How long did the Battle of Quebec last? The result and influence of Quebec campaign

The Battle of Quebec (English: Bataille de Québec, French: Bataille de québec) was a battle in which the Continental Army besieged Quebec City, the capital of Quebec, England.

The continental army began to besiege the city and cut off all external roads. Montgomery also routinely sent a letter to Carlton, but knowing that Carlton would not agree, he only sent a local old woman to convey the letter; Carlton burned these books, too. Montgomery began to deploy artillery and bombard the walls of Quebec City, and a gun battle broke out between the two sides. At first, the residents of Quebec City were in a panic: only 16 years ago, james wolf set up a cannon on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River, which almost razed the lower part of Quebec City. However, the Continental Army only had 9 pounds and 12 pounds of light artillery, which was almost completely ineffective in front of Quebec city walls and soon became the laughing stock of Quebec city residents. In contrast, the city defense guns in Quebec City are not only larger in caliber, but also longer in range. Arnold's headquarters was destroyed by Yugoslav capital artillery, and Montgomery's horse and sledge were "blown to pieces".

Montgomery soon realized that the siege had little chance of winning. Tactically, the Continental Army could not cut off the waterway supply in Quebec City. Unable to destroy the enemy's walls; Cannons cannot be used to deter the other side from surrendering; You can't dig trenches in the snow What's more, the weather is getting colder and colder, which restricts the activities of soldiers; The epidemic of smallpox and various respiratory diseases weakened the troops; The rear supply gradually fails; And the militia's service term expires at the end of the year. For various reasons, soldiers have no intention of fighting. As for the strategic level, British reinforcements will arrive in the spring, but the mainland parliament still has no plans to send troops to reinforce.

Siege warfare

65438+February 3 1 4: 00 am, Livingston and Brown disguised themselves at St. John's Gate and Diamond Fort respectively to absorb the firepower of the two places. Montgomery, on the other hand, took the opportunity to lead the troops and sneaked along the riverside path at the foot of Diamond Castle Mountain, intending to raid the lower east. However, before Montgomery arrived, he was shot at close range by the British army in front of a house, and the commandos immediately fled. On the other hand, Arnold started from the northwest suburb and was not discovered at first. The army went to the front of the palace in the north of Quebec City and was heavily shot by the defenders. Having no choice, Arnold bypassed the street on the river bank and headed for the city center. Later Arnold sent troops to occupy the first roadblock at the end of the street, but he was injured and had to evacuate. Morgan, who took over the command, made some preparations and lived in front of the second barricade in the south. However, the first batch of British reinforcements just arrived, which caused heavy casualties to the Continental Army. When British commander Carlton saw this, he sent the garrison at the palace gate to outflank Morgan from behind and finally forced the mainland army to surrender. It was morning 10.

After consulting with Arnold, Montgomery decided to win by surprise. First, they expected the arrival of winter snowstorm. Under the cover of bad weather, Arnold and others were divided into four teams, three of which launched a feint to disperse Carlton's troops. Arnold concentrated on attacking a gate in the south, and specially trained troops built a ladder and then climbed over the wall. Montgomery will lead the troops to sneak into the lower part of Quebec City by the path on the bank of the St. Lawrence River. Arnold and Montgomery meet in the lower city, which can force Garrison Carlton in the upper city to come to the street to fight it out.

However, Carlton immediately learned of Montgomery's plan. On the same day, a captured British officer was drunk and fled back to Quebec City to report; This information is exactly the same as that of another mainland soldier who defected. Carlton ordered the restoration of the city defense, set up more obstacles and artillery platforms, and expected the Continental Army to launch an attack.

The snow blew, but it was not enough to cover up the continental army's attack. Montgomery slightly revised the attack plan that day and sent Livingston to feint at St. John's Gate. Jacob broom pretended to attack the Diamond Point fortress; Arnold set out from Saint Roxbury in the northwest, passed through the suburbs of Paris and the palace gate, and then broke into the lower city. Montgomery's marching route remains unchanged, but it is only composed of small-scale troops, ready to attack the north and south with Arnold. Only senior officials know about the plan. This change made the surprise attack plan almost successful.

The snowstorm finally came, and Montgomery decided to attack at 3 1 early morning. At four o'clock in the morning, Livingston and Brown launched a feint, which successfully diverted the fire of the St. John's Gate and the Diamond Fort. Montgomery saw the signal and marched on the narrow river below the diamond redoubt.

Because the snowstorm soon turned into a snowstorm, Montgomery's soldiers marched hard and delayed a lot of time. When they reached the city center, Montgomery and the soldiers saw a gap in the first fence. Although everything is calm, the army has been seriously overtime, and the British army can attack from a height at any time after sunrise. In desperation, Montgomery rushed to the front of the second fence with the officers before the fence was fully opened. At this point, Montgomery and the officer finally saw the house, and everything seemed to be going well. Montgomery cried and shouted for an assault, and then took the lead in charging with the officers. I'm not sure I heard gunshots in the house right away, and a lot of bullets and grape bullets came in volley. After the first volley, Montgomery and several officers were killed immediately, and other officers who took the lead in charging were also seriously injured. Only Aaron Burr miraculously survived. An officer in the rear was surprised, then grabbed Burr and fled backwards, while other soldiers fled immediately.

When Montgomery saw the House of Representatives, only 50 militiamen were stationed. They didn't know that the continental army would sneak attack, and they didn't train well. However, these militiamen held their posts and fired at random as soon as they heard the movement. However, it was not until several hours later that the British army found the mainland prisoners to identify the bodies and learned that the commander of the expeditionary force Montgomery had died.

