As his lameness precluded all possibility of his again entering the armyj
as he had, by a disregard of parental authority, at least so far as concerned
his trade, forfeited his claim to his father s exertions to place him in such
a situation as would make him capable of rendering himself useful to
society, a vigorous effort on his part was necessary ; resolution was not



Memoir. xiii.

wanting ; it was made. He bound himself as an apprentice to John
Hubley, Esq., prothonotary of the county of Lancaster, as a clerk in the
office. Here for four years he pursued his business with the closest appli
cation, and discharged the duties of his office with unabated care and strict
ness ; and when the labors of the day were over, his nights were consumed
in study, endeavoring to compensate himself, in some measure, for the
neglect that his education had suffered by his becoming a soldier. His
frame, still somewhat debilitated by his illness, was not capable of sustain
ing the fatigues of office ; his health suffered much from labor so severe
and application so intense. The time of his indentures being expired, he
commenced the study of law, under Stephen Chambers, Esq. Here he
became acquainted with his future companion in life, the youngest sister of
Mr. Chambers. He practised law from the year 1785, until December,
1793. As his law knowledge was known to be extensive, his abilities and
talents met their due reward, with an appointment, by his excellency
Thomas Mifflin, governor, to the office of president of the second judicial
district of Pennsylvania.

A number of years had now elapsed, his family was large ; by an unfor
tunate removal to a country, at that period sickly, he was attacked by the
gout, which from inexperience, and owing to his having no knowledge as
to the consequences that would necessarily ensue, did not take proper pre
cautions, so as to render it a regular disease. Under that deceptious name,
numerous disorders invaded his frame, and at times with so much severity,
that he was necessitated to continue at home, which prevented him from
executing his official duties as a judge. It was during seven long years of
bodily suffering, that his mind and memory reverted to those scenes more
forcibly than ever, which formed so eventful a period in a life of misfortune
and vicissitude. The interesting narrative of the sufferings of that band
of heroes, of which he was the youngest, is a simple tale of truth, which he
undeviatingly throughout his book adheres to.

He is supported in all his assertions, by the testimony of a number of his
companions in that arduous campaign, men of character and respectability.
His relation of incidents, his descriptive accounts of the country they passed
through, the situation of Quebec, and the disposition of the army, all mark
him to have been a youth of accurate observation, of a comprehensive and
intelligent mind. Possessing, as he must necessarily have done, activity of
spirit and contempt of fatigue, he gained the approbation and esteem of his
seniors. The buoyant spirits of youth rose high over misfortune; unde



xiv. Memoir.

the pressure of the severest distress, vivacity was still retained, and burst
forth at intervals to cheer his hopeless companions.

Disease had now made rapid progress on a constitution weakened by
repeated attacks, and accumulation of disorders, which no skill could
counteract or remedy. The nonperformance of his duties caused petitions
from the several counties to be presented to the legislature, for his removal j
nothing was alleged against him but absence. That honorable house,
having examined and considered the charges, acquitted him with honor.
His commission he retained for the space of two years afterwards ; but ill
ness and debility increasing, and a knowledge of his infirmities being in
curable, compelled him to resign that office, which he had held with
integrity, for seventeen years. Four months succeeding, his worn out frame
was destined to feel the stroke of death, and his freed soul to seek refuge
in the bosom of his Father and his God. He died at Lancaster, April
1811, aged 53.



ARNOLD S CAMPAIGN AGAINST QUEBEC



PRELIMINARY , /A,J,J5 i. K
When the bold enterprise of invading Canada by the
way of the Kennebec river and the uninhabited wilder
ness of Maine had been determined upon by Washington,
in the autumn of 1775, he wrote to congress as follows,
on the 2ist September, from Cambridge, Mass., where
the American army was encamped :

