One Place Quebec City: Fortifications of Quebec

Significance: There is no city north of Mexico that has preserved it's ramparts to the extent of Quebec City.  It is actually the main reason that Old Quebec City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  These fortifications have played a role in many conflicts - mostly in the 18th Century. One of the more interesting is the Battle of Quebec in December 1775. For those of you needing a Revolutionary War refresher (I needed one) - the first "shots" of the Revolutionary War came in April 1775 in Concord and Lexington Massachusetts when Paul Revere shouted "The British are Coming!"  The lead up to this was the Tea Party in 1773, the British punishing Massachusetts for the Tea Party in 1774 and then the first continental congress at the end of 1774.  In the summer of 1775 was the second continental congress where George Washington became the commander of the Continental Army.

They also decided at the second continental congress that part of the Army should go to Quebec. Quebec had only fallen to the British (it had been a part of New France) in 1760 - and the Americans thought that they might be able to drum up support to the north - which would make it impossible for the British to stage attacks on the 13 colonies from the north.

The Continental Army under Richard Montgomery actually took Montreal in November. His army moved east and joined up with forces under command of Benedict Arnold who were already just outside the city walls.  Arnold's men had marched hundreds of miles through the Maine wilderness in a cold autumn. Some of his men were eating their leather belts and shoes because they were so hungry by the time they reached Quebec.

Most of the time major conflicts at that time happened during the summer - because of the difficulty with travel in the winter.  But the Continental Army didn't want to wait until then because the British would be able to get reinforcements.  They were outnumbered almost 2-1, so General Montgomery decided on a night time attack during a blizzard on December 31st.  He and his men broke through the initial defenses and made it into the streets of Quebec City - but the General was soon killed. One of the men who attempted to retrieve his body was a young Aaron Burr - future Vice President and killer of Alexander Hamilton.

The Americans got bogged down in the Quebec streets. Arnold was shot in the leg and many men were captured.  It was the first real defeat of the Continental Army - and although they stayed just outside of the Quebec City in a siege - they ultimately withdrew back to the south in May.  That ended the invasion of the Continental Army to the north and ended any thoughts of the Quebecois aiding the Americans on any large scale.

Websites: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Parks Canada

Image:

Gate of St. Jean - one of those penetrated by the Continental Army (from quebec-cite.com)