[LE moine] assault on QUEBEC IN 1775 459 



Bishop Briand, a resident of Quebec, surely could not have been 

 mistaken as to the date in alluding to such a recent occurrence ! 



Dr. Dionne also puts forth an important document, the text of the 

 inscription on Eichard Montgomery's tombstone at St. Paul's Church, 

 New York, showing "31st December, 1775," as the date of his death. 

 This inscription was prepared by Benjamin Franklin. Is it likelj' that 

 such an eminent man as Dr. Franklin should have inserted this date 

 thoughtlessly and without consulting well-informed persons on this 

 subject ? 



Among United States travellers who have published books on the 

 campaign of 1775 Dr. Dionne mentions the following: Sansom,^ Silli- 

 man,' and a well-known American writer on the battles of 1775-81, Henry 

 B. Carrington, who says : " It was not until the night of the thii'tieth, 

 when but one day of legal service remained for a large portion of the 

 troops, that the preparations were complete;"^ that is, that the prepara- 

 tions for the assault were completed only during the night of the thir- 

 tieth, w'hen one day alone of legal service remained for the greater portion 

 of the troops. 



It was, then, indispensable not to wait for the 1st January to make 

 the assault, as the term of service of a large portion of the soldiers expired 

 with the end of the year. (Bancroft's " History of the United States," 

 vol. vii, p. 121.) 



Ill-clad, ill-fed, Montgomery's followers were little inclined for a 

 winter campaign, fraught with exposure and suffering. Many longed to 

 return to their homes. 



Perault,^ Bibaud,^ Smith,^ Hawkins,' and Garneau,^ who wrote at the 

 beginning of the century, and who could easily collect the traditions of 

 the past, are unanimous in fixing to the 31st December, 1775, the attack 

 on Quebec. 



"Then," adds Dr. Dionne, "all the recent writers on this thrilling 

 period agree in recording the assault on Quebec as taking place on the 31st 

 December, 1775— Charles Rogers,^ who wrote in 1856, Rev. W. H. With- 

 row.'VamesM. LeMoine,'' L. P. Turcotte,'' and Faucher de St. Maurice." 



1 "Sketches of Lower Canada, Historical and Descriptive, with the Author's 

 Recollections, 1817," p. 631. 



- " Remarks made on a Short Tour between Hartford and Quebec in the Autumn 

 of 1819-1820," p. 284. 



3 " Battles of the American Revolution, 1775-81," p. 134. 



* " Abrégé d'Histoire du Canada, 2ème partie," p. 117. 



5 " Histoire du Canada et des Canadiens sous la Domination Anglaise," p. 67. 



6 "History of Canada," ii, 161. » 

 " " Picture of Quebec," p. 427. 



8 " Histoire du Canada, 1ère édition, 1818," t. iii, p. 430. 



9 " The Rise of Canada from Barbarism to "Wealth and Civilization," p. 62. 



10 " A Popular History of tlie Dominion of Canada, 1S8.5," p. 270. 

 1' "I. Album de Touriste," pp. 33, 70, et suiv. 



12 " Invasion du Canada ct Siege de Q lébec, 1775-76, 1876," p. 47. 



