American Forces Surrender at The Cedars
From a fort on the Oswegatchie River (where Ogdensburg, New York, is now located), British Captain George Forster set out on May 12 to recapture Montreal from the Americans, who had captured it the previous fall. Between him and Montreal was an American fort at a place called the Cedars (les Cèdres), and Forster decided to strike there first. He reached the Cedars on May 18 and immediately demanded that the Americans surrender. There were about 400 American troops in the fort, and they had plenty of food and ammunition, plus two cannon. Forster had at least 500 men, but only 40 of them were actually British soldiers; the rest were Indians and Canadian volunteers. If the Americans had chosen to attack, they probably would have beaten Forster’s motley force. Or they could have chosen to simply hold out until reinforcements arrived from nearby Montreal. But for some reason, the American commander, Major Isaac Butterfield, seemed to be terrified. He hardly even put up a fight, and he surrendered the next day. This enabled Forster’s men to capture 100 American reinforcements sent from Montreal, as they approached the Cedars on May 20. American Brigadier General Benedict Arnold tried to rescue the 500 prisoners, but Forster’s Indians threatened to kill the prisoners if he attacked, so Arnold was forced to agree to exchange prisoners instead. Although Forster didn’t attack Montreal as he had originally planned, he had succeeded in weakening the American army significantly.
Major Henry Sherburne of Rhode Island led the American reinforcements from Montreal. He described how he and his men were taken prisoner:
On the 20th I again passed the lake with my party, and immediately began my march for the Cedars, nine miles distant. When we had advanced five miles on our way, at the entrance of a wood we discovered the enemy, who immediately attacked us from all quarters. We stood our ground, openly exposed to the enemy, while they were under cover of trees, &c., one hour, when, finding they were endeavouring to get in our rear, I immediately ordered a retreat, which was done with the greatest order, still keeping up our fire for about forty minutes longer, when, on passing a bridge, a large body of them rushed on our front and made them prisoners, while the rest of the enemy, (about five hundred in number,) seized the rear and centre.
Sherburne’s account is not accurate in several respects: for example, he says that he was attacked by over 500 of the enemy, when it was really probably only about 100. He also claimed that the Indians killed some of his wounded men after capturing them, and that they mistreated the prisoners in general. The British denied these charges, but it is certain that the Indians later threatened to kill the prisoners. Benedict Arnold wrote of how he sent messengers to the Indians,
demanding a surrender of our prisoners; and, in case of refusal, and that any of them were murdered, I would sacrifice every Indian who fell into my hands, and would follow them to their towns, and destroy them by fire and sword. The answer I received was, that they had five hundred of our prisoners collected together, and that if we offered to land and attack them at Quinze Chiens, where they were posted, they would immediately kill every prisoner, and give no quarter to any who should fall into their hands hereafter. Words cannot express my feelings at the delivery of this message: torn by the conflicting passions of revenge and humanity, a sufficient force to take ample revenge, raging for action, urged me on one hand; and humanity for five hundred unhappy wretches, who were on the point of being sacrificed if our vengeance was not delayed, plead equally strong on the other.
Although Arnold was not one to avoid a fight, this threat helped convince him to agree to a prisoner exchange.
Some interesting facts: The agreement signed by Forster and Arnold, which included the terms of the prisoner exchange, was called a “cartel.” The cartel included a temporary truce during which the prisoners were released delivered; Forster took advantage of the truce by slipping away before he could be attacked by Arnold’s superior force. Because of his cowardly conduct at the Cedars, Major Butterfield was later kicked out of the army and prohibited from ever holding military office again.
Sources
Faden, William, and Claude Joseph Sauthier. A map of the inhabited part of Canada from the French surveys, with the frontiers of New York and New England. London, 1777. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/73695741/.
American Archives, 4th Series, 6:596, 598-99.