1To George Washington from William Fairfax, 5 September 1754 (Washington Papers)
...for “your officer and your two cadets” taken in a skirmish with Jumonville in May 1754, Contrecoeur instead dispatched the two Virginia officers to Montreal. Stobo remained a prisoner at Montreal and Quebec for nearly 5 years, finally making his escape to Louisbourg in May 1759. The next year Amherst gave him a captain’s commission in the 15th Regiment of Foot, where Stobo served until...
2To George Washington from Adam Stephen, 4 October 1755 (Washington Papers)
In 1746, when the British proposed a joint British-American assault against the French at Montreal and Quebec, John Dagworthy, a storekeeper in Trenton, N.J., became a captain in Gov. William Gooch’s contingent of troops from the middle colonies. Unlike in the conflict that broke out in 1754 when the commissions of...
3To George Washington from Adam Stephen, 23 December 1755 (Washington Papers)
...’s Engagement he rescued the Colours of the 44th Regiment from the Enemy, after the Fall of Mr. Halket, and received two Wounds in the Action. He distinguished himself at the Reduction of Louisbourg, and Quebec; and under the Command of General Murray, on the Heights of Abraham, the famous 28th of April, in which Engagement he received a dangerous Wound, of which he never perfectly...
4To George Washington from William Fairfax, 22 January 1757 (Washington Papers)
Loudoun arrived in Boston on 20 Jan. 1757 to meet with officials of the New England colonies in preparation for his planned expedition to Quebec. It was not until 1 May that Loudoun received specific orders from William Pitt to attack the French fortress at Louisburg instead of Quebec. In order to launch the attack on Louisburg, Loudoun in late May sailed from New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia....
5To George Washington from William Fairfax, 31 March 1757 (Washington Papers)
...the Royal American Regiment as a lieutenant with date of rank 7 Feb. 1756. Captain Ouchterlony seems to have made several trips to Virginia during this time, conveying northward Virginia recruits for his regiment. He was killed at Quebec in 1759.
6To George Washington from John Hall, 1 June 1757 (Washington Papers)
.... On 21 May nearly 6,000 troops boarded the transports in New York harbor to join forces at Halifax, Nova Scotia, with an expedition from England for an attack on Louisburg and ultimately on Quebec. News of the arrival of French warships in American waters and the delay in the sailing of the expedition from England caused Loudoun to defer until 20 June ordering the fleet of warships and...
7To George Washington from William Fairfax, 17 July 1757 (Washington Papers)
Regiment for William Henry Fairfax, but by the middle of October young Fairfax was at Loudoun’s headquarters in New York. Soon thereafter he purchased a commission in the 28th Regiment. He was killed in the siege of Quebec in 1759.
8To George Washington from George William Fairfax, 17 October 1757 (Washington Papers)
...in the Royal American Regiment of Foot until 1761. Maj. Gen. Charles Hay (d. 1760) was arrested by Lord Loudoun for his public criticism of Loudoun’s decision not to attack either Louisburg or Quebec and for his refusal to go with Loudoun to New York. His court-martial in 1760 was inconclusive. John St. Clair continued to serve as deputy quartermaster general in America. He died in 1767....
9To George Washington from Bryan Fairfax, 15 September 1758 (Washington Papers)
...’s younger brother, went to New York in the fall of 1757 and bought with the approval of Lord Loudoun an ensign’s commission in the 28th Regiment of Foot. He was killed in James Wolfe’s siege of Quebec in September 1759.
10To George Washington from Andrew Lewis, 31 October 1758 (Washington Papers)
...of GW’s capitulation at Fort Necessity, 3 July 1754, the French took Capt. Robert Stobo (1727–1770) and Capt. Jacob Van Braam (1725–1784) as hostages first to Fort Duquesne and then to Montreal and Quebec. Stobo made his escape to Louisburg in May 1759; Van Braam was exchanged in 1760.
11To George Washington from Robert Stewart, 14 April 1760 (Washington Papers)
). Paddy is Maj. Andrew Lewis of the Virginia Regiment who returned to Virginia after a year of imprisonment in Quebec. For Thomas Bishop’s whereabouts, see
12To George Washington from Andrew Burnaby, 23 June 1760 (Washington Papers)
We have very little News here; the Seige of Quebec is certainly raised; and it is said we have taken about half a dozen Store-ships; from whence it is hoped the Remains of the French Army must be reduced to the greatest distress. The Merchants in this...