On the other hand, Arnold began to call troops to the suburb of St. Locke at 10 on the evening of the 30th. However, due to the snowstorm, all the troops still didn't arrive before four in the morning. At that time, the signal at the gate of St. John had already sounded, and Arnold had to lead hundreds of people to attack first. The army successfully entered the periphery of the palace, but when it climbed to the palace gate, it was violently shot by the defenders from a height. Although the continental army can't strike back, it can't give up halfway and leave Montgomery's army behind. So Arnold decided to bypass the gate and walk along the street by the river. After entering Quebec City, Arnold wandered the narrow streets until he met the first British roadblock. Having no choice, Arnold ordered the whole army to charge, but was immediately hit by a bullet and fell to the ground. After the Continental Army occupied the barricade, the injured Arnold had to hand over the command to Daniel Morgan.

After taking over the command, Morgan was forced to stop and make some preparations. Most of the continental army was injured after rushing through the city gate, and lost its way because of the narrow streets, and even lost its light artillery. Firearms and ammunition failed one after another because of snow and humidity. More importantly, when the injured Arnold was carried out of the battlefield, the militia along the way felt that Arnold wanted everyone to die with him, and their morale was even lower. But at this short critical moment, British reinforcements arrived. As early as the wee hours, McClane sent a militia to reinforce the diamond fortress. When the team arrived at the multi-faceted fort, they found that there was no need for reinforcements, so they headed for the St. Louis Gate in the center and the St. John Gate in the northwest in turn, but only gunshots were heard everywhere, and no fighting was seen. So, the team turned to patrol the North Palace Gate. On the other hand, Carlton learned from McLean that there was a war at the palace gate and sent 200 Scottish infantry reinforcements. These infantry arrived just when Morgan stopped. They immediately filled the gap in the second barricade and lit the light artillery.

After preparation, Morgan rushed to the second roadblock. The continental army tried many times to erect wooden ladders on the barricade, but it was also hit head-on by the British army. What's more, one of the wooden ladders was taken away by the British defenders. The British set up wooden ladders to the bungalow on the edge of the barricade, then climbed into the house and shot at the Continental Army from a height, which aggravated the casualties of the Continental Army. Seeing that Morgan was in trouble, Carlton ordered another Scottish army to set out and enter the lower city from outside the palace, forming a siege. Have no choice, the continental army surrendered to the British, or fled Quebec City by the trail. Morgan gave his sword to a priest to avoid being humiliated by the British. It was early morning 10, and the siege war ended in the victory of the British army.

Stalemate retreat

After the siege, Carlton sent people to count the casualties, including 43 prisoners1person and 30 bodies of the continental army, but not including the militia who died while fleeing along the river. In spring, McLean found 20 more bodies on the river bank. As for Arnold who escaped from the city by luck, he reported to the mainland parliament that 60 people were killed and more than 300 people were captured. Carlton said that the British casualties were 5 deaths 14 injuries, but the actual number is likely to be higher.

With the arrival of 1776, many residual militia began to disband and go home by themselves on the grounds that their service expired. But Arnold still refused to leave and decided to continue to attack the city with a few troops, but there was almost no obstacle to the supply of Quebec City. Although Carlton's forces far exceeded Arnold's, he decided to keep guarding the city and look forward to reinforcements. As early as before the siege, Montgomery calculated that Carlton would not go out of the city, because 16 years ago, the French army went out of the city to meet the British army, and the battle of Abraham Plain was defeated, thus losing the whole Quebec province and even the North American colony.

1776 65438+ 10 From March to March, the injured Arnold kept asking for reinforcements from the rear, sent people to the suburbs to recruit militia, and asked to appoint another general to take over the command. On March 3 1, Arnold was injured again because he fell from his horse. Finally, he was allowed to rest in Montreal and was replaced by Brigadier General john thomas. In addition, the militia recruited by both sides in the countryside triggered the Battle of Saint Pierre on March 25th, but there was no other fighting.

After Thomas took over the command, he found that the siege war could not continue. The Continental Army was not only demoralized, but also threatened by smallpox (Thomas died of smallpox in June). The rebels once sent a fireboat to attack the port of Quebec City, but failed. A small British fleet arrived with 200 regular reinforcements. Carlton immediately sent defenders to attack, the continental army began to flee, and the siege ended.

Subsequent influence

After the Battle of Quebec, the Continental Army withdrew to Montreal; Carlton was knighted in July for his outstanding service. 1776 From May 6 to June 1, john burgoyne's reinforcements arrived in Quebec City by warships one after another and took over the command of the Canadian army. These troops have more than 9,000 British regular troops and about 4,000 Hessian mercenaries, which has caused heavy economic pressure on Quebec Province with a population of only 80,000. Bourgau finally launched the Battle of Saratoga with these troops in 1777.

On the other hand, the Continental Army lost again in the Battle of Sanhe City and withdrew to Fort Ticonderoga on 17. Montreal returned to British rule. Britain sent troops south to lake champlain, and a war broke out with the United States, which declared its independence. The American lake ship was almost completely annihilated. American expeditions to Canada usually end in this war.

After the Battle of Quebec, Carlton sent someone to investigate all Canadian residents who had cooperated with the Continental Army in the past. At first, Carlton forgave some petty criminals, but as the Continental Army was expelled from Quebec, Carlton began to increase the punishment and forced these people to repair the buildings damaged by the war. This made Quebec residents afraid to openly support the rebels in the remaining war of independence.