464 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



" From ■ l'ocuments liclatiiii^ to the Cohmiul History of New York,' 

 edited bj- O'CalIaghan, vol. viii, p. G72, 



" ' Tlio Annual liegistor' i'or 177G, vol. xix, (.lia]), i, ]). 13, says: 



' * * * lldwi'ver tliat wsis, early in the morning', on the la.«t day of the 

 vi-ar 177Ô, and under eoverof a violent sno\v-.«torni, he proceeded to his arduous 

 atlfuipt.' 



"I have already referred to AVilliam Smith's oration, in which is the 

 date December 31, 1775, and which was published at least twice, separately. 

 1 have never seen either of the original editions, but it is given in full in 

 Peter Force, iv, pp. 1(375-1084. The monument erected in New York, at 

 the rear of St. Paul's Chapel, gives the date of his death as December 31, 

 177'). The inscription upon it is given in Lorring's ' Field-Book,' vol. i, 

 ]). 201, and blunders in regard to his age, which it says is '37.' As he 

 was born December 3, 1736, he had just completed his 39th year." 



Such are some of the authorities in support of the generall}' accepted 

 date of the attack on Quebec in December, 1775, b}' the troops of Con- 

 gress — the date put forth by the eminent historian, George Bancroft, in 

 his "Ilistor}' of the United States of America," vol. vii, p. 131. 



Let us see the documents on which Dr. W. Ivingsford rests his theory 

 in volume vi, page 33, of his "History of Canada." Quoting Finlay's 

 " Journal," the doctor wrote : 



"ol.^t December. — Wind X.E., very stonny and dark. As Captain Malcolm 

 Fraser, of tlie Emigrants, who that night commanded the main guard," etc. 



" Caldwell writes : ' They (the Congress troops) remained mitil the .31st 

 December. About five o'clock in the morning we were alarmed at our picket by 

 Captain Fra.«er, who was captain of the main guard," etc. 



" Mr. .Tames Thompson, who, as engineer, carried on the work of increasing 

 the fortifications, and lived to be 98, dying on the 30th August, IS.'IO, describes two 

 a.«saults on the night of the 31st of December, 1775, or rather the morning of the 

 1st January, as the time when Arnold approached Palace Gate " (p. 113). 



" Badeaux (Verrault, ji. 182) gives the same date. ' Enfin, ne trouvant aucun 

 moven pour entrer dans la ville, il forma Tescalade le premier jour de l'année 

 ]77(), ù quatre heures du matin." 



"The error," Dr. Kingsford adds, "apparently has arisen from Sanguinet 

 having described the event as taking place ' h' trente et vn de décembre 1775, à cinq 

 henreH du malin.^ Sanguinet was, however, at the time at Montreal, and whatever 

 the expression may mean, he caimot be accepted as an authority for wliat took 

 place during the siege." 



Let us now sift the foregoing evidence adduced by Dr. Kingsford. 



Finlay's testimony seems to us anything but conclusive as favouring 

 hr. Kingsfbrd's assumption, especially when read in conjunction with the 

 statement of Colonel Caldwell, which immediatel}' follows it, and which 

 mentions five o'clock in the morning of the 31st December as the hour 

 when (hiptain Fraser gave the alarm. 



Old Sergeant James Thompson, stonemason and "overseer of the 

 works," as foreman, not as engineer, and who lived to be 98, dj'ing on 



