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

22 | The Sad Necessity of Abandoning Canada: Military Collapse and the End of the Canadian Continental Experience

Chapter 22 The Sad Necessity of Abandoning Canada Military Collapse and the End of the Canadian Continental Experience Our Affairs have taken a Strange turn Since our Arrival.The Canadians are Flocking by Hundreds to take a part with us. | General John Sullivan to General George Washington, Sorel, 5 June 1776 The junction of the Canadians with the Colonies, an object which brought us into this Country is now at an End, let us quit them & Secure our own Country before it is too late. | General Benedict Arnold to General John Sullivan, Chambly, 13 June 1776 “The poor inhabitants”were confused by the Continental collapse on 6 May. Seeing “the roads full of people, shamefully flying,”it seemed the rebel force was abandoning Canada. Rather than commit to either side at this point, General Thomas reported habitants did “not afford us the least assistance,but kept themselves concealed.”Supplies were difficult to obtain,and at numerous north-shore tributaries, the army found “No conveniences for ferrying our troops . . . except a canoe or two, and these were rare.”1 Retreating Continental troops began to regain order at Deschambault on 7 May, having already fled past the rudimentary landward-focused Jacques-Cartier works. As officers collected the “poor fugitives,” General Thomas arrived to call a council of war. Assessing their lack of provisions, insufficient artillery,and overall miserable condition,the commander decided to withdraw further—to south-shore Sorel,eighty miles upriver.Shortly after the council,Thomas received word that Arnold was expediting reinforcements from Montréal, prompting the major-general to keep eight hundred men at The Sad Necessity of Abandoning Canada 317 Deschambault and Jacques-Cartier,who could “proceed up or down”the river as circumstances dictated, while the rest of the army retreated. Over the next few days, General de Woedtke reassembled the bulk of the Northern Army around Sorel’s old fortifications where,unsurprisingly,the troops still showed a “want of confidence.”2 Now that General Thomas had demonstrated intent to hold at Deschambault , he was joined by a handful of fervent Canadien supporters. Some furnished provisions, while others dug up old French cannon, hidden since the last war, and transported them to the Continental entrenchments. Having overcome their initial shock,these habitants exerted themselves to help keep government forces at bay.3 Giving Thomas time, Governor Carleton pursued a cautious course from Québec City, too timid by most loyalist accounts. Consolidating his power, he awaited more reinforcements before advancing his army, but unleashed his ships to harass retreating rebels and “take or destroy” rebel vessels. The Continentals’Maria—under Captain Goforth—and Gaspée were surprised near Pointe-aux-Trembles; their crews abandoned the ships on the shore, clumsily holing and setting them afire.4 One of Carleton’s first post-relief acts was to send agents to neighboring parishes, encouraging the habitants to bring goods to the city. Locals came, offering token items for sale,more a peace offering than a business exchange. The governor also implemented an extremely generous policy toward the rebels .On 10 May,he instructed militia officers to gather “his Majesty’s deluded subjects of the neighbouring Provinces labouring under wounds & divers disorders . . . dispers’d in the adjacent woods & parishes,” promising the rebels that “as soon as their health is restor’d, they shall have free liberty to return to their respective Provinces.”In contrast, Bishop Briand remained steadfast in his strict pronouncements against those Canadians who had committed “rebellious crimes and disobedience,”insisting they be denied the sacraments until the time “When the King will have issued a pardon,amnesty,remission.”5 In Montréal, the Committee to Canada digested the news of the army’s collapse, recognizing that “retreat was inevitable,”but expected that the army would hold at Deschambault or Sorel. Politically, though, they saw their mission at an end.On 10 May they informed Congress,“We are afraid it will not be in our power to render our Country any farther services in this Colony.” Chase and the Carrolls initially stayed in the city, worried that an immediate departure might “discourage our troops & friends in the country.”The ailing 318 The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony Doctor Franklin,however,left for Philadelphia on the eleventh in the company of Martha Walker.That odd pair hardly had exited the Island of Montréal when Father Carroll reconsidered his position; having clearly become irrelevant, he would rush...