13To George Washington from Bryan Fairfax, 3 August 1772 (Washington Papers)
The patent is to a 600–acre tract called Nutfield on Chattins Run which Fairfax inherited from his brother William Henry who died in 1759 while serving as a lieutenant in the British army at Quebec. The grant for the land is in the Northern Neck grants, Book E, 495. Fairfax’s deeds of lease and release to GW are dated 28 Feb. and 1 Mar. 1775 (Fauquier County Deed Book 6...
14To George Washington from Brigadier General Horatio Gates, 22 June 1775 (Washington Papers)
...companies authorized by Congress. The other company was raised in neighboring Frederick County, Va., by Daniel Morgan (c.1735–1802), the hard-driving frontiersman who later distinguished himself at Quebec and Saratoga and in 1780 became a brigadier general in the Continental army. The two Maryland rifle companies were raised in Frederick County, Md., by Michael Cresap (1742–1775), youngest...
15Address from the New York Provincial Congress, 26 June 1775 (Washington Papers)
Rivington’s New-York Gazette; or the Connecticut, Hudson’s River, New-Jersey, and Quebec Weekly Advertiser
16To George Washington from John Hancock, 28 June 1775 (Washington Papers)
in the British army, was appointed governor of Quebec on 10 Jan. 1775 and served until 1778. At this time he had four to five hundred regulars defending the strategically important town of St. Jean, 15 miles east of Montreal, and two armed sloops under construction... ...commander in chief in America from May 1782 to November 1783 and was again governor of Quebec between 1786 and 1796. He...
17To George Washington from John Hancock, 19 July 1775 (Washington Papers)
...the American army outside Boston. Ogden at first declined to go, but after the Battle of Bunker Hill, Burr went to Elizabeth and persuaded his friend to come with him. Both young men accompanied Arnold’s march to Quebec in the fall of 1775 as unattached volunteers. Ogden was wounded at Quebec on 31 Dec. but joined the 1st New Jersey Regiment as a lieutenant colonel in March 1776. He was...
18To George Washington from Colonel Donald Campbell, 26 July 1775 (Washington Papers)
, 2:186). During the fall of 1775, he accompanied Brig. Gen. Richard Montgomery’s expedition to Canada. When Montgomery was killed at Quebec on 31 Dec., Campbell temporarily assumed command of Montgomery’s force and ordered a retreat. In the summer of 1776 Campbell was tried by a court-martial on charges brought against him by Brig. Gen. John Sullivan....
19To George Washington from Andrew Hamilton, 16 August 1775 (Washington Papers)
George Hamilton was commissioned an ensign in the 52d Regiment of Foot on 13 Feb. 1762 and a lieutenant on 26 Dec. 1770. The 52d Regiment moved to Boston from Quebec in October 1774 and fought at Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775.
20To George Washington from Major General Philip Schuyler, 27 August 1775 (Washington Papers)
...you sooner[.] The force I shall carry is far short of what I would wish[.] I believe It will not Exceed Seventeen Hundred men, and this will be a body Insufficient to Attempt Quebec with; after leaving the necessary Detatchments (at St Johns, Chamble, and Montreal should we Succeed and Carry those places,) which must be respectable to keep an open & free Communication with Crown point &...
21To George Washington from Samuel Ward, 17 September 1775 (Washington Papers)
...1832), graduated from Rhode Island College (later Brown University) in 1771 and in May 1775 became a captain in Col. James Mitchell Varnum’s regiment. Commander of a company on Arnold’s expedition, Ward was captured at Quebec on 31 Dec. 1775. After his release in August 1776, he rejoined the army and served until the end of 1780, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
22To George Washington from Major General Philip Schuyler, 20 September 1775 (Washington Papers)
...of being sympathetic to the American cause and had earlier imprisoned him for a time and confiscated his considerable property in the area. Hazen subsequently joined Gen. Richard Montgomery’s force and participated in the sieges of Montreal and Quebec. In January 1776 Hazen became colonel of the 2d Canadian Regiment, and in June 1781 he was brevetted brigadier general....at Quebec on 31 Dec....
23To George Washington from Colonel Benedict Arnold, 25–27 September 1775 (Washington Papers)
Inclosed is a Letter to Mr Coburn, from the Party sent to Quebec, by which your Excellency will see all the Intelligence I have received. I have conversed with the Party, who saw only one Indian, one Nattanis, a Native of Norridgwalk, a noted Villain, and very little Credit......’s secretary during the Quebec expedition. Arnold reached Fort Western on the Kennebec River at the site of present...
