1775] SURRENDER OF CHAMBLY. 45I Indians who arrived under the influence of drink. It corroborated the statement of two deserters who had come in the previous day. From them he also learned that the battery which was attacking them consisted only of two guns and two mortars, and that their armed vessels and floating batteries had each only two guns. These men stated that there was much suffering in the camp, that the men were greatly incommoded by the water lying on the campground, and the firing from the fort was now proving more effective. Montgomery had sent to Crown Point for a large mortar to bombard the fort. This intelligence was an encouragement to Preston, for it announced that his safety depended on his perseverance in the defence, till the appearance of snow. He knew only too well the impossibility of obtaining reinforcements, for most of the troops in the province had been placed under his command; there was an equal difficulty in furnishing the fort with supplies, the Canadians preferring to aid the invaders. His one resource was to husband the food at his disposal, so that the garrison would not be driven to surrender from starvation. Accordingly, on the 2nd of October, he placed the troops on half rations, and sent to Carleton news of his situation. Some of the men had been fortunate enough in seizing some cattle which appeared in the woods near the fort. A sortie was made by a small party on the 9th, by which a prisoner was taken and a few of the enemy killed, and, what was of greater moment, Preston was enabled to send to Montreal a report of his condition. On the 20th of October, Preston, with pain and surprise, received information which told him that his doom was now certain, and that a few days must decide the fate of himself and his garrison. An officer, accompanied by a drum, appeared with a letter from Montgomery. It contained the news that two days previously, on the 18th, the fort at Chambly had surrendered after the siege of a day and a half. On the first day one gun only had been directed against it. On the second half-day two cannon were brought to bear. There is no doubt of the disgrace of this surrender. The garrison were well provided with powder and provisions. Chambly was a strongly constructed fort with four square bastions. It had been rebuilt in stone by the elder de Vaudreuil in 1710,* and was literally impregnable against musketry, and quite defensible against light artillery. On its eastern side it was unapproachable by water, owing to the Chambly rapids which ran by its base. The space around it was open, and could have been swept by artillery from the bastions. No cause has been assigned for the surrender which took place on the 17th of October. Montgomery here obtained the guns, the ammunition and the provisions he required. Had the place been defended for three weeks, the siege of Saint John's must have been abandoned. The period of stormy weather on lake Champlain was approaching, and heavily laden bateaux could not have lived in the chopping seas which are then experienced. There would have been no means of bringing up ammunition. The winter was coming on, and the congress troops, unaccustomed to the hardships of a winter campaign and unprovided with clothing, would have discontinued their efforts disheartened, by failure, and hopeless of success. Even if Stopford had not the courage to fight, he could have tossed his powder with his provisions and supplies into the Richelieu rapids, which ran by the fort. Nothing was done. † * Ante, Vol. II., p. 451. + That Stopford had no excuse from the want of provisions, the following list of supplies and ammunition will shew. It is taken from Gordon's history of the American revolution, 1788, Vol. II., p. 161, and has evidently been obtained from official sources: "80 barrels of flour; 11 rice; 7 pease; 6 firkins butter; 134 lbs. Pork, 7 damaged; 124 lbs. gunpowder; 300 swivel shot; I box musket shot; 6,564 musket cartridges; 150 stand French arms; 3 royal mortars; 61 shells; 500 hand grenades; Royal Fusileer Musketts, 83; accoutrements, 83; rigging for three vessels at least; 1 major, 2 caps., 3 lieut., capt. of Schooner (sunk) commissary, one surgeon; soldiers 83." The official account of the number surrendering is given (Can. Arch., Q., 11, p. 277), royal fusiliers, major, I capt., 4 lieuts., I surgeon, 5 sergeants, 3 drummers and fifers, 62 rank and file, royal artillery, I capt.-lieut., I corp., 3 mattrosses; total, 82. 1775] FAILURE TO ASSEMBLE THE MILITIA. 453 Shortly after this painful intelligence, Preston received a letter from Stopford asking him to allow ten bateaux to pass unopposed; they contained the garrison as prisoners, with the women and children. Preston could only accede to the request. The same day the rations were again reduced to a half-pound of bread, and a quarter of a pound of pork. On the 29th of October, Mackay and Morin, with twenty volunteers, left the fort before dawn to obtain further intelligence. They seized a prisoner, and from him they learned of the failure of Carleton to relieve them. Sanguinet continually complains of Carleton's inactivity. He entirely sets out of view Carleton's want of power to act, and every consideration that must be kept in prominence when the situation is considered. The state of the 24th of June shews the strength of the regular troops in Canada, consisting of the 7th fusiliers and 26th regiment, to have been 859 of all ranks, and 130 of the royal artillery, making a total of 929. Many were scattered in detachments. By withdrawing the troops whereever possible, Carleton strengthened Saint John's. At Quebec, the few troops that remained had been placed under the command of Maclean, who made an effort to raise a regiment to which the name was given of the "Royal Emigrants."