Bold Stroke in the North: 233 Days Out – Montreal's Fall and the Revolution's Northern Thrust

November 13, 2025 – Day 233 of Our Countdown to July 4, 2026

From the churning waters of Guadalcanal, where a turning tide of naval daring secured distant outposts for liberty, we venture northward today – Day 233 – to the frozen frontiers of the Revolution: the capture of Montreal on November 13, 1775. In a swift and strategic stroke, Continental forces under Brigadier General Richard Montgomery seized the Canadian city from British control, expanding the fight for independence into Quebec's heartland. In our Quarter Millennial's 250-Day Salute to American Greatness, this bold incursion wasn't peripheral skirmish; it was a daring bid to enlist Canada as an ally, echoing the Declaration's universal call to throw off tyranny and broadening the theater where self-evident truths would be tested and tempered.

Siege and Surrender: The Green Mountain Boys' Northern Gamble

Autumn 1775 found the Continental Congress eyeing Canada as a 14th colony – a buffer against British resurgence and potential wellspring of French-Canadian sympathy. After Ethan Allen's audacious but failed grab at Montreal in September (ending in his capture), Montgomery – the scholarly Irish-born veteran of the French and Indian War – marched from Fort Ticonderoga with 1,200 men, including riflemen and Green Mountain Boys.

The campaign unfolded with calculated cunning:

• Fort St. Johns' Fall: En route, Montgomery besieged the riverside stronghold for 45 days, using artillery hauled over rugged trails to pound its walls. Surrender on November 2 yielded 400 prisoners and opened the St. Lawrence gateway.
• Montreal's Quiet Yield: On November 11, Montgomery's flotilla of commandeered gondolas slipped past British batteries unchallenged. Two days later, with Carleton's scant garrison (500 regulars) outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the governor fled downriver to Quebec City. City fathers, facing cannon on the ramparts, capitulated without a shot – handing over arms, supplies, and the keys to a bustling trade hub of 5,000 souls.
• A Fleeting Triumph: Montgomery's humane terms – no plunder, religious freedoms respected – won local hearts, but the victory proved pyrrhic. Harsh winter and Benedict Arnold's parallel march from Maine converged for a disastrous assault on Quebec City come New Year's Eve, where Montgomery fell and the invasion crumbled.

This northern thrust, though short-lived, injected audacity into the Revolution: From Lexington's shots to Montreal's streets, the fight for independence now spanned borders, a continental crusade against crown.

Expanding the Echo: Montreal's Role in Revolution's Reach

The capture wove vital threads into the Declaration's emerging tapestry:

• Alliance Ambitions: Congress hoped to sway French Canadians with promises of representation, mirroring the grievances aired in the Olive Branch Petition months later. Captured letters and pamphlets sowed seeds of republicanism, even if Quebec's loyalty held British.
• Logistical Lifeline: Seized munitions and the city's port fueled the American cause – powder for Washington's siege of Boston, intelligence on redcoat reinforcements. It exemplified the revolutionaries' hybrid warfare: Not just fields, but forts and waterways as fronts for freedom.
• Legacy of Boldness: Though the Quebec debacle birthed the Articles of Confederation's Canadian overture (futilely inviting accession), Montreal's fall inspired: Small forces could topple outposts of empire, a lesson from Ticonderoga to Tippecanoe.

In seizing Montreal, the patriots proclaimed liberty's borderless bid, turning a provincial port into a proving ground for 1776's grand design.

Why Montreal's Capture Charges Our Countdown?

At 233 days from July 4, 2026, this northern stroke reminds us that the Declaration's fire spread not in isolation, but through audacious expansion – testing resolve across maps and motives. It urges us: In unity's name, venture beyond comfort's lines, enlisting allies for the common cause. As we countdown, it honors the Green Mountain gambit that widened the war's wings, ensuring independence's ideals took flight unbound.

What captivates you about Montreal's moment – Montgomery's march, the bloodless bold, or its what-if whispers for Canada? Share your reflections in the comments or on social.

Tomorrow, on Day 232 (November 14th), we'll revisit the Continental Congress's adoption of the Articles of Association in 1774 – the economic embargo that forged colonial solidarity in the forge of resistance. The march to liberty endures.

In the expansive thrust of united fronts,  
The Quarter Millennial Team  

P.S. Kindle your connections with #250DaysToLiberty – together, we map the revolution's reach.