I am now to inform the honorable congress that, encouraged by the
repeated declarations of the Canadians and Indians, and urged by their
requests, I have detached Col. Arnold, with one thousand men, to penetrate
into Canada by way of Kennebec river, and, if possible, to make himself
master of Quebec. By this manoeuvre I proposed either to divert Carleton
from St. John s, which would leave a free passage to General Schuyler, or,
if this did not take effect, Quebec, in its present defenceless state, must fall
into his hands an easy prey. I made all possible inquiry as to the distance,
the safety of the route, and the danger of the season being too far advanced,
but found nothing in either to deter me from proceeding, more especially as
it met with very general approbation from all whom I consulted upon it.
But that nothing might be omitted to enable me to judge of its propriety
and probable consequences, I communicated it, by express, to General
Schuyler, who approved of it in such terms that I resolved to put it in
immediate execution. They have now left this place seven days, and, if
favored with a good wind, I hope soon to hear of their being safe in
Kennebec river.

A copy of his plan of the proposed route was sent to
congress, in the following words :

Route to QUEBEC, from KENNEBEC RIVER.

From the mouth* of Kennebec river to Quebec, on a straight line, is
two hundred and ten miles. The river is navigable for sloops about thirty-
eight miles, and for flat-bottomed boats about twenty-two ^niles j then you
meet Taconick falls, and from Taconick falls to Norridgewock, as the
river runs, thirty-one miles ; from thence to the first carrying place, about
thirty miles ; carrying place four miles, then a pond to cross, and another
carrying place, about two miles to another pond ; then a carrying place
about three or four miles to another pond j then a carrying place to the
western branch of Kennebec river, called the Dead river; then up that

1



2, Campaign against Quebec , 1775.

river, as it runs, thirty miles, some small falls and short carrying places
around them intervening; then you come to the height of the land, and
about six miles carrying place, into a branch which leads into Ammeguntick
pond, the head of Chaudiere river, which falls into the St. Lawrence
river about four miles above Quebec.

From the American Archives of PETER FORCE, Wash
ington s Irotru otions to Arnold are given, intrusting him
with- the command- of the forces detached from the main
army for^tbe expedition, and the course he was to pursue
in the execution of his important mission.

To Colonel BENEDICT ARNOLD, Commander of the Detachment of the Continental
Army destined against QUEBEC :

SIR: You are intrusted with a command of the utmost consequence to
the interest and liberties of America 5 upon your conduct and courage, and
that of the officers and soldiers detached on this expedition, not only the
success of the present enterprise, and your own honor, but the safety and
welfare of the whole continent, may depend. I charge you, therefore, and
the officers and soldiers under your command, as you value your own safety
and honor, and the favor and esteem of your country, that you consider
yourselves as marching, not through an enemy s country, but that of our
friends and brethren for such the inhabitants of Canada and the Indian
Nations have approved themselves in this unhappy contest between Great
Britain and America ; that you check, by every motive of duty and fear
of punishment, every attempt to plunder or insult any of the inhabitants of
Canada. Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure
any Canadian or Indian, in his person or property, I do most earnestly
enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the
enormity of the crime may require 5 should it extend to death itself, it will
not be disproportioned to its guilt at such a time and in such a cause.
But I hope and trust that the brave men who have voluntarily engaged in
this expedition will be governed by different views ; that order, discipline,
and regularity of behavior, will be as conspicuous as their courage and
valor. I also give it in charge to you to avoid all disrespect or contempt
of the religion of the country; and if common prudence, policy, and a true
Christian spirit, will lead us to look with compassion upon their errors,
without insulting them, while we are contending for our own liberty, we
should be very cautious of violating the rules of conscience in others, ever
considering that God alone is the judge of the heart of man, and to him
only in this case they are answerable.

Upon the whole, Sir, I beg you to inculcate upon the officers and soldiers
the necessity of preserving the strictest order during their march through
Canada ; to represent to them the shame, disgrace, and ruin, to themselves
and country, if they should, by their conduct, turn the heart of our brethren
in Canada against us ; and, on the other hand, the honors and rewards
which await them, if, by their prudence and good behavior, they conciliate
the affections of the Canadians and Indians to the great interests of America,



Campaign against ghiebec, 1775. j

and convert those favorable dispositions they have shown into a lasting union
and affection.

