On December 31, 1775, the patriotic forces of Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery attempted to seize Quebec City under cover of darkness and snowfall. They fail and the effort costs Montgomery’s life.
On December 2, Arnold, Montgomery and their troops met on the outskirts of Quebec and demanded the city’s surrender. Governor Sir Guy Carleton rejected their request, and on December 8 the Patriots began a bombardment of Quebec, which was met by a counter-battery of British defenders who neutralized several of the Patriots’ guns. Faced with the year-end expiration of the enlistment of their troops, the Patriot forces advanced on the city under cover of a snowstorm around 4 a.m. on December 31. The British defenders were ready, however, and when Montgomery’s forces came within 50 yards of the walled city, the British opened fire with artillery barrage and musket fire. Montgomery was killed in the first assault, and after several more attempts to penetrate Quebec’s defenses, his men were forced to retreat.
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Meanwhile, Arnold’s division suffered a similar fate in its attack on the northern city wall. A two-gun battery opened fire on the advance of the Americans, killing a number of soldiers and wounding Benedict Arnold in the leg. Patriot Daniel Morgan took command and advanced against the defenders, but stopped at the second wall of fortifications to await reinforcements. By the time the rest of Arnold’s army finally arrived, the British had reorganized, forcing the Patriots to call their attack. Of the 900 Americans who took part in the siege, 60 were killed or wounded and over 400 were captured.
The remaining Patriotic forces then withdrew from Canada. Benedict Arnold remained in Canadian territory until the last of his soldiers crossed the St. Lawrence River to safety. With the pursuing British forces almost within firing range, Arnold checked one last time that all of his men had escaped, then slaughtered his horse and fled down the St. Lawrence in a canoe.
Less than five years later, Benedict Arnold, then in command of West Point, became a traitor when he agreed to cede the important Hudson River fort to the British for a bribe of £ 20,000. The plot was uncovered after British spy John Andre was captured with incriminating papers, forcing Arnold to flee under British protection and join their fight against the country he had once so valiantly served.
