, to attack Canada and Quebec. The Rout was supposed to be by an Indian Path and Carrying-place, which, going off from Kenebaeg about Eight or 10 miles above Noridgewaeg, in a North West Course of Six or Seven Miles came to a Pond which issued into the River Chaudiere. Some such Information had been given to Government ; it was of the utmost Importance that Government should not be misled. In the year 1756, I had an Opportunity of inquiring into this Matter by scrutinizing a Journal given to me and signed by Capt. Hobbs and Lieut. Kenedy ; and by examining the Journalists themselves as to the Authority of the Particulars, I found enough to be convinced that this supposed Pass was mere conjecture, taken upon trust of Bartholemon, an Indian, who was found to be false and a Spy, and was in 1755 shot by our own People as he was attempting to desert. Government therefore was early cautioned against this misinformation. When I was Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay [1757- 1760], I had this Rout particularly investigated by Ensign Howard, a Country surveyor, under the Direction of Capt. Nichols, who commanded at Fort Frederick. Instead of a short pass of some Eight or 10 Miles of easy Portage, this Indian Path turned out to be a Rout, on a Line as a Bird flies, of near 50 Miles over Land, impracticable to an Army that hath a Train of Artillery and heavy Baggage. It appeared, however, that (although a difficult and very laborious Rout) it was practicable to any Body of Men who should go light armed, as a Scouting Party, either to reconnoitre or to break up settlements. The sort of March which Arnold and his People experienced, has confirmed this Account given 17 or 18 years ago. .

" This River Kenebaeg, to begin from its principal Branch, may be described as rising on the Height of the

Land in North Latitude 45° 20', and in East Longitude from Philadelphia 5° 10' or thereabouts ; its source is from a little Pond, and the first Courses of its Birth a Succession of Ponds or drowned Lands, Swamps, and Falls. Its first general Course is 30 miles South East, it then makes a great Bow, whose string (lying East and by South and West and by North) is 12 miles/ It then runs North-easterly Nine Miles and an Half, and then tumbling over falls North East 10 Miles joins the North Branch.

"The North Branch is said (I speak not here from the same Degree of Authority) to arise in and issue from a little Pond about 16 Miles North of this Crotch, from whence (it is likewise said) there is a Carrying-place of 13 or 14 Miles to an Eastern Branch of the Chaudiere River. This was represented to me as the shortest Rout to Canada, but I do not find in my Journals that I have set this down as confirmed or sufficiently authenticated. After these Two Branches join, they run South Easterly about Three Miles, when a small River, tumbling over falls and running between high perpendicular rocky Banks for Seven Miles and an Half, and issuing from a great Pond full of Islands, called Sebaiin or by some such Name, North East 12 Miles distant, comes into the Kenebaeg. This stream is impracticable for any Navigation at these Falls, but there is a Carrying place on the East side from a Cove to the Head of the Falls. From the Junction of this Stream the River has its Course South Westerly 12 Miles when one comes to the Place whence the Indian Path goes off to the North West, as shall be hereafter described. Hence with many Windings the River keeps its Southern Course to Noridgewaeg, where it has the appearance of a Lake full of Islands. On the Banks of this was the Indian Dwelling of the Tribe of that Name. A little below are the Falls.

"The River then runs in a winding Course Five Miles East, and at the Point where it turns again South the River Wesseronsaeg' comes in from the North East. Keeping on the same Course 12 or 14 Miles more it comes to Tachonaeg Falls,'" below which Sebastoocoog" comes into it, from a Pond bearing North East and distant about 25 Miles : In the Fork between these two Streams Mr. Shirley built Fort Halifax. From hence the River runs in a course South-westerly 17 Miles to Cushnoog'^ ; here is a little Blockhouse called Fort Western. The Fall at Cushnoog is the Head of Tide Water ; Sloops of 90 Tons Burthen come up hither from Sea. . .

" To describe next the River Kenebaeg as a Rout to Quebeck : in the first Place the Reader has been told that Sloops of 90 Tons Burthen can go up to Cheshnoog Falls, '^ about 30 Miles from Small Point. From thence to Fort Hallifax at Tackonic Falls,'" 17 Miles, is a Waggon Road. Thence a certain Degree of Navigation for Bateaux takes Place, which is interrupted by Falls and Rapids below Norridgewaeg, at which Places all Baggage must be again carried over Land, where a Waggon Road might be made between the Hills and the River. Half a Mile above Noridgewaeg there is a sharp Fall, but for that a good Waggon Road might be made quite up to the Great Carrying-place.