24To George Washington from Nicholas Cooke, 26 September 1775 (Washington Papers)
Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer; or, the Connecticut, Hudson’s River, New-Jersey, and Quebec Weekly Advertiser
25To George Washington from the Gloucester Committee of Safety, 28 September 1775 (Washington Papers)
That yesterday morning a Brig was descover’d at ankor within Thatchers Island—Captains Somes & Smith in a boat went alongside and asked where from, and where bound, was answer’d from Quebec for [St.] Eustatia, they asked what they did there, the answer was they wanted Water—Sd Somes & Smith taking them to be enemies came ashore, and envited men to go off in boats and Seize her......at Quebec...
26To George Washington from John Hancock, 5 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
...the Sailing of Two North Country built Brigantines, of no Force, from England on the 11th of August last, loaded with Six thousand Stand of Arms, a large Quantity of Powder & other Stores for Quebec, without Convoy, and as it is of great importance if possible to intercept them, I am order’d by the Congress to Give you this information, and to Desire you immediately to Apply to the...
27To George Washington from John Hancock, 5 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
...those to the southward of them. By these means Administration & their friends fancy that they shall soon either starve out or retake the garrisons of Ticonderoga & Crown point & open & maintain a safe intercourse & correspondence between Quebec Albany & New york & thereby afford the fairest opportunity to their Soldiery & the canadians (In conjunction with the Indians to be procured by G. J.)
28To George Washington from Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., 9 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
...orders to Capt. Giles Hall Commander of the Brigantine Minerva to sail with all possible dispatch on a cruize to the River St Lawrence or there abouts in quest of two vessels from England bound to Quebec with Arms &c. as I presume you will be fully advised of before this reaches you by the same express from the Continental Congress, and it is supposed sundry armed vessels will be dispatched...
29To George Washington from Nicholas Cooke, 10 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
I have this Moment received by Express Orders from the Honble Continental Congress to dispatch the Two armed Vessels belonging to the Colony on a Cruize after 2 Brigs that sailed from England on the 11th August last for Quebec with 6000 Stand of Arms Powder &c.
30To George Washington from Samuel West, 11 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
...I have now written this letter to your Excellency. In order, that your Excellency may form a true judgment of the matter, I must briefly State the fact which is thus—mr Spring who is now gone chaplain to Quebec, had liberty granted him by Dr Cogswill to take his horse and ride him to newbury port and Sell him for Nine Pounds; ...when he will return from Quebec, and as I Stand in need of...
31To George Washington from Colonel Thomas Church, 12 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
...s mate in Col. Daniel Hitchcock’s regiment during 1776. Caleb Fiske later became surgeon of a Rhode Island militia battalion and a justice of the court of common pleas for Providence County. The surgeon who accompanied Arnold to Quebec was Dr. Isaac Senter (1755–1799).
32To George Washington from Major General Philip Schuyler, 12 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
...them with their Row Galley, but were beaten back without Loss on the Side of the Canadians—No certain Intelligence Yet of Arnold’s Arrival, tho’ there are flying Reports to that Purpose, I wish he was at Quebec with all my Heart, I believe there is Nothing to oppose him. I am extreamly happy that You have sent for more Powder, I believe we have not more than two Tons & ½, this I am afraid...
33To George Washington from Colonel Benedict Arnold, 13 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
...return on our Way home so far that your Excellency will be able to relieve us. If we proceed on we shall have a sufficient Stock to reach the French Inhabitants, (where we can be supplied,) if not Quebec.March to Quebec
34To George Washington from Samuel Goodwin, 17 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
March to Quebec...replied to Goodwin on 4 Nov.: “I am Commanded by his Excellency to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 17th Ulto—he is pleased that you had Supplied Colonel Arnold with the plans for his Rout to Quebec. If it shou’d hereafter be found necessary to Lay out the road you mention, His Excellency wont be unmindful of your Offers of Service for that purpose” (
35To George Washington from Richard Henry Lee, 22–23 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
By a Vessel in 20 days from Quebec, which I believe brings us later intelligence than you had from thence when the last Express left Camp, we learn that the D[eputy] Governor had 12 Companies of Canadians in training, and that they were generally on...
36To George Washington from Colonel Benedict Arnold, 27–28 October 1775 (Washington Papers)
in killed & wounded, near 500 Men, (This Account appears very imperfect) and that there were few or none of the King’s troops at Quebec, and no advice of our coming. Three Days since I left the principal part of the Detachment about eight Leagues below the great Carrying Place, and as our Provissions were short by reason of loosing a Number of...March to Quebec
37To George Washington from Captain Nicholson Broughton, 2 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
...this Harbour for safety; we pursued her directly in, & found her to be a Sloop belonging to Enoch Rust of Boston, who last Spring had the Sloop cleard out from Hallifax with Provision for Quebec, the Sloop has since taken a Cargo of Provision from Louisburgh for the west Indies; contrary as we apprehend to the Association of the united american Colonies, the Owner now at Canso we have...
