Ethan Allen Captured while Trying to Attack Montreal
Ethan Allen couldn’t seem to get enough of being a hero. In early May 1775, as an American militia colonel, he led a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga with fewer than 90 men — and succeeded in capturing the fort from the British. A few days later, he set out with about 100 men to take and hold the the fort at Saint Jean (a.k.a. St. John’s) against British forces which outnumbered him almost two to one — and failed. Undeterred by this failure, he made a similar gamble a few months later — only this time, the stakes were higher and the results worse.
As American Generals Schuyler and TMontgomery led their army northward from Lake Champlain, determined to unify Canada with the other colonies by driving out the British, Allen scouted around, gathering intelligence and recruits. On one such expedition, he had recruited about 80 men — mostly French Canadians — and was on his way to rejoin the main American army, when Major John Brown, out on a similar mission, met up with him and proposed a daring plan.
Why not, reasoned Brown, attack Montreal? It was nearby; they could cross the St. Lawrence River that night, make a surprise attack early in the morning, and capture the town before its defenders knew what was happening. Such an achievement would not only help the American cause, but would also add to the personal fame of Allen and Brown.
The plan appealed to Allen so much that they decided to put it into action immediately, without requesting reinforcements or even informing their superiors. That evening, 24 September 1775, Allen picked up another 30 American soldiers and began ferrying his men across the wide St. Lawrence. They only had a few canoes, and it took them most of the night to get all the men across the river to the island of Montreal. Meanwhile, Brown and his nearly 200 men were to cross lower down; when both forces were in position, they would signal to each other and simultaneously attack the town from both sides.
In the morning, Allen waited expectantly for Brown’s signal. The sun had already been up for a couple of hours, and still there was no sign of Brown’s men. For some reason, Brown had been unable to cross the river in time, and Allen finally realized that he and his men were on their own. But they weren’t left alone for long; soon Montreal’s defenders came out to meet them, and, as Allen recalled, “when I saw the number of the enemy, as they sallied out of the town, I perceived it would be a day of trouble.”
The British commanders, General Sir Guy Carleton and General Richard Prescott, had nearly 500 men at their command — mostly local militia, with a few Native Americans and British troops — compared to Allen’s 110. For a while they kept at a distance, firing “from wood-piles, ditches, buildings, and such like places.” Allen had sent messengers to ask for reinforcements; hopefully they would arrive soon and turn the tables in his favor. In the meanwhile, he was confident that he could hold stand his ground till nightfall.
After a while, the British began to surround Allen’s little force, and he sent troops to either side to hold them off. But the men he sent weren’t near as confident as he was; figuring that defeat was inevitable, and that the best they could expect if they stayed was to become prisoners of war, they quietly slipped away as soon as they were out of sight. Before long, the remaining 40 men were nearly surrounded. They began retreating as fast as they could run, but it was no use.
Soon they were forced to surrender; but after Allen handed his sword to one of the enemy officers (as was customary), “a savage…came running to me with an incredible swiftness” and aimed his musket at him from only a few paces away. In that tense instant,
I twitched the officer to whom I gave my sword, between me and the savage; but he flew round with great fury, trying to single me out to shoot me without killing the officer; but by this time I was near as nimble as he, keeping the officer in such a position that his danger was my defence; but in less than half a minute, I was attacked by just such another imp of hell: Then I made the officer fly around with incredible velocity, for a few seconds of time, when I perceived a Canadian…taking my part against the savages; and in an instant an Irishman came to my assistance with a fixed bayonet, and drove away the fiends… The escaping from so awful a death, made even imprisonment happy.
After an altercation with General Prescott, who threatened to beat Allen with his cane (Allen, a giant of a man, shook his fist at Prescott and warned him not to try it), the would-be conquerors of Montreal were imprisoned. Some of them, including Allen himself, were later sent to England for trial, but that didn’t really come to anything. Though Allen was later released in a prisoner exchange, the glory he had earned in capturing Ticonderoga was tarnished by his failure at Montreal. If only he had waited a few weeks, instead of jumping the gun, he could have seen the American victory at Montreal.
Notes
Sources
Ethan Allen, A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen’s Captivity, From the Time of his Being Taken by the British, near Montreal, on the 25th day of September, in the year 1775, to the Time of his Exchange, on the 6th Day of May, 1778 (Boston: Draper and Folsom, 1779). In Rhodehamel, John, ed., The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence (New York: Library of America, 2001), 75-80.
Holland, Samuel, Thomas Jefferys, and Robert Sayer. The provinces of New York, and New Jersey; with part of Pensilvania, and the governments of Trois Rivières, and Montreal. [London Printed for Robt. Sayer … and T. Jefferys ?, 1768] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/74692648/.