Fort Saint-Jean's Siege was a siege in the current Canada under the direction of American General Richard Montgomery of the British fortified city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (also known as Fort Saint-Jean and St. John's) during the American War of Independence. The siege lasted from 21 August to 3 November 1775.
Fort Saint-Jean guarded the crucial access to Canada along the Richelier River north of the Champlain lake. At the beginning of the hostilities of the Thirteen Colonies, there were almost no troops in Canada. Fort Saint-Jean's garrison consisted of 300 infantrymen, under the command of Major Charles Preston, and it was the best guarded place of the colony.
An attempt by the settlers to storm the city was turned away by a number of tirails outside the fortress on August 31st. In mid-September, Montgomery's army escaped on the island of Île-aux-Noix and he sent detachments 40 kilometers northwards to block the road to Montreal. Montgomery realized that his 1100-man troops could not take the fortress attack and turned to rifle guns and mortars. The circumstances were heavy. The ground was soggy and the trenches quickly reached the knee height with water. Food and ammunition stocks also hit. But two Montgomery soldiers managed to get behind Chambly's defense lines, a forerunner of Fort Saint-Jean, and to inform their commander about the enemy. The General now decided to tackle Chambly's weaker garrison first. 50 Americans and 300 Canadians surrounded the fortress and when the artillery had pierced the walls, the British commander handed over. Six tons of gunpowder, 6500 musket cartons, 125 muskets, 80 tons of flour and 272 tons of food were made loot.
On October 25, Montgomery moved part of his artillery to the top of a hill near Fort Saint-Jean. Canadian prisoners, released by Montgomery, convinced the British commander that his position was flawed; Lastly, he left on November 3.
The number of injured people on both sides remained limited, but at the American settlers, 900 men were out of service due to illnesses. Due to the long siege, the settlers had to leave Quebec at the beginning of winter because the term agreements of many settlers ended. After the intake of the fort, Montgomery moved on to Montreal, which he also took on November 13th. His attack on Quebec failed, however, and he would pay that attack with his life on December 31, 1775. 45 ° 19 'NB, 73 ° 16' WL
wiki