Thus wishing you, and the officers and soldiers under your command,
honor, safety, and success, I remain, Sir, your most obedient humble
servant,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
To Colonel BENEDICT ARNOLD :

1. You are immediately on their march from Cambridge to take the
command of the detachment from the Continental Army against Quebec,
and use all possible expedition, as the winter season is now advancing, and
the success of this enterprise (under God) depends wholly upon the spirit
with which it is pushed, and the favorable disposition of the Canadians and
Indians.

2. When you come to Newburyport. you are to make all possible inquiry
what men of war or cruisers there may be on the coast, to which this de
tachment may be exposed on their voyage to Kennebec river j and if you
shall find that there is danger of being intercepted, you are not to proceed
by water, but by land, taking care on the one hand not to be diverted by
light and vague, reports, and on the other not to expose the troops rashly to
a danger which by many judicious persons has been deemed very considerable.

3. You are by every means in your power to endeavor to discover the
real sentiments of the Canadians towards our cause, and particularly as to
this expedition ; ever bearing in mind that if they are averse to it, and
will not cooperate, or at least willingly acquiesce, it must fail of success.
In this case you are by no means to prosecute the attempt. The expense
of the expedition and the disappointment are not to be put in competition
with the dangerous consequences which may ensue from irritating them
against us, and detaching them from that neutrality which they have
adopted.

4. In order to cherish those favorable sentiments to the American cause
that they have manifested, you are as soon as you arrive in their country
to disperse a number of the addresses you will have with you, particularly in
those parts where your route shall lie, and observe the strictest discipline and
good order, by no means suffering any inhabitant to be abused, or in any
manner injured, either in his person or property ; punishing with exemplary
severity every person who shall transgress, and making ample compensation
to the party injured.

5. You are to endeavor, on the other hand, to conciliate the affections
of those people, and such Indians as you may meet with, by every means
in your power; convincing them that we come at the request of many of
their principal people, not as robbers, or to make war upon them, but as
the friends and supporters of their liberties as well as ours ; and, to give
efficacy to these sentiments, you must carefully inculcate upon the officers
and soldiers under your command, that not only the good of their country,
and their honor, but their safety, depends upon the treatment of these
people.

6. Check every idea and crush in its earliest stage every attempt to
plunder, even those who are known to be enemies to our cause; it will
create dreadful apprehensions in our friends, and when it is once begun, none



4 Campaign against Quebec , 1775.

can tell where it will stop. I therefore again most expressly order that it
be discouraged and punished, in every instance, without distinction.

7. Whatever king s stores you shall be so fortunate as to possess yourselves
of are to be secured for the continental use, agreeable to the rules and regu
lations of war published by the honorable congress. The officers and
men may be assured that any extraordinary services performed by them will
be suitably rewarded.

8. Spare neither pains nor expense to gain all possible intelligence on
your march, to prevent surprises and accidents of every kind ; and endeavor,
if possible, to correspond with General Schuyler, so that you may act in
concert with him. This I think may be done by means of the St. Francois
Indians.

9. In case of a union with General Schuyler, or if he should be in
Canada upon your arrival there, you are by no means to consider yourself as
upon a separate and independent command, but are to put yourself under
him, and follow his directions. Upon this occasion, and all others, I
recommend most earnestly to avoid all contention about rank. In such a
cause, every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country.

10. If Lord Chatham s son should be in Canada, and in any way fall in
your power, you are enjoined to treat him with all possible deference and re
spect. You cannot err in paying too much honor to the son of so illustrious
a character and so true a friend to America. Any other prisoners who may
fall into your hands you will treat with as much humanity and kindness as
may be consistent with your own safety and the public interest. Be very
particular in restraining not only your own troops but the Indians from all
acts of cruelty and insult which will disgrace the American arms, and irritate
our fellow-subjects against us.

