The United States tried to conquer British Canada
In 1775 British troops were surrounded in Boston, awaiting reinforcements from England. A proposal was made to invade and seize the British possessions in what is now Canada (it was then called British Quebec), supported by the belief that the Canadians would welcome the Americans as liberators. A two pronged expedition was launched, one moving north via the long established route up Lake Champlain, the Richelieu River, and the Saint Lawrence to seize first Montreal, and then on to Quebec. This expedition was authorized by Congress and General Richard Montgomery was placed in command.
Upset that Congress hadn’t given him the command, General Benedict Arnold convinced George Washington to authorize a second expedition comprised of troops from Washington’s army then besieging Boston, to reach Quebec via a largely water borne invasion via the Kennebec River and the Maine swamps. Arnold led this second group, and became the first of many Continental Army commanders to suffer from the services of suppliers who were indifferent to the quality of the provisions they sold to the American army.
Both expeditions reached the outskirts of Quebec, despite finding that the Canadians were not merely less than welcoming, but in most circumstances outright hostile to the American incursion. Only a few joined the American cause, these were mostly former prisoners of the British. Montgomery’s troops seized Montreal and were outside the British stronghold of Quebec by late November. Arnold’s troops endured one of the epic marches of military history, during which his force was reduced to a mere 600 men by starvation and desertions (he had started out with 1,100). By December he too was outside of Quebec with his force.
Neither commander had generated support from the residents of British Canada, despite Montgomery’s offer to help establish a Quebec government independent from that of Great Britain. On New Year’s Eve the Americans attempted to capture Quebec City by assault, Arnold was severely wounded and Montgomery killed. Virginia rifleman Daniel Morgan was captured. After several months of desultory and ineffective siege, the Americans withdrew.
By the spring of 1776 the Americans were in retreat as British reinforcements and American military and political incompetence shifted the balance of power in Canada. The American invasion of Canada did little to endear the Canadians to their southern neighbors, and the destruction of Canadian industry during the retreat did much to anger them. The Canadian invasion of 1775 was America’s first military incursion on foreign soil, and failed miserably to achieve its strategic objectives.