38To George Washington from Captains Nicholson Broughton and John Selman, 6 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
...give over our Design we then stood for this Place where the Storm has hardly yet ceas’d. we are however something comforted in that no Vessel passes this season to Boston Hallifax or to any part of America from Quebec but must pass with in gun Shot of us. we found at the Entrance of the Gut, a Sloop belonging to John Denny of new haven esteem’d by Government an Inhabitant of Quebec which was...
39To George Washington from Colonel Benedict Arnold, 8 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
I have had about 40 Savages joined me & intend as soon as possible crossing the St Lawrance. I am just informed by a Friend from Quebec, that a Frigate of 26 Guns & two Transports with 150 Recruits arrived there last Sunday,
40To George Washington from Lieutenant Colonel Roger Enos, 9 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
March to Quebec
41To George Washington from Colonel Benedict Arnold, 13 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
...item 152.
Although this letter is dated 14 Nov., the context indicates that Arnold wrote it on 13 November. See note 2 below. Pointe de Lévy is directly across the St. Lawrence River from the city of Quebec.March to Quebec
42To George Washington from Thomas Lynch, 13 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
I have a Letter from undoubted Authority that assures me, that the Destruction of the Parliamentary Army in America will certainly produce Peace and by another that the Seizing Quebec will produce the same Effect. I have no doubt America stands now indebted to her General for the One & will before the Return of Spring for the other, mistake me not, I have not altered my mind......Quebec. As you...
43To George Washington from Major General Philip Schuyler, 18 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
...to this Province where they are much wanted notwithstanding the Bostonians are not likely soon to take St Johns there is some danger of their Getting this Town and every other part of the Province except Quebec unless its soon supported by the Kings Troops, as to your Province [Nova Scotia] I am not under any apprehensions of its being over run by them they will never send men where let...
44To George Washington from Colonel Benedict Arnold, 20 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
...to Appearance were good) and that we had no more than five Rounds to each Man, it was judged prudent in our Situation not to hazard a Battle but retire to this Place, eight Leagues from Quebec, which we did yesterday, & are waiting here with Impatience the Arrival of Genl Montgomery, which we expect in a few Days. I have been obliged to send to Montreal for Cloathing for my People...
45To George Washington from Major General Philip Schuyler, 22 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
Whatever may be Colonel Arnold’s Fate at Quebec, his Merit is very great, in marching such a Body of Troops, thro’ a Country scarcely trodden by Human Foot. May Heaven still continue to smile on our Arms, until We have obtained that Justice, which...
46To George Washington from Richard Henry Lee, 26 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
...of Montreal must, I think, quickly follow, because it is quite defenceless, and because the far greater part of the Canadians are surely on our side. If Colo. Arnold meets with success at Quebec, we shall be in a fine posture to receive our enemies next spring. I have been strongly inclined to think that the design of this last reenforcement to Boston, is intended for something decisive...
47To George Washington from Major General Philip Schuyler, 28 November 1775 (Washington Papers)
Brigadier General Prescott surrendered next Day by Capitulation. What Terms General Montgomery has given him, I do not know as he was so hurryed in preparing to move immediately to Quebec, that he could not find Time to send them. Prescott & the Officers arrived here at four to Day. I have just recd a Return of the Officers, Men, Vessels & stores taken, which I do Myself......put Quebec (of...
48To George Washington from Noncommissioned Officers and Soldiers of Captains Thomas William’s and Jonas Hubbard’s … (Washington Papers)
. Petition for reimbursement of damages sustained on the Quebec expedition. “Some of your Pettitioners By Reason of the Badness of the Weather, at the Cold Season of the Year, Suffered Considerable Losses, by going up the River; and others by being Destitude of Provisions were obliged....... Col. Roger Enos in November. Hubbard was fatally wounded and captured in the attack on Quebec, dying on...
49To George Washington from Eleazar Wheelock, 2 December 1775 (Washington Papers)
...British officer during the French and Indian War, Holland rejoined the British army as a major in January 1776. In March 1777 Holland organized a unit of guides and pioneers at New York, and in 1779 he went to Quebec to become muster master of the Hessian troops in the province and provincial surveyor general.
50To George Washington from Colonel Benedict Arnold, 5 December 1775 (Washington Papers)
My last of the 20th ultimo from Point aux Trembles, advising of my retiring from before Quebec, make no Doubt your Excellency has received. I continued at Point aux Trembles until the 3rd Instant, when to my great Joy General Montgomery joined us with Artillery and about 300 Men..
The draft is dated “Before Quebec St Foys.”