Close inspection and thoughtfulness had made the mem
bers of the council, by the means they enjoyed, perfect
masters of those hinges and the lock; they would not
have stood a second of time. The principal obstacle
was the ice which was raised fully a foot against the
door. Even this would have given way to our ingenuity.
The whole of our plan was well laid, and thoroughly
Campaign against ghiebec, 1775. 149
digested. That door was to be our sally port. Boyd
preceding with our division, Aston and M Coy following,
they turning rapidly to the left for St. John s gate. The
dislocation of the iron bars of the windows, was to
ensue : all those which could be removed being known,
were to become issues for our bravest men. Every
man knew his station. It is an old and a trite observ
ation, that it is a difficult thing to describe a battle, so as
to give a clear idea of all the causes and effects of each
movement, without overloading and confusing the pic
ture. The same may be said of a conspiracy such as
ours. Going through the entry from the front door
into the jail yard, near the back door but still within the
prison, there are two cavities opposite to each other,
strongly walled and arched. We called them the black
holes. On the outside of the building in the vard, these
cavities assumed the forms of banks, ten or eleven feet
high, and as wide ; and well sodded. With some address
and agility a sprightly man could surpass either of them.
The wall above those banks was probably ten feet
higher. In the daytime we often climbed up the wall,
by means of its interstices, from which the mortar had
fallen in the course of time, to take a peep at the city,
merely putting our eyes above the level of the top of it.
A Mr. Martin, a hardy, daring and active young man,
of Lamb s company, I think a sergeant, proposed to
bear intelligence of our projects, to the American com
mander without the walls. His plan was approved. A
time for irruption was named, though the day was not
particularized. The signals to invite the advance of our
army to St. John s gate, were the burning of the houses,
and the firing of the guns of the ramparts towards the
city. As yet, we were unprepared to move. This ex
pedition of Martin s was profoundly a secret among those
of the council, from a fear that some bungler might at
tempt the same path, fail, and by his being taken, unveil
our plots. Permit me a short episode on the escape of
Martin. It was singularly adventurous, and the neatness
150 Campaign against Quebec , 1775.
of its execution renders it worthy of remark. I had the
pleasure of hearing it recounted, in more happy times, at
New York. Martin was dressed in warm clothing,
with good gloves ; a white cap, shirt and overalls were
prepared for him. He appeared in the jail yard among
the prisoners, in his daily dress. The time of locking
up, and calling the roll generally happened about sun
down. It was the business of the captain of the provost,
who was accompanied by a file of men. The prisoners,
instigated by those in the secret, employed themselves
out of doors, until late in the evening, in play, as if to
keep their bodies warm. It was a blowing and dreary
evening, which was purposely chosen. At locking up,
those in the secret lagged behind, tardily, pushing the
uninformed before, yet so slowly, as effectually to crowd
the gangway ; Martin remaining in the rear. . The ope
ration took place at the clanging of the lock of the great
front door. This measure was imagined and effected
on purpose to procure to Martin a sufficiency of leisure
to get to his hiding place, which was no other than a nook
formed by the projection of the door way, and on the
top of one of the banks before spoken of. Here he had
time to put on his cap, shirt, etc. The officer who ex
amined the yard, could not perceive him, unless he went
out of the door, several paces to the left, and most pro
bably, not even then, for Martin would be covered in
the snow, and imperceptible. Happily the officer went
no further than the threshold, and made but a slight sur
vey of the yard. This account, so far, is derived from
my own knowledge ; what follows, is from Martin him
self. u Martin tarried there until seven or eight o clock.
The dilemma he was in, could only be surpassed in im
minence of danger, by his extreme activity, skill and
courage. There were four sentries stationed around the
jail two at each corner in front, and the like number
at the corners of the yard in the rear. Those sentries,
though relieved every quarter of an hour, were soon
driven into the sentry boxes, by the cold and keenness
Campaign against Quebec, 1775. I 5 I
of the whistling winds. If they had paced the spaces
allotted them by duty, the escape of Martin must have
been impossible. Watching the true time, -he slipped
down the wall into the deep snow underneath unobserved.
Hence, he made a sudden excursion to the left of St.