"Hence the Indian Path goes off West from the River over Land about Four Miles and a half to a Pond about Three Quarters of a Mile long; a good Waggon Road might be made here : This First Pond has been found to issue its Waters into the Kenebaeg. Hence the Path runs over like Grounds West-Northerly about a Mile, and comes to a Second Pond ; this has been found to issue its Waters into Sagadahoc River.'^ Hence, over the like Land and in the same Course about a Mile More it comes to a Third Pond, which, issuing its Waters to the North and falling into a river which runs North-easterly, gave rise to the Misinformation that here went the Rout to Canada by Chaudiere ; but the River which this Pond Empties itself into is found to be the Kenebaeg,'* which in this place runs North-easterly; from this Pond the Path runs West-northerly near Four Miles, and strikes the southern-most Bend of this Main Branch'^ of Kenebaeg; up this stream there may be an imperfect Navigation for Indians, and Traders or Hunters, somewhat better in the Time of Freshets, but both the Navigation is bad and the travelling, between high Ranges of Mountains and in swampy boggy Vales, very troublesome to Individuals, very arduous and almost impracticable to Bodies of Men, When you get higher, towards the Source of the River, you come to a Chain of Ponds which makes the Navigation better, but this is interrupted with Falls. From the Head of the River to a little stream which falls into Agamuntaeg Pond," is a Carrying-Place of about Four Miles. That is the Indian Carrying-place ; but I apprehend that if a Body of Men would transport any Baggage which requires a Depth of Water before it can be embarked, the Portage must be to or near to, the Lake, about lo Miles. This Lake is the Head of Chaudiere River, and is about 40 Miles above the present Settlements of the Canadians." "

In 1759, General Amherst sent a messenger to General Wolfe at Quebec by way of the

Kennebec. As soon as the conquest of Canada was secure (1760), General Murray, the British commander, resolved to investigate the Chaudiere Valley and its communications with the Kennebec, and the very next year John Montresor, an able officer, destined to become the King's Chief Engineer for America, was despatched with a party of Indians to inspect the region. He accomplished his task, drew a map, and wrote a journal.^" Later the map and an imperfect draft of the journal fell into the hands of Benedict Arnold ; and later still they both fall into ours. In the course of our inquiries we shall very probably need to consult them.

Not long after Montresor made this reconaissance from Quebec back again to Quebec, an expedition went north from the opposite side of the mountains. In 1764 the Massachusetts Bay Company sent a well organised surveying party under John Preble up the Penobscot, with instructions to see whether a road could not be made that way to Quebec. January i, 1765, the party returned to Fort Pownall, on the Penobscot, and reported in substance that such a road was not practicable. Incidentally, the report mentioned the Indian route by way of the Chaudiere and the Dead

Rivers, and on Captain Preble's map it was indicated, or, more exactly, suggested.^^

This brings us pretty near to the time of Arnold's expedition, and the next step reaches it. Montresor's narrative mentioned another source of information about the Dead River route, — New England surveyors. One of these bore the name of Goodwin and the title Major ; and the following letter shows not only that he possessed sketches and minutes of the region, but that Arnold had the use of both.

" POWNALBOROUGH [MaINe].

" October 17, 1775.

" To His Excellency George Washington, Esq.

"Sir:

" According to your Excellency's verbal orders, by Colonel Benedict Arnold, I supplied him with a plan of the sea-coast, from Cape Elizabeth to Penobscot, and the River Kennebeck to the several heads thereof, and the several carrying places to Ammeguntick Pond* and Chaudiere River (which Ammeguntick empties into said Chaudiere River, which Chaudiere empties into the River St. Lawrence, about four miles above Quebeck), and the passes and carrying places to Quebeck ; and also made several small plans for each department, for their guide ; and also gave him a copy of a journal which represented all the quick water and carrying places to and from Quebeck, both ways, viz., east and west; the west is the way to go, and the east to come."* .

" I think it would be for the general interest for you to have a copy of said plan, etc., and then you would be a judge of what would be best to be done. It hath been a great cost and labour to me to obtain those plans, etc., and make them. Sir, if you think it worth your notice, and will give orders therefor, I will copy one for you, and wait on you with it, and give you the best intelligence I can, as I think I know as much of this country as any one, as I have been travelling, surveying, and settling this part, ever since the year 1750.

" Samuel Goodwin.""

" N. B. Mr. Reuben Colburn informed me you wanted a plan. I thus began it about 3 weeks before Col. Arnold arrived."

All these things, taken together, show that a good deal was known, in a rough way, of the Dead River passage into Canada before Arnold made it famous. But a military use of the route, — was that ever considered ? Botta says : "Not only^io army was ever known to pass through these rough and dismal solitudes, but never had human being until then [z. e., until Arnold went], imagined it was possible." ""^ Yet it is wonderful how few things men do that were not thought of by other men : was Arnold's enterprise an exception ?

In 1697 Iberville proposed to attack Boston by way of the Chaudiere, "bursting from the woods with one thousand Canadians and six hundred regulars," as he wrote in a Memoir e.

