To John Jay from William Goforth, 8 April 1776
From William Goforth
Three Rivers in Canada April the 8th. 17761
Honoured Sir
I haveing been ordered by his Excellency General Wooster2 on the 3d. Feb. with a Small party to take the Command of this place I have thereby had an opportunity to take an Exact account of all the Fresh Forces which have passed this place since the defeat at Quebec which I make bold to transmit you as also what I Supposed a few days ago to have been the number of our Army at the Camp before that place.—
| Fresh Forces, officers included which past this Post Since the defeat | 1772 |
| I imagined those which moved from the Garrison at Montreal before I arrived here to be | 400 |
| and that the Number of well Sick and wounded after the defeat to be | 500 |
| and the new Recruited Canadians to be according to the best accounts I could get to be | 500 |
| Total. | 3172 |
But on receiving a Letter from a Brother Captain a few days ago I was obligded to Conclude I was wrong Somewhere ore Else that great Numbers must have died an Extract of which I Send also and is as follows. You’ll please to observe Says he that by the General Return of the Army, Canadians Included, we have 2475. 786. of them Sick Six hundred and odd present fit for duty the Remainder at different out Posts, Some of them 30 & 40 miles Distant3 This is the State of our Army Officers included, and after Mentioning Some other things he Says To insure Certain Ruin the Officers of the Different Provinces, are Continually Stygmatizeing Each other. And again Seventy odd men less this day fit for duty than there was two days ago. I mean not to Reflect and was I disposed so to do I know not on whom I Should lay the Reflection but Cant help Saying I am Extreemely Sorry this department had not had greater attention paid to it and been better Supply’d with men had we had the number of Men which it was reported we had last Summer the Business would have been finisht. But instead of the talked of thousands I believe Colonel Fleming the D. A. G.4 can tell you that when he wanted men he could not Sometimes Call on more than Eight hundred fit for duty. Had we been properly succour’d this Spring the Town of Quebec might have been Stormd without Risque of great Loss. However we have heard Ten Batalions are Coming for this place and perhaps by this time you may have heard they are arrived, But where they Stay I know not. It may be you ask where are the Pensylvania men, the Jersey men and the three thousand Green Mountain Boys5 thats a question I Cant Answer but this I Can tell you that on the Sixth Instant young Mr. Maccord6 on his way from Camp to Montreal Calld to See me and told me a return was made of the Green Mountain Men under Command of Colonel Warner7 and that only 92 were Return’d fit for Service: Upon a Supposition that Quebec should not be taken before the arrival of the Ships of War, I Should on that Score be much Concern’d for our little Army and for the Poor Canadians who have taken part with the United Colonies for in my Opinion there would be great Danger of the Communication being Cut of[f] between the Southern Colonies and this in Consequence of which our little neglected Army must fall in to the hands of our inveterate Enemies and the poor Canadians and if so the Poor Canadians must by a Natural Consequence fall a Victim to Ministerial Vengence of which they are greatly affraid. But upon the Supposition that Quebec Should be taken (which I would rather Choose to beleive) I hope you will not then Conclude that all is over and that this Country is then fully Secured. I well know that Quebec is generally looked upon to be a place of such Strength as to make it a Barrier Sufficient to prevent any Vessells Passing by it but it Should be rememberd that it has been pass’d by Vessells of war and may be again. And Should one Single twenty-Gun Ship Get up the River it would be in the power of the Commander to destroy the Towns of three Rivers and Montreal, together with most of the Vilages on both sides the River Saint Laurance for one hundred and Eighty Miles. On the one hand the Towns and Vilages must be destroyed or on the other the People must Subject to any Contributions Either of men or Money that might be Call’d for, not a Single Battery being Erected for the defence of any [of] the Towns or Vilages. At Montreal a Battery might in my Opinion be Constructed for its own defence. The Channel Before the Town of three Rivers puts down on both Sides of the River but at Cape Magdline about one League and a half below ther[e] the[y] Unite and Channel Sets Close in with the North Shore where a Battery might be So Constructed as to prevent any thing perhaps from Passing. But the best place in the River is at Richleiu Rappids about 45 miles below this place there the Tide never Sets up, at most only Swells the Channel is narrow and near the Shore and is so difficult that they must have a good Pilot and day light or a very Clear night to pass it and what would make that place more advantegeous is that the Rapids Sets down So Strong that it requires a Breeze from 6 to 8 Knots