The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony: America’s War of Liberation in Canada, 1774–1776

7 | To Erect the Glorious Standard of American Liberty in Canada: The Decision to Intervene

Chapter 7 To Erect the Glorious Standard of American Liberty in Canada The Decision to Intervene We are to leave this place, and set out on our march for St. John’s, in order to erect the glorious standard of American liberty in Canada, the colony that now groans under British Tyranny! | Extract of a letter from an Officer in the Continental Army, at Ticonderoga, 27 August 1775 Even after Ethan Allen and the Connecticut expedition seized Ticonderoga for the patriot cause, the confederated colonies continued to have reason to worry in the north.Benedict Arnold’s erroneous “escaped prisoner report”led decision makers to believe that Governor Carleton had hundreds of regular troops poised to recover the forts. Mail from Canada, intercepted on Lake Champlain, seemed to validate the northern threat, at least in intent if not details. One of these letters, which had fallen into the hands of the Albany Committee, reported that Carleton’s new commission gave him “Power to raise a Canadian Regiment and send it where he pleases.”In another letter, a regular soldier in Quebec shared that his regiment would probably “be sent very soon to serve against the rebellious New Englanders.”Growing evidence supported fears that the Ministry could launch an attack on Lake Champlain at almost any moment.1 Another one of the intercepted letters appealed for the Continental colonies to act; the Canadian “English”were “in a deplorable situation, being deprived of all their Liberties and Priviledges . . .afraid to speak or Act relative to public affairs.”Their only hope was for the other provinces to “succeed in their just Demands” and “then exert themselves to obtain a Redress for us.” 88 The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony This sort of news inspired aggressive patriot men of action to yearn for the opportunity to rescue their brethren in Quebec.2 Ethan Allen became a zealous advocate for a Canadian expedition in a series of letters sent to the Continental, New York, and Massachusetts Congresses , from 29 May to 9 June. He promoted an intervention to simultaneously liberate the Canadians and eliminate the Ministerial threat from the north; it would also “unite and confirm the Canadians and Indians” in the patriot cause. To skeptics who might argue that such an invasion would be offensive to Quebec’s inhabitants, he offered that “Advancing an army into Canada” would be “agreeable to” patriot friends; and current intelligence showed that the “Canadians, all except the noblesse” appeared “at present to be very friendly.”3 Since Governor Carleton had only about seven hundred British regular soldiers, Allen believed he could take Montréal with a patriot force of fifteen hundred men and some artillery. If augmented to a total of two or three thousand men led by “intrepid commanders,” they could conquer the entire “ministerial party in Canada”and “vie with the re-enforcements that may be sent from England.”Allen even laid out a twofold grand strategic benefit of this enterprise:“Such a diversion would weaken General Gage”—it was better to fight the enemy in Canada than in Massachusetts—and would block “the design of the Quebeck Bill,” benefiting all of British North America.4 Allen’s ally James Easton took up the same case with his own Massachusetts government,maintaining that “the Colonies must first help their friends in Canada”before the Canadians would be able to support the patriot cause. Easton’s sources contributed to the intelligence picture also; in Montréal,StLuc de La Corne had reportedly “been using his utmost influence to excite the Canadians and Indians to take part in the war against the united colonies.” And at Fort St-Jean,“near two hundred regulars”had joined Mackay’s “party of about fifty Canadians”—a fairly accurate assessment.5 Benedict Arnold was not to be left out, sending comparable letters to the Continental Congress and Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, arguing that Quebec should “be placed under a free Government” to secure the northern frontier “forever.” Arnold added important flourishes of detail from Montréal sources—a merchant “friend,”certainly Thomas Walker,and “Indian interpreter” Winthrop Hoyt. Arnold relayed their view that “great numbers of the Canadians have expected a visit from us for some time, and are very impatient of our delay,” and these habitants were determined to To Erect the Glorious Standard 89 join the cause whenever patriots appeared in Canada with substantial force. They even offered...