New France to New England: A Canadien in the Continental Army

Betsy Ross Flag (1776)

I've been wanting to start a family history site but have been unsure of where to begin. However, today, on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I was inspired to tell a little known story in America's fight for Independence that I discovered while researching my 6th Great-Grandfather, who, as it turns out, served for a brief time with the Continental Army during their Invasion of Quebec.

L’Islet-Sur-Mer with Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in foreground.
Photo Credit: Louis Robitaille.

Louis Fournier (1740-1824)

Louis, born in 1740 in L'Islet-Sur-Mer, Quebec, was the son of Louis Fournier and Marie-Marguerite Létourneau. In 1759, at the age of 19, he married Marie-Madeleine Jean (Pierre-Jean?), also from L'Islet-sur-Mer, somewhere in Quebec. It is not known exactly where he was married or where his first or third children were born but his second child was baptized at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in L'Islet-Sur-Mer and his fourth child (and many subsequent children) were baptized in St-Jean-Port-Joli.

Aerial view of the village of St-Jean-Port-Joli
Photo Credit: Louis Chamberland

Invasion of Quebec

Soon after the start of the American Revolution, Congress sent the Continental Army to Quebec to attempt to persuade the French-speaking and Indigenous Canadiens to join their fight on the side of the Colonies. Commanders tasked with this undertaking were Richard Montgomery, who led an expedition to capture Fort St. John, Fort Chambly, and Montreal, and Benedict Arnold, who led troops through the Maine wilderness (part of Massachusetts at the time), joining Montgomery in Quebec. Montgomery lost many men before arriving in Quebec and many in Arnold's command also died or turned back, and the ones that were left were in a much weakened condition due to the arduous and prolonged journey. What was supposed to have taken 20 days took two months, lasting into the winter. The men trudged through the snowy, muddy, swampy and inhospitable Maine wilderness and were challenged by many long portages, had little food and many suffered from smallpox. Nearly half of Arnold's troops were lost by the time they reached civilization.

American colonists under Major-General Benedict Arnold advancing through Maine.

While many Canadiens were unwilling to sign on with the struggling and depleted Continental Army (or the British army for that matter, the Seven Years' War having ended just 12 years earlier) there were still many in every parish who were sympathetic to the Americans. It is estimated as much of 1/3 of the Canadien peasants sided with the colonists, actively fomenting rebellion or joining up with the fight. An entire Canadian regiment consisted of local recruits eager to drive out the English. First Nation combatants were also part of Arnold’s force, comprised of individuals and kinship groups.

"J.B. Badeaux’s journal recounts a particularly humorous episode of military sabotage. In this incident, habitants from the Chambly region reported to the British camp under the pretense of joining the militia defending the province. Having been provided with arms, however, the group promptly deserted, marched to the “Bastonnais” camp, and used these weapons on behalf of the rebels. The pro-British author, petrified by this brazen treason, concluded: “we have every reason to fear for our poor province.”" (1)

And the American troops were very well received by the farmers and villagers they encountered, who were friendly and willing to provide them with food and assistance. In one letter written on November 7, 1775, Arnold wrote, “We have been very kindly received by the inhabitants who appear very friendly, and willing to supply us with provisions.” The following day, he said, “the Canadians, by whom we have been very friendly received . . . will be able to furnish us with a number of canoes.” And some were ready to fight. Arnold wrote, “The inhabitants are generally in our favor, and many of them have taken up arms for us, or rather, for themselves.”

Louis Joins the Patriots

Louis, a lieutenant in the militia, was obviously one of those who welcomed the Americans and was willing to fight with them because in the winter of 1775-1776, at the age of 35, he left his wife, Madeleine, and as many as 12 children (including a 10-month old son) in St-Jean-Port-Joli and signed up with the Continental Army. It’s unclear what his role was in this army. It's likely he may have fought with Arnold in the Battle of Quebec and/or been involved in other battles, but it is clear that he enlisted for 40 lbs a month, carried arms and executed the orders given to him.

Quebec Militiaman

Louis was brave to join with the Americans against the British, however, I can’t help but think of Madeleine and the other wives left behind at this time, most with many children to care for, and no modern conveniences. French-Canadian communities have always been very close knit with much intermarriage between families and many aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and cousins, as well as neighbors, always willing to lend a hand. And if my foremothers are any indication, they were strong, stoic and courageous (my grandmother worked in the textile mills of New England for 47 years while raising a family and one story recounts a great-grandmother cutting off her own toe when it had become gangrenous). Still, to be left alone with so many responsibilities, not knowing if your husband would return, must have been stressful and frightening.