to Stem the Current If a Battery was well Constructed at this place of about 20 peices of heavy Cannon and put under the Command of a good Officer and men Sufficient to defend the works I allow it would answer Every purpose for all places above it and in my opinion be a greater Security to the upper parts of the Country than Quebec. Again if Quebec is taken of other things will immediate Call for yore attention a printing office is much wanting which if put under the direction a prudent man that understands French and English and orderd to publish Every thing in both Languages would I doubt not be of great use to the Cause of Liberty The different Posts for Indians trade will for your direction also. and Cant help thinking the Supplieng the Indians this Summer is a Matter that deserves Serious Consideration on the one hand if they are Served with Amunition they may Use it against us on the other if they have it not, they have been so long out of the Use of Bows and Arrows that they must Starve which doubtless they will try in time to prevent in time8 and if possible Something ought to be done to divert the trade of the Merchants in Canada for altho the most of them are as fond of freedom as you are below and have Petitioned against the Quebec Bill9 yet they be Easily taught to Sacrifice their trade as our friends below have done and you may depend on it one great Reason why we have so many Tories is because the[y] dread to Shut their Stores: The Establishing Regular Courts of Justice is much wanted and ardantly Calld for by many of the best People.
It may be you might be willing to have my candid opinion Respecting the takeing Quebec I believe we Shall take it and I as Candidly must tell you that I beleive we Shall as Soon lose it if we are not better Reinforced with men. If we do not take, it it will be for want of men and if we do not keep it will be for want of Secureing the Passes of the River. I had the Honour to Spend part of the Evening of the 29th March. with General Worster and in my turn was Calld upon to give my Toast which was that the General might Speedily Enter the Gates of Quebec with Tryumph with this he did not Seem fully to agree and Said for his part he determin’d to go over the Walls. Seemd in high Spirits and on being informd of the Rumors with the Tories below Seemd not to regard ^it^ and gave me Express orders if any difficulty Should arise in this district to Stop as many men as I thought proper Saying he was affraid of haveing too many men below I have Stop none yet neither Shall I till he is better Supplied unless the necessity Should be very pressing this District Laying between the army of Quebec and Montreal I Concieve to be the Quietest part of Canada at present & On the fourth Instant Lieutenant Witcom arrived here from Chamble by the way of the Parish of St ours10 and acquainted me that the Captain of malitia of Said Parish desired him to leave a Small party of men there that he was endangerd by Executeing orders in favour of the Congress that was Confirmd by an ensign who arrived last night with another party with this addition that the Tories were as privately ^as^ they Could inlisting men in order to fall in with the Tories If we fail’d at Quebec. This parish of St Ours Laying in Colonel Hazens11 District I Immediately ^Sent^ a letter to inform thereof who I doubt not will Soon give a good account of them The Minds of the Canadians Seems to be freted and wavering and begin to think our hand full of men not Sufficient to protect them from Ministerial Vengence as to fighting for us we need not Expect them any farther than they think we dont Stand in need of th[em] if we should miss takeing Quebec depend upon it they will be pan[ic] Struck and to Save Appearances, Secure their Estates and prevent their [fami]lies from being Butcher’d Join in helping to drive us out of the Country.
I hope you will Excuse Every freedom I have taken ^I^ only mean to Give you a true State of facts I hope also you will not Cons[i]ter anything I have said as intended to Discourage the Carr[y]ing on the War in this province So far from any thing of that Sort that I am of Opinion it would be better for the back Settlers in the Lower Colonies to Support the ^war^ in this province by a Special tax on themselves than to lose it as a Barrier I hope Quebec will Soon be ours that I may get permission on[c]e more in an honourable way to Return to my family I[n] the meantime beg Leave to subscribe myself as in Reality I am your most obedient and most humble Servant—
William Goforth Captn. in the first
Batalion of the 1st. New York Force
one thing I beg as a favour of the Congress and that is that as Soon as the season is proper they would Issue forth a decree ordering all the Doctors in America to prepare to Newengland and anoculate all its inhabitants for the Small Pox the want of which being done has almost Broke up our Army and Cost many a brave man his life Otherwise the Camp is tolerablee Healthy.12
ALS, NNC (EJ: 5611). Addressed: “To John Jay Esquire/Member of the Continental/Congress.” Endorsed. Stamped: “FREE.” Tr, NN: Bancroft (EJ: 1087).
