Republican army,
The name given the
American army that invaded
Canada in 1776.
Gen. John Thomas was sent to take the command of the patriot troops in
Canada.
He arrived at
Quebec May 1, 1776, and found 1,900 soldiers, one-half of whom were sick with small-pox and other diseases.
Some of them were also clamorous for a discharge, for their term of enlistment had expired.
He was about to retreat up the
St. Lawrence, when reinforcements for
Carleton arrived, and the garrison of
Quebec sallied out and attacked the
Americans, who in their weakness fled far up the river to the mouth of the Sorel.
There
General Thomas died of smallpox (June 2), when the command devolved on
General Sullivan.
After meeting with disaster at
Three Rivers, the latter was compelled to fly up the
Sorel before an approaching force under
Burgoyne, and he pressed on by
Chambly to
St. John.
Arnold, at
Montreal, seeing approaching danger, abandoned that city and joined
Sullivan at
Chambly; and on June 17 all the
American troops in
Canada were at that
[
400]
post.
They were in a most pitiable plight.
Nearly one-half of them were sick; all were half-clad, and were scantily fed with salted meat and hard bread.
The force was too weak to make a stand at
St. John against the slowly pursuing army of
Burgoyne, and they continued their flight to
Crown Point in open boats, without awnings, exposing the sick to the fiery sun and drenching rain.
Terrible were their sufferings at
Crown Point.
Every spot and every thing seemed infected with disease.
For a short time the troops were poorly housed, half-naked, and inadequately fed, their daily rations being raw salted pork, hard bread, and unbaked flour.
During two months the
Northern army lost, by sickness and desertion, fully 5,000 men, and 5,000 were left, and were at
Crown Point in June, 1778.
So ended, in disaster, this remarkable invasion.
