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INDECISION OF GENERAL GAGE.

conclusively from the failure of the force which took possession of the hill above Charlestown, to reply to the battery from Bunker's Hill. It is difficult to understand what were the reasons which outweighed considerations so palpable. But though a brave and zealous officer, Gage was wanting in decision and military talent. Had he fought on this occasion, he would probably have been victorious; and a signal defeat inflicted on the provincial militia before they had acquired confidence or military organization, would possibly have terminated the war.

While both armies were thus suffering alike from inaction at Massachusetts, the war broke out in a quarter where it was least expected, and where it assumed a new complexion.

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Ch. 19.

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Canada,

When the patriotic party in America were pre- Invasion of paring for the conflict with Great Britain, they sought by every means in their power to attach the important province of Canada to their cause. Congress had repeatedly issued addresses to the people of this newly-constituted British Colony, had endeavoured to awaken them to a sense of their wrongs, and openly solicited their cooperation. But the old French population had no interest or feeling in common with the AmeriContent with the uninterrupted enjoyment of their property and homes under British protection; wholly devoid of the commercial spirit; and incapable of comprehending the high principles of liberty, asserted by the descendants of

cans.

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Ch. 19.

1774

ALLEN AND ARNOLD'S

men who had taken part in the battle of civil and religious freedom in the country from which they sprung, the French Canadians had no disposition to exchange British rule for the alliance of the Colonial insurgents. The English settlers in Canada, the first generation of whom still existed, had brought with them the prejudices of the old country, which regarded the native Colonists as an inferior and subject class. The Americans, therefore, received no encouragement from either of the European races thinly scattered through the Canadas. But while the revolutionary leaders were looking wistfully in this direction, two adventurers came forward, and by a prompt and daring movement, obtained a formidable footing in this, the most important dependency of the Crown. One of these men was Benedick Arnold -a name which afterwards became famous, and ultimately infamous. Arnold was a man of desperate fortunes; at one time he had followed the business of a druggist; at another he had been an itinerant horse dealer; and when the war broke out, he obtained from the Massachusetts Assembly a commission to raise a regiment for service in Canada. Having collected about four hundred men, he marched for Ticonderoga, a fort which, with the corresponding one called Crown Point, I have already described a as commanding the great maritime communica

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CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA AND CROWN POINT.

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Another Ch. 19.

tion between New York and Canada.
adventurer, named Ethan Allen, from a wild
district adjacent to, and claimed as part of, their
territory by the province of New York, but now
known as the State of Vermont, had already
assembled about eighty marauders for the same
enterprize. Allen and Arnold met at the en-
trance to Lake Champlain, and after a dispute
about military rank and precedence, Allen in-
sisting on his prior claim, Arnold consented to
serve under him as a volunteer. The expedition
was completely successful. Ticonderoga was gar-
risoned only by a company of soldiers; and the
commandant was surprised in bed, and com-
pelled to surrender. The sister fort of Crown
Point was wholly unprotected, and a sloop of
war, the only remaining defence of this important
position, was likewise seized without resistance.

1774

sends forces

The Congress had now to determine whether Congress they would adopt this daring act, and avail to Canada. themselves of the military advantages which it opened, or abide by the profession which they had hitherto maintained, that their armed resistance to the unjust laws by which the provinces were oppressed, was consistent with their allegiance to the British Crown, and their union with the parent State. But if the Congress adopted the act of Allen and Arnold, there was an end of this pretence; they committed an act of independence, and if they could not be treated as rebels and pirates, they became invaders of the

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Ch. 19.

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Difficulties of

Gen. Carleton.

GENERAL CARLETON.

territory of Great Britain. The Congress, which had been led into this absurdity by the affectation of following the precedent of the Long Parliament, were now wise enough to see that it was useless and embarrassing. They followed the example of regular governments, in justifying violence and rapine by pretexts as flimsy as they were false. In sending a force to Canada, they made a show of disguising the character of the proceeding, by asserting that the Governor of Canada meditated an invasion of the United Provinces.

General Carleton, who commanded in Canada, so far from being in a condition to act against the provinces, was unable to defend the seat of his government, after the successful exploit of Allen and Arnold. The governor had in fact already made two mistakes. Like the other military men of the day, he had treated with contempt the idea of American hostility; and he had over-estimated the loyalty of the people whom he ruled. He had not only refused any military succour for the defence of the province, but he had offered to assist Gage in case of need, with a force which he believed he could levy in Canada for that purpose; and on the faith of this representation, he had been supplied with arms and muniments of war, the greater part of which had been stored in the fort of Ticonderoga. So far, however, were the Canadian people from being animated by the public spirit for which Carleton

INDIFFERENCE OF THE CANADIANS.

had given them credit, that they positively refused when called upon, to take any part in the conflict between Great Britain and her American colonies. They declared that they had no concern in this quarrel; that their sense of duty was confined to local obedience, and the defence of the province, if actually invaded. Even the Indians when appealed to, politely excused themselves from taking either side in a dispute between Englishmen, for all of whom they entertained the highest regard. Thus when he heard that the posts at Champlain were in possession of the enemy, Carleton could muster only a hundred European troops, and a few hundred militia and Indians. With this scanty force he hastened to the relief of St. John's, the frontier fort, already threatened by three thousand Americans, under General Montgomery. But he was intercepted in his attempt to land by a detachment which had just captured an outlying fort called Chamblée, about five miles from St. John's; and finding it impossible to effect a landing, he fell back upon Montreal. Major Preston, who commanded at St. John's, being thus disappointed in the succours which he had expected from the governor, was forced to capitulate.

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Ch. 19.

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flies to Quebec

Carleton consequently abandoned Montreal, and Gen. Carleton hurried to Quebec, which he reached with difficulty, a disguised and solitary fugitive. Having left a garrison at St. John's, Montgomery followed Carleton with the main body of his army

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