Colonel Benedict Arnold's Invasion In Canada

In the beginnings of the war, America was not too successful. The choices of the troops and the generals were not too smart, most of them being militia and volunteers. Also, a general by the name of William Hull, who was a Revolutionary War veteran, had plans to invade Canada through Detroit. Instead of him doing just that, he decided to surrender his army and Detroit to a much smaller British and Native American army. General Hull was then court-marshaled and convicted. Luckily, president Madison saved his life, saying that he did not deserve death because of his previous services to the country. There were many other attempts to invade Canada but none of them were successful.

One of Canada’s largest military endeavors was the battle of Vimy Ridge during World War One. It was a fierce battle between Germans and Canadians. Canada was trying to take over the German controlled ridge, which ran from northwest to southwest between Lens and Arras, France. Its highest point was 145 feet above sea level, which was exceptionally helpful in battle because of the very flat landscape. Already over 200,000 men had fallen at Vimy, all desperately trying to take or defend this important and strategic ridge. As a result of its success in taking the ridge, Canada gained a lot more than just the strategic point. Canada was united as a nation, and the victory changed the way other counties viewed them. Canadians no longer

Short on rations, the main forces crossed the current boarder of Canada on October 25th and traveled down Chaudiere River. The group reached the opposite end of Quebec, Point Levis, on Novemeber 9th. On the 14th Arnold crossed St.Lawerence River with the remaining forces. The battle of Quebec occured on December 31st and the Continental Army became a disasterous for the Americans. Though they kept the city during the winter, the campiange in Canada failed. The British took the city and the army fell back (Maine )

The importance of this raid lay in the fact that they captured much-needed cannons and gunpowder.

When the war broke out in June of 1812, the American forces began preparing for the invasion of Canada but things did not go well at the outset. That is, by August, Brigadier General William Hull was forced to surrender Detroit to British Major General Isaac Brock (Hickman,

Arnold had planned to take Quebec but a rainstorm had prevented any movement for up to three days. In the three days the intercepted letter allowed British to bring more reinforcements for more protection. Arnold then waited for reinforcements from Colonel Montgomery who had lost men due to the expiration of their subscription. Arnold was soon to lose a number of his own for the same reason and to smallpox which broke out among the American forces.

World War I, also known as The Great War and The War to End All Wars, was caused by a build-up of offenses and the multitude of complex treaties made between the many countries of Europe and the need for those treaties to be enforced. As a member of Great Britain’s imperial kingdom, Canada was expected to help on the war front, and the Canadians didn’t disappoint. Although an aspect that may be surprising about the Canadian effort is the amount of indigenous Canadians that participated. These indigenous Canadians made accomplishments for their people that included war notability, honor, and a need to promote their civil rights.

The battle of Quebec during 1775 is one of the many battles that took place during the American Revolution. It is a famous battle that at the time seemed to diminish the hopes of the Americans to force Britain out of America. The American rebels were split into two armies that were to head up from opposite sides of the Montreal/Quebec area and force the British out of that area so they could take over. The main reason the Americans wanted to gain control of this area was in hope that the French Canadians would join the American revolution, and help send the British back across the Atlantic Ocean. Britain could not hang onto Montreal, but they easily hung onto Quebec and they forced the American army to back off and after that night, the American forces never made an effort to try to take control of that area again. One man who was part of the American forces at that point was Benedict Arnold. He is known as the biggest traitor in American history, but he is an important face of the American Revolution at this time. “In 1780, Arnold deflected to the British, and his change from Patriot to traitor is one of the most compelling narratives in American history.” His journey through the forests of Maine leading up to the battle of Quebec is a story to behold and when one begins to understand the story of the journey, then they will realize that the long and hard trip to the destination is a huge contributor to the reason why the rebels lost that battle.

          The events of the two years previous to Saratoga were very influential to Benedict Arnold. During that time Benedict Arnold and George Washington were planning a double-pronged attack and invasion of Canada, this would be accomplished by taking out Montreal and Quebec. The idea was that the British commander in Canada, Sir Guy Carleton, could only defend one of the cities during a simultaneous attack, which would leave an unprotected city to fall to the Americans. Montreal would have to be sieged by moving northward through Lake Champlain, then into the waters of the St. Lawrence River opposite Montreal. The route toward Quebec was far more complex. A force would have to be guided along the raging Kennebec River, into the highland mountains of Maine, over three lakes to the Dead River, then onto the Chaudière River, and on into the St. Lawrence River opposite Quebec. During Washington’s meetings with Arnold, he was examined Benedict very carefully, and he liked what he saw. In Washington’s mind there wasn’t a better man for the job than Arnold, to lead the charge into Quebec. Arnold was given independent command from Washington to lead troops through Maine and

During the summer of 1775, Washington arrived at the militia camp near Boston. They would get supplies and do some training. Washington decided to invade Quebec. They were hoping to draw the Canadians to their side. They ended up losing though.

The events of July and early August 1914 are known as the sparks that lit the explosion of World War I. Uneasy tensions that had been boiling beneath the surface of Europe for many years soon erupted and with that several alliances that were formed over the past decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war; via their colonies, the conflict advanced rapidly. When war officially broke out in 1914, Britain joined in the defense of Belgium and in reaction to Germany's violation of the treaty in which the countries neutrality was to be respected by all other nations. Upon this Britain requested that all dominions of the British Empire, including Canada were to fight on its behalf.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge is one of the most important battles in all of Canadian history. Prior to Vimy Ridge, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps had never fought with each other as one unit, but in this battle, they were assembled together and fought as a country. In addition to that, the whole battle was planned and prepared by General Byng and Arthur Currie, two high-ranking Canadians. They created an all new strategy called involving a creeping barrage of artillery which was so effective, it was even adopted by the British army in 1918.

They did not have enough men or money to fight. In the “U.S. Invasion of Canada,” it was stated that “The standing army had less than 3,000 men; there was no command structure, no logistical framework for supplying armies, and no staff structure to plan or coordinate operations. [...] forces were needed for the regular army; some of the volunteers had little military experience.” The Americans weren't the only ones unprepared, though, in the same document it said, “Britain could only raise limited forces to defend Canada. There were no more than 4,000 British and Canadian regulars, with a varying number of militia and Indian allies of uneven quality. The Canadians could expect little assistance from Britain” (“U.S. Invasion of Canada”). It didn’t matter, though, that the Americans weren’t attacking well in the U.S. invasion of Canada. The article also states that “since the inhabited portion of Canada stretched only 50 to 100 miles north of the border, from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, there was not much to conquer. However, American attacks, when they occurred at all, were totally uncoordinated. The United States' first invasion attempt gained less than one mile of Canadian territory and ended in the loss of not only Detroit but also all of the Michigan territory.” This means the U.S. attacks on Canada did not help the United States but hurt them. People wonder what happened in the

The combined assault carried out on December 31, 1775 failed. Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was seriously wounded. Although the attack was unsuccessful, Arnold received high praise and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Arnold went to Montreal where he received a delegation of members of Congress to deal with Canada. The diplomatic acts failed and eventually Arnold had to hold back an attack by the British and Indians and successfully evacuated Montreal.

When Arnold was heading home to Connecticut, he met Major General Philip Schuyler of the Continental Army and urged Arnold to take Canada. Major General Schuyler then developed a plan to take Fort St. Johns to capture Montreal. After hearing Schuyler’s plan, Arnold proposed a plan that another force would attack Quebec in concert with the