evils, might probably create the desire. All these considerations persuaded Montgomery, that without a bold and immediate effort, he must renounce the idea of satisfying public expectation, and witness the eclipse of his own glory. In his position, even temerity became prudence, and it was better to lose life in a glorious action, than resign himself to a shame which would have been so fatal to the American arms.

Accordingly, Montgomery, having determined to attempt the assault, convoked a council of war, and acquainted them with his project. Without denying that it was of difficult execution, he maintained that it was possible, and that valor and prudence would triumph over all obstacles. All were in favor of his proposition. A few companies of Arnold, dissatisfied with their commander, alone testified repugnance. But captain Morgan, a man of real merit, addressed them a persuasive discourse, and their opposition ceased. The general had already arranged in his mind the plan of the attack, and thought of all the means proper to carry it into execution. He intended it should take place, at the same time, against the upper and lower town. But understanding that a deserter had given notice of it to the governor, he resolved to divide his army into four corps, two of which, composed in great part of Canadians, under the command of majors Livingston and Brown, were to occupy the attention of the enemy by two feigned attacks of the upper town, towards St. John and Cape Diamond. The two others, led, the first by Montgomery, the second by Arnold, were reserved to assault the lower part of the town from two opposite points. The general was perfectly aware, that after he should have carried this part of Quebec, there would remain many difficulties to be surmounted in older to conquer the other. But he hoped that the inhabitants, on seeing so great a proportion of their property fallen into the power of the victors, would force the governor to capitulate.

The last day of the year, 1775, between four and five o'clock in the morning, in the midst of a heavy storm of snow, the four col umns put themselves in motion, in the best order, each towards the point assigned.

It is said that captain Frazer, of the Irish emigrants, in going his round, perceived the fusees which the Americans fired to give the signal; and that, immediately, without waiting further orders, he caused the drums to beat, and roused the garrison to arms. The columns of Livingston and of Brown, impeded by the snow and other obstacles, were not in time to execute their feints. But Montgomery, at the head of his, composed chiefly of New York men, advanced upon the bank of the river, marching by the way denomi25

VOL. I.

nated Anse de mer, under Cape Diamond. Here was encountered a first barrier, at a place called Potasse, which was defended by a battery of a few pieces of cannon; further on, at the distance of two hundred paces from this, stood a redoubt, furnished with a sufficient guard. The soldiers that composed it, being the greater part Canadians, on seeing the enemy approach, were seized with terror, threw down their arms, and fled. The battery itself was abandoned; and if the Americans could have advanced with sufficient expedition, they would certainly have been masters of it. But in turning Cape Diamond, the foot of which is bathed by the waters of the river, they found the road interrupted by enormous masses of snow. Montgomery, with his own hands, endeavored to open a path for his troops, who followed him, man by man; he was compelled to wait for them. At length, having assembled about two hundred, whom he encouraged with voice and example, he moved courageously and rapidly towards the barrier. But, in the mean time, a cannonier who had retreated from the battery, on seeing the enemy halt, returned to his post, and taking a match, which happened to be still burning, fired a cannon charged with grape-shot; the Americans were within forty paces. This single explosion totally extinguished the hopes they had conceived. Montgomery, as well as captains Macpherson and Cheesman, both young men of singular merit, and dear to the general, were killed upon the spot. The soldiers shrunk back on seeing their general fall; and colonel Campbell, on whom the command devolved, was not a man capable of executing so perilous an enterprise. The flight soon became universal; so that this part of the garrison, no longer having enemies to combat, was at liberty to fly to the succor of that which was attacked by Arnold.

This colonel, who was himself at the head of the forlorn hope, marched by the way of St. Roc, towards the place called Saut-auMatelot. Captain Lamb followed him with a company of artillery, and one piece of cannon; next came the main body, preceded by the riflemen under captain Morgan. The besieged had erected, at the entrance of the avenue, a battery, which defended a barrier. The Americans found themselves confined within a passage obstructed by deep snow, and so commanded by the works of the enemy, that his grape-shot swept it in every direction. Meanwhile, Arnold advanced rapidly under the fire of the besieged, who manned the walls. He received a musket ball in the leg, which wounded him severely, splintering the bone. It was necessary to carry him to the hospital, almost by compulsion. Captain Morgan then took the command, and with all the impetuosity of his character, he launched himself against the battery, at the head of two companies. The

artillery of the enemy continued to fire grape shot, but with little effect.