John s gate, at a part of the wall where he well knew
no sentry was placed. Leaping the wall, into the snow,
he received the fire of a distant sentry. Martin was un
harmed. The soldier fired, as it were, at a phantom,
for when Martin s body came into contact with the
snow it was undiscernible the desired information
was given j" but of this, we could merely make surmises
until the May following. That which is very remark
able is, that the absence of Martin was unknown to go
vernment, until the explosion of our plot.
Our next solicitude was the acquisition of powder.
This article could be obtained but by sheer address and
shrewd management. But we had to do with men who
were not of the military cast. We began first to enter
into familiarity with the sentries, joking with them and
pretending to learn French from them. The guard,
usually of Canadians, consisted of many old men, and
young boys, who were very lt coming." A few small
gun-carriages were constructed, not more than six
inches in length, and mounted with cannon, or howit
zers, which were made of many folds of paper, and
were bound tightly around with thread. These were
shown to the sentries from time to time, and a little
powder was requested, with which to charge them. Our
berths formed an angle of the room. The upper berths,
as well as the lower, had a ledge of several inches in
height, in which embrasures were formed with the
knife. Two parties were raised in opposition to each
other, each of which took possession of one side of the
angle. The blaze and report, which was nearly as great
and as loud as that of small pistols, created much laughter
and merriment. This sport, the child of a seeming folly,
served us as a pretence and justification for soliciting
152 Campaign against Quebec , 1775.
powder. The apparent joy prevailing among us pleased
the Canadians, both old and young, and did not alarm
the government. We obtained many cartridges in the
course of a few weeks, two-thirds of which came to the
hands of Aston and his corps, for the purpose of manu
facturing matches, etc., etc. Fire arms .of any kind
could not, by any finesse, be procured. The commerce
of cartridges, accompanied by a suavity and deference
of manners towards our young friends, procured us
many quarters of pounds of powder, which they bought
secretly out of funds, some of which were procured in
a ludicrous way. We had many sick in the hospital,
for when any one appeared to be disordered in the least
degree, he was hurried to the infirmary, when cured,
he was returned to us. Some of the men went so far
as to feign sickness to get to that place, where they
lived in a more sumptuous style than that of the jail.
The frequent removals caused the propagation of a re
port that the prison was unhealthy. Many pious matrons
came to see us, and never empty handed. Some
elderly nuns, of respectable families, were of the number,
and generally brought money, truly not great in quantity,
but not the less acceptable to the sick and convalescent,
as these alms procured them some slight comforts, such
as tea, etc. These were the religious and humane col
lections of the sisterhood, and mostly consisted of the
smallest change. There was a beautiful countenanced
youth, Thomas Gibson, first sergeant of Hendricks,
who had studied physic at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, allied
to me by affinity, who had, probably from a knowledge
he had of his profession, sustained his health hitherto ;
his cheeks were blooming as roses. He was one of the
council. As young men, we cared little about the
means, so that we obtained the end, which was powder.
We lived above stairs, and never shared in the gratuities
of the ladies, which were rapaciously awaited at the
entrance of the prison. Gibson and myself were
standing at a window near the great door, and opposite
Campaign against Quebec, 1775. 153
to M Coy s room, a neat little box which had been
knocked up for his purposes. Looking into the street,
a lady with a thick vail, was observed to take the path
through the snow to our habitation. " Zounds, Gibson,
there s a nun," was scarcely expressed, before he was
hurried into M Coy s apartment and put to bed, though
dressed. Several of us waited respectfully at the door,
till the officer of the guard unlocked it. The nun
entered she seemed, from her manners, to be genteel
and respectable. We were most sedulous in our atten
tions to the lady, and so prevailed, as to induce her to
come into M Coy s room. Here lay Gibson, covered
to the chin with the bed-clothes, nothing exposed but
his beautiful hair and red cheeks, the latter indicating a
high fever. It was well the lady was no physician.
