After being beaten at Quebec, the Cedars, and Three Rivers, it was time for the American army to retreat out of Canada. They were outnumbered by the British and Hessian troops that had arrived by ship in recent weeks; many of them were severely ill with smallpox or other diseases; and they were low on food, partly because the Canadians were reluctant to accept the paper money issued by the Continental Congress. If the American troops stayed in Canada, the enemy would certainly beat them; if they left, they could hope to hold on to Lake Champlain, south of the Canadian border, and keep the British from forcing their way into New York.
The decision was made, and the main American army, led by Brigadier General John Sullivan, evacuated their post at Sorel on June 14, just hours before British warships and transports arrived there. The next evening, Brigadier General Benedict Arnold pulled his 300-man force out of Montreal when British ships and troops were several miles away. The troops retreated through Chambly and St. Jean (a.k.a. St. John’s), doubtless remembering how those forts had been captured from the British less than a year before. They burned the forts and destroyed bridges along the way, with the pursuing British army, led by Major General John Burgoyne, only about a day’s march behind.
From St. Jean, the army retreated southward along the Richelieu River to Isle aux Noix, and from there to Crown Point, near the southern end of Lake Champlain. The focus now was on building a fleet that could defend the lake. Thankfully, the British warships were too big to sail up the Richelieu River and into the lake, so the Americans had at least an even chance. The retreat must have been galling to those who had worked, fought and suffered so much to make Canada a part of the revolution, but at least they could hope to stop Burgoyne’s troops from coming any further south.
General Benedict Arnold was not one to run from a fight, but by early June he saw the futility of trying to hold on to Canada. On June 10, he wrote to his superior, General Sullivan, urging that they retreat while they still could:
I am fully of opinion not one minute ought to be lost in securing our retreat, and saving our heavy cannon, baggage, and provisions. The enemy will never attack you at Sorel. Their force is doubtless much superior to ours, and we have no advice of any reinforcements. Shall we sacrifice the few men we have by endeavouring to keep possession of a small part of the country which can be of little or no service to us? The junction of the Canadians with the Colonies — an object which brought us into this country — is now at an end. Let us quit them, and secure our own country before it is too late. There will be more honour in making a safe retreat than hazarding a battle against such superiority, which will doubtless be attended with the loss of men, artillery, &c., and the only pass to our country. These arguments are not urged by fear for my personal safety: I am content to be the last man who quits this country, and fall, so that my country rise. But let us not fall all together.
General John Sullivan wanted to stand and fight, but he came to realize that it was hopeless, especially since many of his men were sick, hungry and discouraged:
I found myself at the head of a dispirited Army, filled with horror at the thought of seeing their Enemy — Indeed I was much surpriz’d to see the scattered remains of this Army, when I had collected them together — the Small Pox, Famine & disorder, had rendered them almost lifeless — The Flight from before Quebeck, the Fate of those at the Cedars, & the total loss of Sherburnes Party had before my arrival with my Brigade, destroyed all Spirit among these Troops.
Royal Navy Captain Charles Douglas commanded the British fleet of warships and troop transports that had reached Quebec in early May and started the Americans on their long retreat. In late June, he boasted that the British would be just as victorious on Lake Champlain:
The Rebels being thus in Six Weeks reckoning from the Day His Majestys Ships under my command arrived here, quite expelled from this Country; after a resistance on every occasion hitherto as flimsy & absurd as were their Motives for taking up Arms against their Sovereign: It now remains finally to expell them from Lake Champlain And their instigators at Philadelphia will now begin to recollect the Day of the Month, on which their proposed Conquest of this Province was resolved.