* Carleton's endeavour to assemble the militia in Montreal had resulted in about nine hundred men being collected. They, however, could not be relied upon, for they disappeared thirty and forty in a night, and there was the prospect that in a few days the whole would melt away. They were without discipline; nevertheless, the desperate condition of Saint John's as represented by Preston's despatches imperatively required that an attempt should be made for its relief. Carleton accordingly determined to make a landing at Longueuil, and * Two seigneuries had been granted since the conquest by Murray; the first on the 27th April, 1762, to captain John Nairne, of the 79th Highlanders, at Murray Bay; the second shortly afterwards in the same year to lieutenant Fraser at Mount Murray. It was from these seigneuries that the men for Maclean's regiment were principally obtained. A third seigneurie was subsequently granted by Lord Dorchester on the 4th July, 1783, to John Shoolbred, Bay of Chaleurs. The three grants above named comprise all that were so made of this character. march by land to Sorel and there join Maclean's force which had been ordered thither, and thence, following the bank of the Richelieu, reach Saint John's. His design was then, in union with a sortie from the garrison, to make a determined assault upon Montgomery's lines. On the 30th of October,* Carleton attempted to cross the river in forty bateaux; his force consisted of 800 of the milita, 130 regular troops and 80 Indians. They found, on their arrival, the bank occupied by a strong force of congress troops. Montgomery had anticipated some such movement, and colonel Seth Warner had been placed in position with 300 Vermont men. It was a duty for which they were well fitted, to exercise their skill as shots against the advancing expedition. A 4-pdr. was also served by them with much effect, supplied by the ammunition obtained from Chambly. The consequence of this opposition was that the boats were thrown into confusion. Some of those on the extreme right effected a landing, expecting to be reinforced, but it was impossible for the other boats to come to their assistance. The consequence was that a few prisoners were taken; among them were one Lacoste, a hair dresser, and Mr. J. Bte. Despins, whose names will appear in the narrative of the capitulation of Saint John's. Carleton, accordingly, on the failure of his attempt returned to Montreal. Maclean, on receiving orders to proceed to Sorel with what men he could collect, left Quebec on the 14th, with a force consisting of a portion of the lately raised regiment of the "Royal Emigrants," and about three hundred and fifty Canadian militia. His instructions were to establish himself at Sorel, which is forty-five miles from Montreal, until joined by Carleton. It was in the attempt to join Maclean that de * Gordon, in his history of the American Revolution, places this affair on the 31st October. In the diary of the siege [p. 75], it is said that the defeat was heard of on the 29th by a party sent out to obtain news.' In the journal on the American side, it is described as being known on the 31st. Berthelot [Verreault, p. 231] alludes to Gordon's statement as incorrect, with the remark: "Et tandis que les anciens Canadiens du temps la mettent au 26e." Sanguinet, who was present at Montreal, places the date on the 30th. I have accepted the last named. 1775] COLONEL MCLEAN. Lanaudière had been attacked at Berthier. 455 At Three Rivers Maclean's force was strengthened by some of the militia of the place, under Godefroy de Tonnancour. Sending a small detachment under the latter to Sorel, McLean himself procceded to Nicolet, to engage the habitants of that parish to join him. He did not meet with a precise refusal, but experienced much opposition. Eventually the habitants, to save themselves from being forced to serve, took to the woods. Maclean, finding every attempt to obtain more men ending in failure, proceeded with his force to Sorel. At the time he arrived there, he was met by captain Chabot with an armed schooner, and ten bateaux charged with arms and ammunition. This exhibition of force induced several of the habitants of the Richelieu parishes to enrol themselves, declaring their readiness to serve the king; but no sooner had they received their arms, than they deserted to the side of congress. Their example worked upon the troops who had marched with Maclean, and large numbers commenced to desert. In this situation, while awaiting the appearance of the troops from Montreal, the news came of the unsuccessful attempt of Carleton to land at Longueuil. Accordingly, Maclean, with what force remained to him, endeavoured to ascend by the bank of the Richelieu; but he found the bridges broken at Saint Denis and the road made impassable. At the same time he learned that Chambly had surrendered; he consequently returned to Sorel. The failure of Carleton to land at Longueuil being confirmed, and the desertion from his force continuing, on the 2nd of November Maclean, destroying what he could not remove, transferred his men, with the cannon and provisions, on board the vessels at Sorel, and awaited further orders. On the fifth of November he heard of the surrender of Saint John's, and descending lake Saint Peter to Three Rivers, three days later he sent a boat on shore to learn if any congress troops were in the place. Hearing that none were present, he landed part of his force, and embarked all the provisions and arms and munitions which he could find in the barracks, even taking away what |