The nun crossing herself, and whispering a pater-noster,
poured the contents of her little purse into the hand of
the patient, which he held gently, without the blanketing,
and left us. What should the donation be, but twenty-
four coppers, equal at that time to two shillings of our
money. The latter circumstance added much to the
humor, and extreme merriment of the transaction. This
money was solely appropriated for powder. Thus,
careless of every thing but the means of escaping, we
enjoyed many merry, and even happy hours. Aston,
who was provident of time, by the middle of March
(I have no note of the precise period), had all his matters
of arrangement in good order.
The council assigned a day for the irruption. As we
dared not touch the door in the cellar, from a fear of
discovery by inspection (and it was examined almost
daily), it was determined to postpone the unloosing the
hinges and lock, which were under our command, until
the moment of escape. It became a main question how
to remove the ice at the foot of the door. Here lay the
great difficulty, as it was universally agreed that the door
must be dragged down suddenly, so that we might march
over it. Remember also, that a sentry was posted not
154 Campaign against Quebec , 1775.
more than from fifteen to twenty feet from the outside
of the door. Many propositions were made in council,
how to effect the removal of the body of ice without
exposure to detection. One was lightly to pick it away
with hatchets, a few of which had been secretly retained
by the prisoners, and brought into the jail. To this,
there were several insuperable objections ; the softest
stroke of the lightest tomahawk upon the ice would be
heard by a sentry so near ; or an unlucky stroke might
touch the door which would resound and inevitably cause
a discovery. Others proposed to wear away the ice by
boiling water ; two most obvious objections lay here ;
the steam would search for a vent through the crevices
of the door and window, and develop our measures ;
besides the extreme cold would have congealed the hot
water the moment it fell, so as to add to our difficulties.
Another idea was suggested that was " with knives to cut
the door across on the surface of the ice ;" to this plan
there was a fatal exception, the ice had risen on the lower
cross-piece of the door nearly an inch, so that we must
cut through the cross-piece lengthwise, and through the
thick plank crosswise. Though this labor might have
been accomplished by industry and perseverance, yet the
time it would necessarily take would cause a discovery
by the searchers. The last and only method to avoid
discovery was adopted. This was to embody sixteen or
eighteen of the most prudent men who knew the value
of silence, who should, two and two, relieve each other,
and with our long knives gently pare away the ice next
the sill of the door, so as to make a groove of four or
six inches wide, parallel with, and deep as the sill. The
persons were named and appointed to this service. Now
the capability of the execution of our plot, infused com
fort and joy into all hearts. It was intended immediately
after locking up, on the night of the irruption, that those
prudent men, should descend into the vault by pairs, and
by incessant labor have the work finished by three
o clock in the morning, when the sally should be made.
Campaign against Quebec > 1775. *55
We had carefully noticed from the walls of the jail, and
the ridge of the house where there is a trap-door, the
placing of the guards, the numbers and stationing of the
sentries. We were safe therefore, in the measures we
had taken for the attack of the guard of St. John s gate.
Our own guard was perfectly scrutinized. The oppor
tunities were of the most commodious kind. The guard
house was directly in our front, where we could see and
be seen. Their windows had no shutters. They had
lights all the night through ; we, the better to observe
them, kept none. This latter circumstance, enabled us
distinctly to see that the arms with fixed bayonets were
placed in the right hand corner of the room, as we would
enter from the stairhead, and that the guard towards
morning to a man were lying asleep on the floor. The
sentries as they were relieved, did the like. This
guard, as was before said, in ordinary consisted of thirty
persons. Boyd s party, from a perfect knowledge of
their method of conducting, esteemed it no great hardi
ness to undertake the overwhelming them. Subsequently
our danger must appear. The nights were piercingly
cold the sentries soon housed themselves in their
boxes. As the sally, to succeed, mast be most silent and
quick, it was hoped to quiet all of them before any alarm
could spread. Besides Boyd s division (the first rank of
which, were to despatch the nearest sentry by the spear),
others of the succeeding corps, were assigned to assail
the rest of the sentries, immediately around the prison.
The getting up the stairs of our guard-house so quickly
as to create no alarm was not only feasible, but in my mind
(with the force delegated to us), of absolute certainty of
success. The front door was always open by night and
by day, we knew the precise number of steps the stairs
contained. An agile man would mount at three strides.
