Revolutionary War Historical Article
The American Revolution Month-by-Month December 1775
By Compatriot Andrew "Andy" Stough
Editor's Note: This article was reprinted by Permission of the Gold Country Chapter No. 7 of the CSSAR and was slightly Edited by the Sons of Liberty Chapter of the CSSAR.
On December 2nd, Brigadier General Richard Montgomery arrived at Quebec with 300 men and supplies including clothing which he had seized from storehouses in Montreal. From December 5th, Quebec was under siege by the combined forces (Ward). Without more equipment and supplies than Montgomery could muster it would have to be a long and probably a nonproductive siege in the midst of a cold Canadian winter. Plans were then drawn to attack the city. The ground was frozen solid. Earthworks to protect both cannon and men could not be built in the normal manner. Improvising, mounds of snow were set up to resemble normal earthworks then covered with water which froze immediately creating, “Ice Works.” It was a bold but disastrous move. The first time the Canadian cannon fired the ice works were blown into shards of ice endangering anyone in the vicinity.
Montgomery had known all along that an assault was the only productive way to force the surrender of the city. Sir GuyCarleton refused to accept two letters asking for surrender. Formalities having been accomplished, Montgomery made plans for an assault. No longer the larger force, Montgomery planned to attack on a dark and stormy night. It was a desperate attempt but it was the only way that the city might be taken.
To wait until spring would be disastrous. Enlistments for most of the men would expire on December 31st. They would fight until then but no longer. Springtime would surely bring more British troops, equipment and arms for Carleton, Who already had the advantage of more than twice the able bodied men that Montgomery could muster, not to mention cannon, supplies and munitions. The time had come to either take the city or head for home. This far into the venture Montgomery was not going to leave without a fight.
Montgomery waited on a storm to open an early morning attack The storm finally broke on the afternoon of December 30. In the early hours of December 31st, the attack began with Montgomery attacking with 300 men while Benedict Arnold with 600 men was attacking the lower town in pincers movement. Things went well until Montgomery suffered a leg wound and went to the rear for treatment. Daniel Morgan assumed Montgomery’s command and the attack on the lower town continued. The way was now open into the City, unfortunately, there were too few Americans that far forward to attack and no further movement was made awaiting daylight. By the time first light occurred the city was aware of what had happened and the gates were closed and manned. At this point the two American forces had become one. Many desperate attempts were made by Morgan and Arnold to scale the walls but they were all driven back by the defenders.
Eventually Morgan was trapped by a larger Canadian contingent and forced to surrender. Montgomery, despite his wound, returned to the scene and broached the walls. This eventually led him to what appeared to be an ordinary house. Passing the house would lead him to the heart of the city. Unfortunately he did not know that the house was heavily fortified. Calling on his soldiers to follow him they advanced in the predawn light toward the house. The fortified house had fifty armed men with small arms and four three pound cannon. When Montgomery and his men were close to the house they were fired on point blank. Montgomery and his followers were mowed down by cannon and rifle fire. Montgomery was dead, shot through the head. Several ranking officers were killed. Aaron Burr and several other officers survived the slaughter, but it made no difference, the battle was lost but it was not the end of the expedition (Ward).
Arnold, who was now the leader of the entire operation, withdrew the men who had avoided capture and sent to Montreal for help. Help was not to come as Colonel Wooster, commanding at Montreal, had too few men to properly hold the town and was unable to give Arnold any assistance (Ward).
What about the big IF? IF Arnold's trace through Maine had taken 20 days as planned, instead of the actual forty-nine days. If the return of the last two elements of the expedition had not abandoned the march to return to Boston would it have given Arnold the ability to attack with a greater strength and at an earlier time? Had the departure of Montgomery not been delayed, would he have been able to join Arnold at an earlier date with force enough to storm Quebec?
It is time to consider other events occurring or terminating during the month of December, 1775 such as the appointment of Esek Hopkins of Massachusetts to be commodore of the Continental Navy.
Beginning in March of 1775 the Earl of Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia took offense at the action of the Virginia Convention when it authorized that “The colony should be put into a posture of defense,” authorizing a militia and accumulation of war stores. In April he sent a body of Marines to Williamsburg, who seized and returned with all war supplies stored there. The town rose up and demanded the return of the stores. Dunmore swore that he would consider “the whole country in rebellion.” And threatened to reduce towns and houses to ashes and any other form of devastation that could be used would also be used. Following the example the events of Lexington and Concord, Patrick Henry with a company of militia demanded boldly that the governor repay them for the stores which had been seized. On May 4th, 1775 the payment for the stores was made and the militia went home.
This was followed on May 6th by a proclamation that all persons were to avoid assistance to Henry and the militia under threat of reprisal by the governor. The Colonists supported Henry and the insurgents, Things became so bad that Dunmore was so concerned for his own safety that on June 8th he sought refuge on a man of war ship at Yorktown where he remained until the small fleet sailed for New York. In August he began recruitment of Indians, Negroes, indentured servants and Loyalists for his own army (Ward). In the meantime he used the naval forces to shell and burn settlements along the Virginia coast.
In October, a British armed ship ran aground in a storm and was seized, looted and burned by local residents. Dunmore retaliated by threatening to burn the town of Hampton, Virginia. Local men, defending the town, not only drove off a landing party but captured one of the landing party’s boats along with its sailors (Ward).
Great Bridge was located about ten miles south of Norfolk. It spanned several swamps and was anchored by several islands of hard land in the swamps. On December 11th, 900 Virginians and North Carolinians met and defeated Dunmore’s forces who then fell back on Norfolk. Dunmore gave notice that on January 1, 1776, he would burn the town. On New Year's day he began a 7-hour bombardment of the town. The fires raged for two days and in the end there was nothing left of the most prosperous town in Virginia but ashes. Eventually Dunmore’s fleet was split up and sent Florida and Jamaica. Dunmore joined the British fleet off New York. Dunmore later went back to England where he was rewarded with Governorship of the Bahamas. The slaves were sent to Jamaica and a return to slavery.
References: John Alden's "A History of the American Revolution", Robert Leckie’s “George Washington’s War”; Jeffrey Shaara’s “Rise to Rebellion”; Edmund Morgan’s “The Birth Of The Republic”,Christopher Ward's "the War of the Revolution".
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