Colonial woman cooking at an open hearth.

Battle of Quebec

A 1777 French map depicting the points of Action in and around Quebec. Wikimedia Commons.

On December 31st, 1775, during a raging blizzard meant to diminish their visibility to the British, and with barely 100 men in poor condition, Montgomery and Arnold launched their attack. But troops got lost in the storm, orders were difficult to hear in the wind, they had to abandon a cannon in the deep snow…

Invasion of Quebec. Painting by F.H. Wellington (1860).

Montgomery is killed by a cannonball and his troops retreat. Then Arnold's men come under fire and a cannon blast strikes Arnold in the leg and he must be carried off the battlefield. Reinforcements do not arrive because they failed to hear the order to begin the attack. Daniel Morgan, who took charge when Arnold was wounded, finally realizes they are surrounded and reinforcements are not likely so he surrenders, thus ending the Battle of Quebec.

The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775.
John Trumbull (1786)

Arnold, however, with whatever men he had left, maintained a siege of the city until March 1776, though during this time the army endured difficult winter conditions, and a smallpox epidemic. Arnold was replaced by General Wooster, who arrived in the American camp outside Quebec City in early April with reinforcements. Reinforcements continued to arrive and numbered over 2000 when General Thomas arrived at the end of April to assumed command but, in reality, troop strength and condition was diminished by smallpox and the hardships of the Canadian winter.

In June, the last of the Continental Army retreated from the province after British reinforcements began recapturing it.

Consequences for Collaboration

After the conflict, the British tasked François Baby, Gabriel Taschereau and Jenkin Williams with providing a post mortem analysis of the province. They traveled throughout the province assessing the loyalties of the French inhabitants during the conflict and, in documenting each parish's actions, they discovered detailed reports of collaboration with the Americans in practically every parish. In Beauport, for example, “most of the habitants. . . stood guard and assisted the rebels in various ways.” And in St. Henry, “Almost everyone from this parish seems to have aided and assisted the rebels with much zeal.” Collaborators were dismissed from the militia but it is unsure if they faced other consequences as well.

Louis is mentioned on pages 492, 493, in this report, which can be found here:

"Rapport de l'Archiviste de la province de Québec, 1 janvier 1927, 1927-1928"

"Served by Mr. Hingan

Friday, July 12, 1776

The militia assembled at 3:00 p.m.

The reading of the charges.

Dismissal of:

Guillaume Fournier, Capt.

Louis Fournier, Lieut

François Leclaire, Ensign for reasons we will supply later.

"We cashiered (1) the lieutenant Louis Fournier, not only for having carried out the rebels’ orders in his said capacity but also for being engaged in service of the rebels for 40 pounds per month."

(1) Cashiering within military forces is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline.

"Names of those who were engaged in service of the rebels at 40 pounds a month for carrying weapons.

"This parish did not conduct itself any better than the neighboring ones.

Left for St Roch at 6 p.m."

Excerpt from "Canadian Participants in the American Revolution, an Index"
by Virginia Easley De Marce

I assume that he and the others that rendered aid to the Americans were being dismissed from the militia that had long been instituted in New France (now controlled by Britain).

From "Siege of Quebec":

"The Militia, which existed in New France since 1669, comprised all valid Canadian men aged between 16 and 60 years old – which represents roughly between 20 to 25% of the colonial population.

"The militiamen…were recruited in the countryside and in the city, and they had no military training. In times of conflict they were required to take up arms. They had no military uniform of their own so, during each campaign, they were given part of the equipment – a shirt, a hood, a breech cloth, leggings, moccasins and a blanket. The troops had to arm themselves and were expected to have a good supply of lead shots, powder and fuse.

"Every parish in the colony had its Militia Company led by a captain appointed by the governor, who was generally someone of importance within the community."

Final Chapter

It presumed that sometime in the spring or summer of 1775, Louis went back to his wife, Madeleine, his children, and his life, in St-Jean-Port-Joli. The couple had at least 16 children together before he passed away in St-Jean-Port-Joli at the ripe old age of 84. Sadly, Madeleine passed away in 1791 at the age of 50, when Louis was only 51.

Louis Fournier is a direct descendant of Louis Hebert and Marie Rollet, the first permanent French settler family in New France, and is recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution as a Revolutionary War Patriot for his actions rendering aid during the American Invasion.