A light was continually in the passage. Entering the
room and turning to the right the arms in the corner
were ours. The bayonet, from necessity, would become
the lot of the guard. In this part of the enterprise pro-
156 Campaign against Quebec , 1775.
found silence was all important ; the section was to rely
on the spear and tomahawk. Aston on the other hand,
being victorious at St. John s gate, was instantly to turn
the cannon upon the city ; his fuses, portfire, etc., were
prepared and ready as substitutes for those of the enemy,
if they were extinguished or taken from the guns. It
was known to us, that all the cannon of the ramparts
were charged and primed, and boxes of ammunition and
piles of balls in the vicinity of each gun, it was calculated
that the execution of the business of our section, might
be effected in at least fifteen minutes, together with the
firing of the houses. Then running to support Aston
and if he was victorious, to maintain our position on the
walls, under a hope of the arrival of the American army
from without. In that event St. John s gate, as a first
measure, was to be opened. But if Aston should un
fortunately be beaten (which was most improbable,) then
we were to fly in all directions, and make the adven
turous leap. It was supposed that in the latter case the
hurry and bustle created by so sudden, unforseen and
daring an attack, would throw the garrison into conster
nation and disorder, to so great a degree, as to admit the
escape of many. Sluggards might expect to be massacred.
The particularity of the foregoing details are purposely
made to impress on your minds a single truth : u That
the best imagined schemes and thoroughly digested de
signs, whether in military or civil life, may be defeated
by a thoughtless boy, the interference of an idiot or a
treacherous knave." Two lads from Connecticut or
Massachusetts, whose names are now lost to my memory,
prisoners with us, but who had no manner of connection
or intercourse with the chiefs, nor knew the minute, yet
essential parts of the measures of the council, but pro
bably having overheard a whisper of the time and
manner of the evasion ; those young men, without con
sultation, without authority from their superiors, in the
thoughtless ardor of their minds, on the eve of the sally,
descended into the cellar, and with hatchets, picked at
Campaign against ghee bee, 1775. 157
the ice at the door-sill. The operation was heard. The
sentry threatened to fire. The guard was instantly
alarmed and immediately doubled, and all our long
labored schemes and well digested plans, annihilated in
a moment. You cannot form an adequate idea of the
pangs we endured. My heart was nearly broken by the
excess of surprise and burning anger, to be thus fatuit-
ously deprived of the gladdening hope of a speedy return
to our friends and country. It became us, however, to
put the best face upon it. It was suddenly resolved by
the chiefs to kill the person who should disclose the
general plot, and to wait upon the officers on the ensu
ing morning, with our usual attentions. When morn
ing came, it found us afoot. About sunrise, the
formidable inquisition took place. Major Murray, Cap
tain Prentis, the officer of the guard, and a dozen mus
keteers came, we awaited their approach undismayed.
They accosted us very coolly. The cellar was visited,
and the work of those fools was apparent. Reascend-
ing, we could assure the gentlemen that this effort to
escape, was without the knowledge of any of us. This r
to be sure, was said in the Jesuitical style, but those who
made the assertion, did not then know either the persons
or the names of the silly adventurers. The officers and
the guard were departing, fully persuaded that it was no
more than the attempt of one or two persons to escape.
Major Murray was the last to recede. An Englishman
of whom we knew not that he was a deserter from our
enemies at Boston, had posted himself close to the right
jamb of the door, which was more than half opened for
the passage of the major. Those of us who were de
termined to execute our last night s resolution, armed
with our long knives, had formed a half circle around
the door, without observing the intrusion and presence
of the deserter. Major Murray was standing on the
threshold, speaking in a kindly manner to us, when the
villain sprung past the major, even jostling him. The
spring he made, was so sudden and so entirely unsus-
14
158 Campaign against Quebec > 1775.
pected, that he screened himself from our just vengeance.
