In the fall of 1775, a cold, muddy siege took place along the Richelieu River, marking the Continental Army’s first major operation outside the Thirteen Colonies. The Siege of Fort St. Jean, from September 17 to November 3, was a harsh and prolonged conflict. This campaign exposed the fragile beginnings of America’s revolutionary efforts and set the stage for future challenges in Canada.

Following their surprising victories at Ticonderoga and Crown Point in May 1775, American leaders saw the weakness of British Canada. Major General Philip Schuyler initially led the northern campaign, but illness quickly transferred command to Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, a young and relatively inexperienced officer.

Montgomery’s objective was Fort St. Jean, a British stronghold about twenty-five miles south of Montreal. Situated on the Richelieu River at the northern tip of Lake Champlain, the fort served as a crucial defensive point guarding access to Quebec. In 1775, the Province of Quebec was defended by approximately six hundred British Regulars, many of whom were scattered across the vast area, leaving key positions vulnerable. Fort St. Jean, in contrast, was commanded by Major Charles Preston, with a garrison of approximately seven hundred and fifty defenders, including British Regulars, Canadian militia, and Native allies. Protected by river defenses and the British ship HMS Royal Savage, the fort played a vital role in the British defense of the Richelieu corridor.¹

The Americans approached the siege with a mix of optimism and logistical confusion.

American forces, consisting of fifteen hundred men from New York and Connecticut, attempted to seize the fort by direct assault on September 4 and 10, but both efforts failed. This failure led to a shift toward a formal siege. On September 17, Montgomery began surrounding the fort from multiple positions, aided by officers such as Major John Brown and militia leader James Livingston.

The conditions around Fort St. Jean quickly worsened due to the swampy terrain and swarms of mosquitoes. The ground trenches quickly became filled knee-deep in water.

Montgomery described his army as “half-drowned rats crawling through a swamp.”² The campaign slowed down and became grueling, with disease and supply shortages significantly weakening the American force, eventually causing over nine hundred men to retreat to Ticonderoga due to illness. Despite the increasing hardships, morale was boosted by the arrival of two hundred and forty reinforcements led by Seth Warner and Colonel Timothy Bedel.³

Montgomery pressed the siege forward by establishing four key camps around Fort St. Jean: the Main Camp, active from September 17 to October 28; the Lower Camp, initially under Timothy Bedel and later David Wooster; Livingston’s militia position at Hazen’s House; and the East Camp, set up in early October under Captain Clinton. These positions gradually tightened the encirclement of the fort.

Artillery played a central role. On September 25, Montgomery’s forces began firing from the southwest a pair of cannons and a mortar. The bombardment intensified in October with the addition of new batteries on the east bank, which included captured Canadian cannons and more American guns.

Despite these efforts, the siege nearly fell apart because of decreasing supplies and increasing discontent among the troops. The situation changed drastically on October 18, when Livingston’s militia and a unit under John Brown captured Fort Chambly, located north of Fort St. Jean, taking six tons of gunpowder, sixty-five hundred musket cartridges, and over one hundred and twenty barrels of flour—supplies that boosted Montgomery’s campaign.⁴

The final phase of the siege began on November 1 when Montgomery’s engineers constructed a powerful new battery to the northwest, equipped with four twelve-pounders and six mortars. The resulting bombardment was intense and effective. By November 3, after nearly fifty days of siege, Major Preston surrendered the fort along with five hundred thirty-six British Regulars, seventy-nine Canadian militia, and eight volunteers. Though exhausted and worn down, the American forces had achieved a hard-fought victory.

With the capture of Fort St. Jean, the path to Montreal was clear, and the city surrendered without resistance ten days later. However, the victory was short-lived. Montgomery advanced toward Quebec City, where he joined forces with Benedict Arnold, whose troops had endured a grueling march through the Maine wilderness. In the bitter cold of December, Montgomery was killed during a failed assault on the city, marking the beginning of the end for the American invasion of Canada.

Still, the Siege of Fort St. Jean remains a pivotal chapter in early warfare—a sign that the Continental Army could, through persistence and improvisation, extend the fight against the British onto foreign soil. It was not an elegant victory, but it was won through hard effort.

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1 George Stanley, Canada Invaded 1775–1776 (Toronto: Hakkert, 1973), 29. 2 Michael Gabriel, Major General Richard Montgomery (Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2002), 112. 3 Justin H. Smith, Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony, vol. 1 (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907), 335. 4 Stanley, Canada Invaded 1775–1776, 55.