1. Three Rivers (Trois Rivières) is located on the north side of the St. Lawrence, halfway between Montreal and Quebec.
2. On 1 Jan. 1776, Brigadier General David Wooster (1710–77) of Connecticut succeeded Richard Montgomery as American commander in Canada following Montgomery’s death during the siege of Quebec. Wooster’s successor, Major General John Thomas (1724–76), arrived in April 1776 but shortly thereafter died of smallpox.
3. The complete text of this letter has not been found, and Goforth’s informant is unidentified.
4. Colonel Edward Fleming (Flemming) served as deputy adjutant general for the Continental army, 29 Aug. 1775–20 June 1776. , 1: 126, 500.
5. On 19 Jan. 1776 the Congress resolved to reinforce the troops in Canada and urged Pennsylvania and New Jersey to increase their efforts to raise troops for this theater. Additional men were also to be drawn from Washington’s army at Boston and from New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New York. 4: 70–71.
6. Probably John McCord Jr., the son of a Quebec merchant of Scots-Irish descent, John McCord Sr. (1711–93), who had long opposed the British administration in Canada and had fled Quebec in November 1775 after refusing to accept Governor Carleton’s ultimatum to join the militia. Justin H. Smith, Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony (2 vols.; New York, 1907), 1: 56; 2: 95; George M. Wrong, Canada and the American Revolution (New York, 1935), 229.
7. Lieutenant Colonel Seth Warner (1743–84) of the Vermont militia.
8. Upon their arrival in April 1776, the commissioners to Canada authorized “the opening of the Indian Trade, & granting passports to all, who shall enter into certain engagements to do nothing in the upper Country prejudicial to the Continental interests.” 3: 611–13.
9. The Quebec Act of 1774.
10. Probably either Second Lieutenant Benjamin Whitcomb or First Lieutenant Elisha Whitcomb of Bedel’s New Hampshire Rangers. St. Ours is located at the junction of the Richelieu and St. Lawrence Rivers. Chambly is on the Richelieu.
11. Colonel Moses Hazen (1733–1803), a Massachusetts native and veteran of the French and Indian War, was a resident of Fort St. Johns, Quebec, at the outbreak of the Revolution. Hazen joined the American troops in 1775 and participated in the assaults on Quebec and Montreal. He was commissioned a colonel in the 2nd Canadian Regiment on 22 Jan. 1776.
12. Smallpox was prevalent in Boston during 1775–76, when it endangered American troops there. It reached epidemic proportions among the troops outside Quebec in December 1775 and its spread was widely rumored to result from deliberate British policy. New England troops were considered especially at risk due to lack of exposure to the disease and resistance to inoculation in the area. Efforts to inoculate the troops outside Boston were limited by the difficulties of quarantining the troops during the period of contagion. The prevalence of smallpox among the troops in Canada not only weakened the forces there but also deterred reenlistments among the New England troops whose enlistments were expiring on 1 Jan. 1776 and inhibited new enlistments among units destined for Canada. Inability to quarantine prevented implementation of an official inoculation policy in Canada, and self-inoculation by individual soldiers there only served to spread the disease further. After the Canadian campaign collapsed following the death of General Thomas, the congressional committee investigating the causes of the defeat attributed it primarily to the impact of smallpox. Washington began implementing a general policy of inoculating and quarantining new recruits in January 1777 that was eventually successful in limiting the impact of smallpox on the army. Ann M. Becker, “Smallpox in Washington’s Army: Strategic Implications of the Disease during the American Revolutionary War,” Journal of Military History 68 (2004): 381–430.