Touching Major Murray s shoulder, "Sir," says he, " I
have something to disclose." The guards encompassed
the traitor, and hurried him away to the governor s
palace. We instantaneously perceived the extent and
consequences of this disaster. The prisoners immedi
ately destroyed such of the arms as were too bulky
to hide, if destructible, and secreted the rest. In an
hour or two, a file of men with an officer, demanded
Boyd, Cunningham and others, represented by the vile
informer, as lukewarm in the plot. They were escorted
to the governor s council. Here they found that the
wretch had evidenced all our proceedings minutely,
naming every one who was prominent. Our worthy
compatriots were examined on oath, and as men of honor
could not conceal the truth. The questions of the
council (furnished by the informer), did not admit of
equivocation or evasion, if the examinants had been so
inclined, and besides all tergiversation, when the outline
was marked, was nugatory. They boldly admitted and
justified the attempt. We did not fare the worse in our
provisions nor in the estimation of our enemy. Return
ing to the jail, my dear Boyd shed the tears of excruciat
ing anguish in my bosom, deploring our adverse fate.
We had vowed to each other to be free or die, and to be
thus foolishly baulked caused the most heart rending
grief. Towards two o clock P.M. were seen several heavy
cart loads, consisting of long and weighty irons, such as
bilboes, foot-hobbles and hand-cuffs, arrive. The pri
soners were ordered to their rooms. The ironing began
below stairs with Morgan s company. Here the bilboes
were expended. If not much mistaken, ten or twelve
persons were secured, each by a foot to a bar twelve
feet long, and two inches in diameter. The heavy bolts
were exhausted in the story below us. When they
came to our range of rooms, they turned to the left, in
stead of coming to the right where we were. By the
time the officers came to us, even the handcuffs were
Campaign against Quebec y 1775. 159
nearly out. Each of us was obliged to take to his berth,
which contained five men each. When they had
shackled those of the lower berths, they commenced at
one the most distant from ours. Slipping in the rear of
my companions, bent down in apparent trepidation, the
blacksmith ironed my messmates, and then called to me
to descend and submit to his office. Coming u Never
mind that lad," said my friend Captain Prentis. They
had but three or four pair of handcuffs left, which were
clapped on the elderly and robust. Besides M Coy, our
Boniface the cook, Doctor Gibson, two others and my
self, who were unhampered, all the rest were, in appear
ance, tightly and firmly secured. Though M Coy and
Boniface were adepts at insurrection, yet their services
were of too much importance to government to be dis
pensed with. The others of the unfettered remained
so from the exhaustion of the shackles. A new species
of interesting occurrences, mingled with much fun and
sportive humor, now occurred, which was succeeded by
a series of horrible anguish. The doors were scarcely
closed, before we began to assay the unshackling.
Those who had small hands, by compressing the palms,
could easily divest the irons from their wrist. Of these
there were many, who became the assistants of their
friends, whose hands were larger. Here there was a
necessity for ingenuity. Knives notched as saws, were
the principal means. The head of the rivet, at the end
of the bar, was sawed off, it was lengthened and a screw
formed upon it, to cap which a false head was made,
either of iron or of lead, resembling as much as possible
the true head. Again new rivets were formed, from
the iron we had preserved in our secret hoards, from the
vigilance of the searchers. These new rivets being
made to bear a strong likeness to the old, were then cut
into two parts one part was driven into the bolt tightly,
became stationary, the other part was movable. It
behoved the wearer of the manacle to look to it, that he
did not lose the loose part, and when the searchers
160 Campaign against Quebec , 1775.
came to examine, that it should stand firm in the orifice.
Some poor fellow, perhaps from, a defect of ingenuity,
the hardness of the iron, or the want of the requisite
tools, could not discharge the bilboes. This was par
ticularly the melancholy predicament of three of Mor
gan s men, whose heels were too long to slip through
the iron, which encompassed the small of the leg. It
was truly painful to see three persons attached to a
monstrous bar, the weight of which was above their
strength to carry. It added to the poignancy of their
sufferings, in such frigid weather, that their colleagues
at the bar, having shorter heels, could withdraw the foot
and perambulate the jail ; where their companions left
them, there they must remain, seated on the floor, unless
some kind hands assisted them to remove.
There was a droll dog from the eastward who was
doubly unfortunate ; in the attack of the city he had
received a spent ball in the pit of the stomach, which
had nearly ended him ; now it became his lot to have an