Section IL, 1899. [457] Tr\ns. R. S. C. 



YI. — The Assault of Brigadier-General Richard Montyomery and Colonel 



Benedict Arnold on Quebec in 1775. A Red letter Day 



in the Annals of Canada. 



By Sir James M. LeMoine. 

 (Read May 25, 1S99.) 



Every country has in its history jDarticular dates which, after a lapse 

 of years, become, so to speak, crystallized in the minds of the people. One 

 may mark a victory ; another may commemorate a defeat ; a third, record 

 a public calamit}', Champlain's old fortress is no exception to the rule. 



It is, therefore, of paramount importance that the annalist, in the 

 accomplishment of his sacred trust, should give a true record of past 

 events, sparing neither time nor research in unravelling the tangled web 

 of the occasionally obscure, dry-as-dust documents on which a date may 

 rest. 



The day when Quebec's brave defenders saved the province to the 

 British crown, in 1*775, is without doubt, by its far-reaching results, one 

 of those unforgettable epochs in its history. 



It Wiis accordingly a surprise to me, on perusing Dr. Kingsford's 

 elaborate work on Canada, to find that so far I had wrongly read history ; 

 that, in fact, the gallant surviving militia-officers, who annually for more 

 than twenty seasons commemorated within our walls by a public banquet (of 

 Avhich such flourishing accounts occurred in Neilson's "Quebec Gazette") 

 the repulse of Montgomery and Arnold at Près-de-Ville and the Sault- 

 au-Matelot, had seemingly forgotten the exact day on which they had 

 fought and won ; that the glorious date I had taken especial pride in 

 recording in many of my works was wrong; that the innumerable 

 despatches, letters, memoirs and diaries left by eye-witnesses, or by reliable 

 writers were also wrong as to the time of the fight ; that, in fact, the 

 ever-memorable assault had taken place, not on the morning of the 31st 

 of December, 1775, as was generally believed, but on that of the 1st of 

 Januar}', 1776. 



The doctor's statement, which had startled many other students of 

 Canadian history besides myself, caused me to look up the historical 

 sources on which my opinion was based. 



In order to elucidate the subject fully I decided to consult other 

 writers on Canadian annals, such as Eev. Abbé II. Yerreault, of Montreal, 

 and Dr. N. E. Dionne, of Quebec, both fellows of our society. I also' 

 resolved to have searches made in the archives and libraries of the United 

 States. 