Five years later, Saint Castin took up this plan, and offered to make the expedition with fourteen hundred good men.^~ In the long quotation from Pownall's Topographical Description, the author stated that in 1 754 and 1755 it was proposed to invade Canada by way of the Kennebec ; and we know that in December of the latter year, Shirley of Massachusetts definitely suggested, in a council of Governors held at New York, to menace Quebec by that route. Roy affirms '"^^ that during the campaign of 1756 the English actually decided to send two thousand men up the Kennebec and down the Chaudiere against the Canadian capital, but that after Montcalm took Oswego the plan was dropped. Pownall in his " Idea of the Service of America " ( 1 758), said^ : " The People of Massaclmsetts, in the counties of Hampshire, Worcester and York, are the best wood-hunters in America. . . . I should think if about 100 thorough wood-hunters, properly officered, could be obtained in the county of York, a scout of such might make an attempt upon the settlements by way of the Chaudiere River. . . ." More significant still is the fact that just before Arnold's expedition set out, there were fears both in Canada and in Maine of a hostile invasion by this natural route. On the north a post of fusileers was stationed in the valley of the Chaudiere to guard against the danger ~^ ; and on the south the selectmen of Falmouth (Portland), disturbed by a rumour that arrived on the last day of April, sent three men of New Gloucester, with Remington Hobby and John Getchell, of Vassalboro, to " ascertain if any Frenchmen were in motion, or any of the savages were preparing to ravage the frontier settlements.""^ Indeed, an expedition against Quebec by way of the Chaudiere was actually proposed in 1775 by Jonathan Brewer, some while before Arnold or Washinorton seems to have thought of it.~~ Evidently there was nothing very esoteric in the thought of using this route.

Just how all the ideas about this way into Canada came to be crystallised into the expedition under Arnold's command, is a question that lies outside our present field. What seems important is to show that before our American soldiers took ship for the Kennebec, people knew a good deal about this route, and thought of it as available for military uses ; and probably facts enough have been cited to establish these points. It only remains to show that in spite of this, all their information was crude and inexact up to the very day of Arnold's departure. Carver's map is evidence enough, probably, so far as the general intelligent public are concerned ; and a letter of the American Commander-in-chief to the American Conoress reveals that men the most interested and the best informed had no realization of the actual difficulties.

" Camp at Cambridge, "September 21, 1775.

"To Continental Congress:

"... I am now to inform the Honourable Congress that, encouraged by the repeated declarations of the Canadians and Indians, and urged by their requests, I have detached Col. Arnold, with one thousand men, to penetrate into Canada by way of Kennebeck River, and, if possible, to make himself master of Quebeck. . , I made all possible inquiry as to the distance, the safety of the route, and the danger of the season being too far advanced, but found nothing in either to deter me fr#m proceeding, more especially as it met with very general approbation from all whom I consulted upon it. . . . For the satisfaction of the Congress, I here enclose a copy of the proposed route.'"' . . .

" George Washington.

" Route to Quebeck from Kennebeck River."

" From the mouth of Kennebeck River to Quebeck, on a straight line, is two hundred and ten miles. The river is navigable for sloops about thirty-eight miles and for flat-bottomed boats about twenty-two miles. Then you meet Jaconick Falls,'" and from Jaconick Falls to Norridgewock, as the river runs, thirty-one miles; from thence to the first carrying place about thirty miles; carrying place four miles, then a pond to cross, and another carrying place, about two miles to another pond; then a carrying place about three or four miles to another pond; then a carrying place to the western branch of Kennebeck River, called the Dead River; then up that river, as it runs, thirty miles, some small falls and short carrying places around them intervening; then you come to the height of the land, and about six miles carrying place, into a branch which leads into Ammeguntick Pond,^ the head of the Chaudiere River, which falls into the St. Lawrence River about four miles above Quebeck."

II

LJAND-CAMERAS were unfortunately not ■'■ -^ in existence in 1775, and we have no photographs of scenes along the route ; but pens and paper were familiar articles, and a number of the soldiers felt moved to use them. In short, a good many reports of the march have come to us from members of the expedition, besides various items and scraps from participants who did not write full accounts.

Of all our first-hand reports, the one most commonly known and relied upon by those who have written on the subject is probably that of John Joseph Henry,^ one of the riflemen, who become in later life President of the Second Judicial District of Pennsylvania, — in short, a judge. There are sufficient reasons for the vogue of this narrative. It is much more extended than any of the others, and far more readable than most of them ; it was published in book form as early as 181 2, while few of the others got into print until many years later, or have ever come before the general public. And, finally, the high character and standing of the author seemed to place the seal of truth, and certainly did place the seal of honesty, upon its face. For us, however, Henry's tale, though still the most enjoyable of all, perhaps, has a number of defects. He was only a boy of sixteen when he joined the expedition, and his lack of rank barred him from the circle of the officers. His book was not written until he stood at the very close of his life, thirty-six years after the occurrences he narrated. Indeed, it was not written by him at all, but dictated to his daughter, though he had been working on the subject more or less for several years. "Casual notes and memoranda" he was aided by, we are told, and so we can well believe ; but evidently memory supplied by far the greater part of his account. In fact, the Pennsylvania Historical Society has a letter written by Henry to General Francis Nichols, November 29, 1808, in which he says of his proposed book : "It's detailed principally from my own memory, assisted by the notes of Genl. Meigs and Wm. McCoy," and certain questions that Henry asked Nichols prove that his recollection was in places extremely defective. The author died without revising his manuscript, and his grandson tells us that it was not very carefully printed. For all these reasons Henry's journal seems to merit only a low place as an authority on questions of detail, and a close examination of it proves the justice of this opinion, although good reasons appear for believing that certain things fixed themselves very definitely in his memory.