11. You will be particularly careful to pay the full value for all pro
visions or other accommodations which the Canadians may provide for you
on your march ; by no means press them or any of their cattle into your
service, but amply compensate those who voluntarily assist you. For this
purpose you are provided with a sum of money in specie, which you will
use with as much frugality and economy as your necessities and good policy
will admit, keeping as exact account as possible of your disbursements.

12. You are by every opportunity to inform me of your progress, your
prospect, and intelligence, and upon any important occurrence to despatch
an express.

13. As the season is now far advanced, you are to make all possible
despatch ; but if unforeseen difficulties should arise, or if the weather should
become so severe as to render it hazardous to proceed, in your own judgment
and that of your principal officers, whom you are to consult, in that case
you are to return, giving me as early notice as possible, that I may give you
such assistance as may be necessary.

14. As the contempt of the religion of a country, by ridiculing any of its
ceremonies or affronting its ministers or votaries, has ever been deeply
resented, you are to be particularly careful to restrain every officer and
soldier from such imprudence and folly, and to punish every instance of it.
On the other hand, as far as lies in your power, you are to protect and
support the free exercise of the religion of the country, and the undisturbed



Campaign against Quebec , 1775. 5

enjoyment of the rights of conscience in religious matters, with your utmost
influence and authority.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

The address to the people of Canada was printed for
distribution as opportunity offered, and was in the follow
ing words :

By his Excellency GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esquire, Commander in Chief of
the Army of the United Colonies of NORTH AMERICA.

To the Inhabitants of CANADA :

FRIENDS AND BRETHREN : The unnatural contest between the English
colonies and Great Britain has now risen to such a height, that arms alone
must decide it. The colonies, confiding in the justice of their cause and
the purity of their intentions, have reluctantly appealed to that Being in
whose hands are all human events. He has hitherto smiled upon their
virtuous efforts. The hand of tyranny has been arrested in its ravages, and
the British arms, which have shone with so much splendor in every part
of the globe, are now tarnished with disgrace and disappointment. Gene
rals of approved experience, who boasted of subduing this great continent,
find themselves circumscribed within the limits of a single city and its sub
urbs, suffering all the shame and distress of a siege, while the freeborn
sons of America, animated by the genuine principles of liberty and love of
their country, with increasing union, firmness, and discipline, repel every
attack, and despise every danger. Above all, we rejoice that our enemies
have been deceived with regard to you j they have persuaded themselves,
they have even dared to say, that the Canadians were not capable of dis
tinguishing between the blessings of liberty and the wretchedness of slavery j
that gratifying the vanity of a little circle of nobility would blind the eyes
of the people of Canada ; by such artifices they hoped to bend you to their
views, but they have been deceived j instead of finding in you that poverty
of soul and baseness of spirit, they see, with a chagrin equal to our joy, that
you are enlightened, generous, and virtuous ; that you will not renounce
your own rights, or serve as instruments to deprive your fellow-subjects of
theirs.

Come, then, my brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble union ; let us
run together to the same goal. We have taken up arms in defence of our
liberty, our property, our wives, and our children 5 we are determined to
preserve them or die. We look forward with pleasure to that day, not
far remote, we hope, when the inhabitants of America shall have one
sentiment, and the full enjoyment of the blessings of a free Government.
Incited by these motives, and encouraged by the advice of many friends of
liberty among you, the grand American congress have sent an army into
your province, under the command of General Schuyler, not to plunder,
but to protect you ; to animate and bring forth into action those sentiments
of freedom you have disclosed, and which the tools of despotism would
extinguish through the whole creation. To cooperate with this design,
and to frustrate those cruel and perfidious schemes which would deluge our
frontiers with the blood of women and children, I have detached Colonel
Arnold into your country, with a part of the army under my command. I



