The Revolt of Pontiac and the American Invasion

The American Tyranny

The Seige Continues

The defeat did not put an end to American ambitions, however. For several months still they continued to lay siege to the city. In fact, it was more of a blockade than a true siege, because their artillery was not a serious threat. From December 1775 to May 1776 some 780 cannonballs and 180 bombs were fired on Quebec, injuring two seamen and killing a child. The defenders returned their fire a hundredfold, sending 10,466 cannonballs and 996 bombs onto their lines! The American soldiers were also decimated by smallpox, which broke out in their camp, causing many deaths.

Livingston and Hazen, in spite of repeated attempts, were having difficulty recruiting Canadians for the American army. Of those who enlisted, "most were French soldiers who had remained in Canada after the Conquest," 40 according to a contemporary. The Canadians were all the more mistrustful of the Americans because they were acting increasingly like tyrants, so much so that some Canadians outside the city even agreed to take up arms to fight them. One such was Louis Liénard de Beaujeu de Villemonde, Seigneur of Île-aux-Grues, who at Carleton's request was able to recruit Canadian volunteers to attempt to break the American blockade of Quebec. His plan was exposed, though, and the Americans drove back his volunteers on March 25, 1776, at Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, near Beaumont. The skirmish nevertheless did not augur well for the Americans.