Siege of Fort St. Jean

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Fort St. Jean
partof=the American Revolutionary War


caption=
date=September 6 – November 3 1775
place=Present-day Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
casus=
territory=
result=Colonial victory
combatant1=United Colonies
combatant2=Great Britain
commander1=Richard Montgomery
commander2=Charles Preston
strength1=2,500
strength2=725 [Wood p.37]
casualties1=11 killed or wounded
casualties2=20 killed
23 wounded
682 captured

The Battle of Fort St. Jean (English: St. John) was a siege conducted by American Colonist General Montgomery on the British town and fort of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu during the American Revolutionary War. The siege lasted from August 21 to November 3, 1775.

Fort St. Jean guarded the crucial entry to Canada on the Richelieu River at the northern end of Lake Champlain. At the beginning of hostilities with the Thirteen Colonies, Canada was almost entirely denuded of troops; Fort St. Jean's garrison of 300 regular infantry under Major Charles Preston made it the most heavily defended city in the colony.

The Battle

A Colonial attempt to storm the town was turned back on August 31 by skirmishers outside of the fort. In mid-September, Montgomery's army disembarked from their makeshift fleet at Île aux Noix, south of St. Jean, and sent out detachments 25 miles north to block of the road to Montreal. [Wood p.37] Montgomery, seeing that his force of 1,100 could not take the fort by assault, began to entrench, placing guns and mortars. [Wood p.39]

The conditions for the Americans were difficult. The ground was swampy, and the trenches quickly became filled knee-deep in water. Montgomery described his army as "half-drowned rats crawling through a swamp". [Wood p.39] To make matters even worse, food and ammunition supplies were running out, and the British showed no sign of giving in despite the American bombardment. [Wood p.39]

On October 18, two American guns sneaked past the defences of Chambly, and reported to Montgomery. [Wood p.39] Seeing this, Montgomery decided to take Chambly, and it's weaker garrison, first. 50 Americans and 300 Canadian allies surrounded the fort, and after the artillery rounds had penetrated the walls, the British commander surrendered. [Wood p.39] Six tons of powder, 6,500 musket cartridges, 125 muskets, 80 barrels of flour and 272 barrels of foodstuff were captured. [Wood p.39]

On October 25, Montgomery moved some of his artillery on top of a hill that dominated Fort St. Jean. Canadian prisoners, released by Montgomery, convinced the British commander that his situation was hopeless, and he surrendered on November 2. [Wood p.39]

Aftermath

Casualties on both sides were light, but the Colonists had lost some 900 men to illness throughout the siege. The long siege meant that the Colonists had to move on Quebec City with winter setting in, and with most Colonial enlistments close to their expiration at the year's end.

After the capture of the fort, Montgomery continued his march to Montreal, capturing it on Novemeber 13. [Wood p.40]

ources

References

Morrissey, Brendan; "Quebec 1775, The American Invasion of Canada"; Osprey Campaign Series #128; Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 184176681
Wood, W. J "Battles of the Revolutionary War" 1990.