6 Campaign against Quebec, 1775.

have enjoined upon him, and I am certain that he will consider himself,
and act as in the country of his patrons and best friends. Necessaries and
accommodations of every kind which you may furnish he will thankfully
receive, and render the full value. I invite you, therefore, as friends and
brethren, to provide him with such supplies as your country affords ; and
I pledge myself not only for your safety and security, but for ample compensa
tion. Let no man desert his habitation. Let no one flee as before an
enemy. The cause of America and of liberty is the cause of every virtuous
American citizen, whatever may be his religion or his descent. The
United Colonies know no distinction but such as slavery, corruption, and
arbitrary domination, may create. Come, then, ye generous citizens, range
yourselves under the standard of general liberty, against which all the force
and artifice of tyranny will never be able to prevail.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

The following order is found among the general orders
of the commander in chief, of Sept. 8, 1775 :

The detachment going under the command of Colonel Arnold, to be
forthwith taken off the roll of duty, and to march this evening to Cambridge
common, where tents and every thing necessary are provided for their
reception. The rifle company at Roxbury, and those from Prospect hill, to
march early to-morrow morning, to join the above detachment. Such
officers and men as are taken from General Green s brigade, for the above
detachment, are to attend the muster of their respective regiments to-morrow
morning, at seven o clock, upon Prospect hill ; when the muster is finished,
they are forthwith to rejoin the detachment at Cambridge.

So many journals of this expedition have been pre
served, and published with annotations and introductions
more or less extensive, some of the more important of
them are alluded to instead of going over the same ground
with an elaborate introduction to the narrative which
Judge Henry has left to us.

The most complete and circumstantial of these narra
tives that have attained to publication, are those of Henry,
Thayer and Senter. The former was published in a
separate volume in 1812, and has since been republished.
Senter s may be found in vol. I of the Penn. Hist. Soci
ety Bulletin. The Journal of Melvin has been published
in two or three editions. Meigs s in the Mass. Hist.
Soc. Collections. Ware s in the New Eng. Hist, and
Genealogical Register, annotated by Mr. Justin Winsor.
The Maine Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, 2d ed., gives
several of Arnold s letters and orders during the expedi-



Campaign against Quebec, 1775. 7

tion, and a narrative principally derived from the pub
lished journals. The Journal of Capt. Thayer has been
elaborately annotated by the Rev. Edwin M. Stone, and
published by him with an exhaustive bibliographical and
historical introduction, which has been published entire
in the Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Collections.

In view of the well preserved narratives in the collec
tions of the historical societies of this remarkable episode
in the history of the revolution, the publication of a new
edition of Judge Henry s simple but truthful account of
the expedition, was thought to be an enterprise of doubt
ful utility, unless accompanied by new and important
adjuncts, further illustrating its authenticity, and the
movements of the actors in the scene. Whatever it
may lack therefore in bringing out new and startling facts,
the contribution of a new memoir of Judge Henry, a
few brief notes, and an index, so often omitted in such
works, together with some documentary papers intro
ductory to the narrative,, are relied upon as an apology
for the present edition, the previous crude ones being
entirely out of print, and unattainable.

The narrative of Henry is the only one giving an ac
count of the pioneer expedition of his party to discover
the source of the Chaudiere river, a service that was ex
ecuted with much energy and expedition, and attended
with great peril and hardship. Looking at the exploit
from this distant period, there seems to have been a good
deal of misdirected energy and hardihood in the conduct
of the enterprise, occasioning disaster and loss by un
skillful management, amounting almost to recklessness,
by which provisions and munitions of all kinds were
wrecked, and time and human force inefficiently ex
pended. The pioneer detachment under Steele, and the
advance party under Arnold made good progress, but
there was apparent lagging in the rear in bringing up the
supplies, and the final defection of Enos was fatal to the
entire success of the expedition, which was the capture
of Quebec. The attainment of that object would have



8 Campaign against Quebec ^ 1775.

secured Canada to the revolutionists, and saved the valu
able lives of Montgomery and others, and might have
given another destiny to Arnold.

The original edition of the narrative was published at
Lancaster, Pa., in 1812, with the following notice, and
recommendation by one of the compatriots of the author.

To THE PUBLIC.

This work is given to the world, as left by Judge