Section II., 1913 [3] Trans. S.R.C. 



The American Loyalists in the Eastern Seigniories and Townships of the 



Province of Quebec. 



By Wilbur H. Siebert, Ohio State University, 



Presented by Dr. W. D. LeSueur. 



(Read May 28, 1913.) 



The great triangular district lying north of New York and Vermont, 

 with the St. Lawrence and the St. Francis forming the other two sides, 

 was a favoured region for loyalist immigration during the Revolutionary 

 War. To the south was the valley of the Hudson filled with adherents 

 of the Crown, while Lake Champlain served as a connecting link between 

 the valley and the River Richelieu, along which were situated several 

 British posts, — the Isle aux Noix on the New York frontier, and at dis- 

 tances farther north, St. Johns, St. Ours, Chambley, and Sorel, the last 

 named marking the junction of the Richelieu and the St. Lawrence. 

 These posts, and others along the St. Lawrence, offered refuge to those 

 whose opinions and activities rendered them obnoxious to such of their 

 fellow-countrymen as espoused the cause of American independence. 

 It is not surprising, therefore, that many sought escape from conditions 

 which they found intolerable by what may be called the Lake Champlain 

 route. However, not all the x\merican refugees who entered the Pro- 

 vince of Quebec came by way of the lake: numbers of those from the 

 Mohawk Valley followed one of several western routes, by way of 

 Oswego or points farther east, whence they passed to the St. Lawrence 

 and so down the beautiful river to Montreal or Quebec. 



With the beginning of the Revolution the movement of Tories 

 into Lower Canada began. Lieutenant Colonel Allan Maclean fled 

 from Schenectady by the Oswego route in the early summer of 1775, 

 taking with him a party of "Royal Highland Emigrants," composed 

 chiefly of Scotch refugees and disbanded soldiers, in whose enlistment 

 Gu}^ Johnson had aided. These men were enrolled under instructions 

 from General Thomas Gage, authorizing the formation of a corps of 

 two battalions to consist of ten companies each, each company to com- 

 prise nine officers, two drummers, and fifty privates.* On its arrival 

 in Quebec, the party numbered eighty men. A local officer described 

 them in disparaging terms as "Irish fishermen unacquainted with the 

 use of arms." In September, Maclean and his men were dispatched 



*Haldimand Papers, B. 173, p. 1. 



