This week in Revolutionary War history, let’s check up on what was going on 250 years ago in and around the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. Last week, Colonel Henry Knox began the trek back to Cambridge with artillery from Ticonderoga, 1200 Americans under Colonel Benedict Arnold and Brigadier General Richard Montgomery are outside Quebec, ready to strike the city, and the Continental Congress authorized General George Washington to assault Boston at his discretion.
On December 24, 1775, the issues with food and supplies faced by the army seem to never dissipate. The General Orders, issued by Washington, seek to further enforce food rationing by allowing the following to each soldier through the winter: corned beef and pork, four days in a week; salt fish; one day; fresh beef, two days; “as milk cannot be procured during the winter season, the men are to have one pound and a half of Beef, or eighteen ounces of pork per day.” They are also allowed rice, beer, butter, peas, beans, onions, and whatever else is available, though supplies dwindle, especially in the cold. Generally, it is not enough for any active soldier, though it is all they can spare.
Many soldier’s contracts are up on January 1, meaning a mass shortage of troops occurring at the beginning of the new year. This exit is to include Major General Philip Schuyler in Albany and General Richard Montgumery, currently outside Quebec City. Both Schuyler and Montgomery had written to the Continental Congress in recent days, expressing their desire to leave the army. Washington writes to Schuyler on December 24, saying, “I am very sorry to find by several paragraphs, that both you and General Montgomery incline to quit the service – let me ask you sir, when is the time for brave men to exert themselves in the cause of liberty and their country, if this is not?” In his pleading message, Washington states he too is facing great stresses, saying “but we must bear up against them, and make the best of mankind as they are.” He doesn’t have much to offer besides words, and concludes, “Let me therefore conjure you and Mr. Montgomery to lay aside such thoughts – thoughts injurious to yourselves and excessively so to your country which calls aloud for gentlemen of your abilities.” To lose these two men would imperil any operation in the north, Washington thinks. The next week will change things.
It’s Christmas, and Washington spends much of the day at his table, working and rampantly drafting letters. To John Hancock and Congress, he urgently requests the expedition of payments to troops as well as further highlighting the lack of gunpowder and ammunitions. He also warns of various plots by Loyalists to disrupt supply and postal shipments.
Speaking of Loyalist plots, on December 26, Washington writes to Virginia politician Richard Henry Lee, warning him of letters he has intercepted intended from Lord John Dunmore to General William Howe. Washington warns of “his diabolical schemes,” which would involve arming the enslaved to rise up in rebellion. This plan by the British is not of anti-slavery, as they are slavers themselves, but merely a way to disrupt the southern colonies.
On December 28, similarly to what he did to Schuyler and Montgomery, Washington makes an appeal to honor and patriotism. Referring to their tenure expiring in less than a Week, he says, “the General recommends to them to consider, what may be the consequence of their abrupt departure from the lines; should any accident happen to them, before the new army gets greater strength, they not only fix eternal disgrace upon themselves as soldiers, but inevitable ruin perhaps upon their country & families.” He also offers reenlisting troops to option to choose their company. The day prior, he ordered all new recruits to Cambridge to bolster numbers around Boston, fearing a potential collapse of the lines come January 1.
By December 30, it had been snowing on and off for a week. A blinding nor’easter had again blown over Quebec City. Supplies, moral, and temperatures are dangerously low, all while smallpox is rampant through the American camp. Time for the siege is running out, as the Americans have no ability to starve the city out before reinforcements can arrive once the Saint Lawrence River thaws. There is also the fact that much of the army’s contract was up in two days. Brigadier General Montgomery gives orders to move on the city. That night, the struggling army advances towards the city walls.
This Week in Revolutionary War History
By Sam Bishop