The American riflemen, celebrated for their extreme address, killed many of the English soldiers through the embrasures. They applied ladders to the parapet; the besieged were daunted, and abandoned the battery to the assailants. Morgan, with his companies, and a few soldiers of the center, who were come up to the vanguard, made many prisoners, English as well as Canadians; put his situation became extremely critical. The main body had not yet been able to join him; he had no guide, and he was unacquainted with the city; he had no artillery, and the day was still far from dawning. He found himself constrained to halt; his soldiers began to reflect upon their position; their ardor cooled rapidly. The ignorance in which they were, of the fate of their columns, the obscurity of the night, the snow which fell with redoubled violence, the firing of musketry, which was heard on every side, and even behind them, finally, the uncertainty of the future, filled the boldest spirits with an involuntary terror. Morgan alone resisted the panic; he rallied his riflemen, promising them a certain victory. He ran to the bar rier, to spur on those who had remained behind. Lieutenant-colonel Green, majors Bigelow and Meigs, joined him with their companies. The morning began to dawn, when Morgan, with a terrible voice, summoned his troops to the assault; he led on with fury against a second battery, which he knew to be only a few paces distant, though masked by an angle of the road; on turning the corner, he encountered a detachment of English, who had sallied from the battery, under the command of captain Anderson. The latter summoned the Americans to lay down arms. Morgan leveled a musket at his head, and laid him dead upon the ground. The English then retreated within the battery, and closed the barrier. A fierce combat ensued, which cost many lives to the two parties, but most to the Americans, 'whose flanks were exposed to a destructive fire of musketry from the windows of the houses. Meanwhile, some of the most adventurous, having rested their ladders against the palisade, appeared disposed to leap it, but on seeing two files of soldiers prepared to receive them on the points of their bayonets, they renounced this project. Cut down by a continual fire, they now sought shelter in the houses. Morgan remained almost alone, near the barrier, endeavoring in vain to recall his soldiers, and inspire them with fresh courage. Weariness, and the menacing countenance of the enemy, had disheartened the most audacious. Their arms, bathed by the snow, which continued to fall impetuously, were no longer of any use to them. Morgan then, seeing the expedition frustrated, or

dered the retreat to sound, in order to avoid being surrounded. But the soldiers who had taken refuge in the houses were afraid to expose themselves to the tempest of shot that must have been encountered, in gaining the corner of the avenue, where they would have been out of danger, and whence they might have retired behind the first barrier. The loss they had sustained, the fury of the storm, and the benumbing effects of the cold, had deprived them of all courage. In the meantime, a detachment of the besieged sallied out from a gate of the palace, and captain Dearborne, who, with his company of provincials, held himself in reserve near this gate, having surrendered, the English retook all this part of the city; consequently, Morgan saw himself encircled by enemies. He proposed to his followers, to open, with arms, the way of retreat; but they refused, in the hope that the assault given on the other part might have succeeded, and that Montgomery would soon come to their relief. They resolved to defend themselves, in the meantime; but having at length perceived, by the continually increasing multitude of enemies, the true state of things, they yielded to destiny, and laid down arms.

Such was the issue of the assault given by the Americans to the city of Quebec, in the midst of the most rigorous season of the year; an enterprise, which, though at first view it may seem rash, was certainly not impossible. The events themselves have proved it; for if general Montgomery had not been slain at the first onset, it is more than probable that on his part he would have carried the barrier, since even at the moment of his death the battery was abandoned, and only served by a few men; by penetrating at this point, while Arnold and Morgan obtained the same advantages in their attacks, all the lower city would have fallen into the power of the Americans. However this may be, though victory escaped them, their heroic efforts will be the object of sincere admiration governor, using his advantages nobly, treated the prisoners with much humanity. He caused the American general to be interred with al military honors.

The

The loss of this excellent officer was deeply and justly lamented by all his party. Born of a distinguished Irish family, Montgomery had entered, in early youth, the career of arms; and had served, with honor, in the preceding war between Great Britain and I race. Having married an American lady, and purchased an este in the province of New York, he was considered, and considered himself, an American. He loved glory much, and liberty yet more. Neither genius, nor valor, nor occasion, failed him; but time and fortune. And if it is allowable, from the past actions of man, to infer the fu

ture, what motives are there for believing, that if death had not taken him from his country in all the vigor of his age, he would have left it the model of military heroism and of civil virtues! He was beloved by the good, feared by the wicked, and honored even by enemies. Nature had done all for him; his person, from its perfection, answered to the purity of his mind. He left a wife, the object of all his tenderness, with several children, still infants;-a spectacle for their country, at once of pity and of admiration! The state, from gratitude towards their father, distinguished them with every mark of kindness and protection.* Thus died this man—whose name, ever pronounced with enthusiasm by his own, has never ceased to be respected by the warmest of the opposite party; marvelous eulogium, and almost without example!

General Carleton still added to his reputation for prudence and intrepidity, in having maintained, under circumstances of such difficulty, both order and union, among soldiers assembled in haste, and altogether strangers to discipline. If, with means so feeble, he was able to repulse the formidable attacks of an enemy rendered more terrible by despair, he acquired an honor not inferior by the generosity with which he used victory.

Arnold, who, after the death of Montgomery, had taken the command of the troops, not thinking himself in safety under the walls of the city, extended his camp, with the intention of converting the siege into a blockade. He retired to a distance of three miles from the town; and intrenched himself, as well as the season, the want of all necessary articles, and the shortness of time, would admit of. Though still suffering much from his wound, he was vigilant to scour the country, and to intercept the provisions that were conducted to the city. The governor, on his part, satisfied with seeing the return of tranquillity for the present, and trusting in the hope of succors already announced, would not, by a second trial of fortune, expose himself to hazard the glory he had acquired, the fate of the province, and perhaps that of all the war, He therefore remained peaceably within the walls of the city, waiting for the favorable season, and re-inforcements from England.

Thus terminated, in America, the year 1775, to give place to the subsequent, teeming with actions no less glorious, and events no less memorable.

* The author was misinformed with respect to this fact; the widow of general Montgomery never had any children. TRANSLATOR.

END OF BOOK FIFTH.