Quebec 1775: The American invasion of Canada (Campaign)

The American invasion of Canada in 1775 rarely gets much coverage in American history for a variety of reasons. Americans like to think of their forefathers defending home and hearth against British tyranny, spearheaded by the dreaded Redcoats, not invading a territory that did not want to be part of their new nation. The fact that the campaign also ended in ignominious failure further discourages attention. However perhaps the greatest impediment to American study of this important but neglected campaign is the fact that the hero of the hour was none other than Benedict Arnold, the most despised figure in American history. Brendan Morrissey, the British PR consultant who did three earlier volumes for Osprey on the American Revolution, brings the Quebec campaign into sharp focus in Osprey's Campaign #128. In particular, this volume on Quebec 1775 would also make a useful campaign study for military officers. Quebec 1775 begins with a 5-page introduction that provides background on the Quebec Act, a four-page section on the geography, people and political issues and a campaign chronology. The sections on opposing commanders and opposing forces are decent, but Morrissey provides no order of battle for either side (in particular, he omits British ground and naval forces in Nova Scotia). The campaign narrative itself is 60 pages long, and includes separate sections on the initial battles, Arnold's journey across the Maine wilderness, the American retreat from Canada and the Battle of Valcour Island. The author also provides an interesting section on the battlefields today and an annotated bibliography. The campaign narrative is supported by five 2-D maps (North America and the Quebec Act; Lower Canada on the eve of war; Montgomery's advance into Canada; Arnold's march to Quebec; Sullivan's retreat from Canada), three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps (the siege of St Johns; the attack on Quebec; the Battle of Valcour Island) and three color battle scenes (the siege of St Johns; Arnold is wounded at Quebec; the Hesse Hanau artillery in action at Valcour Island). All in all, the graphic presentations are effective and make this volume a useful supplement to any study of early military operations in the American Revolution.Morrissey is a good storyteller and he relates the facts of the campaign with both precision and accuracy. However, Morrissey does not really attempt any military analysis and readers should be cautioned to treat the authors' opinion with some circumspection. Throughout the text, Morrissey defends Major General Sir Guy Carleton, the British commander in Canada, from accusations of over-caution and even timidity. Yet it is pretty obvious that the British army in Canada had gotten into a peacetime rut after nine years of quiet garrison duty in Montreal and neither the troops or commanders were up to the demands of mobile warfare. Carleton's decision to commit the bulk of his regulars to a "die-in-place" mission at St. Johns on the border rather than to conduct a delay or launch a spoiling attack was a major mistake. Indeed, the passivity of the British regulars in the first six months of the campaign is truly amazing - they virtually sat immobile and then just fell over like ninepins at the first strike - and it goes a long way toward explaining American initial successes. Morrissey considers the siege of St Johns as a valiant effort that delayed the American invasion for two months but the defense did not save Montreal from occupation and Arnold did not reach Quebec until nearly two weeks after the surrender of St Johns. With the loss of Montreal and nearly 70% of the British regulars in Canada at the cost of fewer than 200 American casualties, the British were on the verge of losing in weeks what had taken years of hard fighting to conquer in the Seven Years War. Like most historians, Morrissey goes along with the notion that the American assault on Quebec on New Years Eve 1775 was foredoomed to failure. Granted, the Americans were attacking a fortified position held by an enemy that outnumbered them 2-1, but Morrissey does not credit the American advantages in morale and maneuver warfare. The British rag-tag force of militia (French and English), sailors and a few remaining regulars was willing to wait behind their defenses and they were commanded by men who leaned toward caution. Arnold and Daniel Morgan, the commander of the riflemen, typified the aggressive and anything-is-possible type mentality that represented the real military capability of the American patriots in 1775-1776. Morrissey fails to note that the American plan of attack - a pincer effort - was fairly sophisticated and came fairly close to success. Had the Americans made more effort in dealing with the British obstacle plan, the defenses might have been breached and the polyglot British force probably would have surrendered (certainly the Canada militia would probably have decided not to risk their lives for the British). As it was, the failure of the attack and the loss of much of the American army did not entice the slightest aggressiveness from Carleton. After leading the New Years Eve attack with Richard Montgomery and being wounded, Arnold remained in Canada to rally the now-dispirited Americans. Once British reinforcements arrived in 1776 and the American army began to retreat, Morrissey notes that Arnold was the last American soldier to leave Canada. Arnold then threw himself into the construction of a fleet on Lake Champlain and fought the Battle of Valcour Island that helped to delay a British counter-invasion of northern New York. All in all, Arnold's performance in the Quebec campaign between May 1775 and October 1776 was one of the amazing displays of dynamic tactical leadership ever seen by an American commander. Unfortunately, as Medal of Honor winner "Pappy" Boyington once said, "show me a hero and I'll show you a bum," it was never more true than in the case of Arnold.

