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The Invasion of Canada

On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. A month later on June 14, they formed the Continental Army and chose George Washington of Virginia as its commander-in-chief. Traveling to Boston, Washington took command of the army in July. Among Congress' other goals was the capture of Canada.

Efforts had been made the previous year to encourage French-Canadians to join the thirteen colonies in opposing British rule. These advances were rebuffed, and Congress authorized the formation of the Northern Department, under Major General Philip Schuyler, with orders to take Canada by force.

Schuyler's efforts were made easier by the actions of Colonel Ethan Allen of Vermont, who along with Colonel Benedict Arnold, captured Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775. Located at the base of Lake Champlain, the fort provided an ideal springboard for attacking Canada. Organizing a small army, Schuyler fell ill and was forced to turn command over to Brigadier General Richard Montgomery. Moving up the lake, he captured Fort St. Jean on November 3, after a 45-day siege. Pressing on, Montgomery occupied Montreal ten days later when Canadian governor Major General Sir Guy Carleton withdrew to Quebec City without a fight. With Montreal secured, Montgomery departed for Quebec City on November 28 with 300 men.

While Montgomery's army had been attacking through the Lake Champlain corridor, a second American force, under Arnold moved up the Kennebec River in Maine. Anticipating the march from Fort Western to Quebec City to take 20 days, Arnold's 1,100-man column encountered problems shortly after departing. Leaving September 25, his men endured starvation and disease before finally reaching Quebec on November 6, with around 600 men. Though he outnumbered the city's defenders, Arnold lacked artillery and could not penetrate its fortifications.

On December 3, Montgomery arrived and the two American commanders joined forces. As the Americans planned their attack, Carleton reinforced the city raising the number of defenders to 1,800. Moving forward on the night of December 31, Montgomery and Arnold assaulted the city with the latter attacking from the west and the former from the north. In the resulting Battle of Quebec, American forces were repulsed with Montgomery killed in action. The surviving Americans retreated from the city and were placed under the command of Major General John Thomas.

Arriving on May 1, 1776, Thomas found American forces weakened by disease and numbering fewer than a thousand. Seeing no other choice, he began retreating up the St. Lawrence River. On June 2, Thomas died of smallpox and command devolved to Brigadier General John Sullivan who had recently arrived with reinforcements. Attacking the British at Trois-Rivières on June 8, Sullivan was defeated and forced to retreat to Montreal and then south towards Lake Champlain. Seizing the initiative, Carleton pursued the Americans with the goal of reclaiming the lake and invading the colonies from the north. These efforts were blocked on October 11, when a scratch-built American fleet, led by Arnold, won a strategic naval victory at the Battle of Valcour Island. Arnold's efforts prevented a northern British invasion in 1776.

The Capture of Boston

While Continental forces were suffering in Canada, Washington maintained the siege of Boston. With his men lacking supplies and ammunition, Washington turned down several plans for assaulting the city. In Boston, conditions for the British worsened as winter weather approached and American privateers hampered their re-supply by sea. Seeking advice to break the stalemate, Washington consulted artilleryman Colonel Henry Knox in November 1775. Knox proposed a plan for transporting the guns captured at Fort Ticonderoga to the siege lines at Boston.

Approving his plan, Washington immediately dispatched Knox north. Loading the fort's guns on boats and sledges, Knox moved 59 guns and mortars down Lake George and across Massachusetts. The 300-mile journey lasted 56 days from December 5, 1775 to January 24, 1776. Pressing through severe winter weather, Knox arrived at Boston with the tools to break the siege. On the night of March 4/5, Washington's men moved onto Dorchester Heights with their newly acquired guns. From this position, the Americans commanded both the city and the harbor.

The next day, Howe, who had taken command from Gage, decided to assault the heights. As his men prepared, a snow storm rolled in preventing the attack. During the delay, Howe's aids, remembering Bunker Hill, convinced him to cancel the assault. Seeing that he had no choice, Howe contacted Washington on March 8 with the message that the city would not be burned if the British were allowed to leave unmolested. On March 17, the British departed Boston and sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Later in the day, American troops triumphantly entered the city. Washington and the army remained in the area until April 4, when they moved south to defend against an attack on New York.

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