This reviewer grew up on the dramatic Kenneth Roberts novels "Arundel" and "Rabble in Arms" which portray the heroically conducted but ill-fated American Revolutionary War expedition into Canada. Author Brendan Morrissey provides a concise factual account in the Osprey Campaign Series book "Quebec 1775: The American Invasion of Canada."In a military sense, both the brand new American army and the British Army were operating at the extreme limit of their respective military capabilities in the 1775 campaign. The British Governor of Canada had only a small force of British regulars and a militia of uncertain loyalty. The rebellious American thirteen colonies had to cobble an army together out of volunteers, militia and French and Indian War veterans to stage their invasion, hoping to draw Quebec into the struggle against Britain. The result was a campaign fought by small numbers of troops on a logistical shoestring. The American Army under Montgomery and Arnold displayed astonishing fortitude, carrying their campaign to the very gates of Quebec. Canadian Governor Charleton played his limited hand extremely well, avoiding mistakes while preserving his forces and waiting for the Americans to run out of supplies and momentum.This is a very readable account of a largely forgotten episode of the American War for Independence. British author Morrissey provides an even-handed presentation in which mistakes by both sides are not spared comment. The text is nicely supplemented with maps and diagrams, and period and modern illustrations. Strongly recommended as a good introduction to the events of 1775.

My 5th great-grandfather was a French Canadian who helped the Americans during the siege of Quebec. I have been looking for resources that would give me the details and help me visualize what happened. This book really helped.

The volume covers the 1775 military campaign that attempted to conquer Canada and make it the 14th American colony. The fact that a majority of the Canadians were French Catholics and that the Catholic religion was held in very low esteem by the American political establishment appeared to have been conveniently overlooked. There are several characteristics of these books that I found quite admirable and would recommend to an individual considering a purchase. The authors make extensive use of double page drawings, full-page maps and numerous period illustration and photographs. In addition timelines, an index and a very helpful section titled "The Battlefield Today" make this a very useful volume for the student or the armchair general hidden within many of us. I will add one caution, due to limited pages count, 96 for this volume, the text is compressed to detailing facts - dates, events, what happened, how many were killed, captured etc. Those generous author narrations that explore motives, personalities and detailed backgrounds are missing. In conclusion I found this book an excellent supplement to other books I have read on the American Revolution and Benedict Arnold and recommend it on that basis.

I was at first disappointed because it is fairly short & lots of photos so I thought it was targeted at young students. But it is really well done with excellent maps specifically focused on this campaign snd the illustrations are not the standard types but unique ones that really help bring out the story. The text is also well researched & covers the complexities of this invasion & its failures in good detail. As a researcher, I was pleasantly surprised & only wished it was more extensive but still well done.

Livre salle et taché de café à l’endos du volume.Papier jauni. De très mauvaise qualité.Ce volume n’aurait jamais dû être vendu pour la clientèle.

Unlike Morrissey's Boston 1775, Quebec 1775 is a much better book. The addition of color plates, balanced amount of information on both sides is welcome. For Americans looking at a book on the Revolution, this volume may come as a shock, as Canada has NEVER wanted to be part of America! This volume helps explain why the American Revolution did not include the colonies which eventually became British North America, later to be known as Canada.