Memorial on South Green Ipswich ma

The Arnold Expedition Arrives in Ipswich, September 15, 1775

Posted on by Gordon Harris
Voices from a Wilderness Expedition by Stephen Darley

A memorial sits in the intersection between the South Green and the site of the former South Congregational Church in Ipswich. It reads, “The expedition against Quebec, Benedict Arnold in command, Aaron Burr in the ranks, marched by this spot, September 15, 1775.”

In September 1775, Gen. Montgomery set out from Lake Champlain to take Quebec from the British forces. Another force of Continental Army troops set off from Cambridge, MA with an infantry of riflemen under the command of 20-year-old Col. Benedict Arnold. Aaron Burr, sick with a fever in Cambridge, heard about Arnold’s Expedition, and raising himself up, declared he would go at once to join them.

Thomas Franklin Waters recorded the passage through Ipswich:

“The patriot army lay encamped for weary months, while the siege of Boston dragged on, neither party making any active assault. In September, Gen. Montgomery set out to take Quebec. A force of 1100 men, consisting of two battalions of musketmen and 3 companies of riflemen as Light Infantry under the command of Col. Benedict Arnold, was detached for this service. The little army marched in several separate bodies. They reached Ipswich on September 15th, and all day long, the stillness of the summer air was broken by the shrill notes of fifes and the roll of drums, as company after company marched along the old Bay Road, followed by the rumbling wagon trains with their camp equipment. The excitement occasioned by the marching soldiery, with music and flags, was only a prelude to the astonishment and wonder, roused by the camp. The spectacle of tents pitched, campfires lighted and supper cooked, was the rarest sight Ipswich had ever seen. These riflemen, with their fur caps and deerskin frocks, fresh from the wild life of the woods, were strange figures in the old Puritan town. Perhaps they gratified the throng of towns folk with an exhibition of their skill as marksmen. “

Route of Arnold's expedition
The approximate route of Arnold’s men in their failed attempt to take Quebec

The Battalion commanded by Major Return J. Meigs marched on the 14th, through Maiden, Lynn, and Salem and encamped in Danvers. In the morning they continued their march through Beverly, Wenham, and Ipswich and encamped at Rowley. It reached Newburyport at 10 A. M. on the 16th. The 2nd Battalion encamped at Salem on the 14th, on the 15th encamped at Ipswich, and reached Newburyport on the 16th.

Dr. Isaac Senter, traveling with this company wrote, “September 14: Finding the flees and other Tory insects not a little free with our property, we thought best to decamp very early this morning, and proceeded as far as Salem, where we dined. From thence to Old Ipswich, where we found very agreeable lodgings etc. By this time our feet began to be very sensible of our undertaking, and threatened an immediate excoriation; however, being all in the same predicament, afforded a seeming alleviation.”

On September 15, Surveyor John Pierce wrote in his journal, “15th: Treadwell’s and Devvons Tavern in Ipswich situated pleasantly over the bridge on a Side Hill—the Tavern is at the Sign of pipes and grapes, a Dial on each side the Steeple of the meeting a Small Town House—Great appearance of a Shower. The company is all well. Drank toddy on the Province’s cost —1000. Pretty Girls —Taverns very Plenty—all Seems to bear a Good aspect.”

The Journal of Ebenezer Wild notes that the division of which he was a member marched very early in the morning, and though the weather was very sultry, covered 25 miles and encamped at Beverly, Sept. 15. “This morning marched briskly along and got into Newburyport at 8 o’clock at night. After a general review on the 17th, embarked on the 18th and sailed on the 19th.'”

The route Col. Arnold’s men took from Cambridge to the Kennebec River to Quebec City is marked in red.

The expedition planned to sail to Casco Bay on the 18th but bad weather delayed the departure for one day. Arnold led his men from the mouth of the Kennebec through Maine forests to Quebec with incredible hardships. The expedition marched 350 miles through uncharted wilderness, twice the distance they had expected. More than a third of the men turned back even before fast-flowing turbulent water led to the destruction of boats and supplies in the descent to the Saint Lawrence River on the Chaudière.

A battalion of 300 men deserted the mission rather than die from exposure or starvation, and about 200 died en route, leaving Arnold with about 600 starving, shoeless soldiers when they finally reached Quebec City, only to suffer a disastrous defeat by the British.

Admiral Samuel Graves received intelligence about Arnold’s activities and sent two Royal Navy ships to guard the river against a crossing. Arnold’s troops crossed the Saint Lawrence on November 13 and 14 in an attempt to take fortified Quebec City but suffered defeat. They maintained a partial siege of the city until the next April, then Arnold went on to Montreal where he served as military commander of the city until the British Army retook it.

Benedict Arnold’s actions temporarily delayed the British advance against Ticonderoga, and he was rewarded with a promotion to brigadier general, but his political enemies orchestrated a court-martial. Arnold deserted to the British in September 1780, and his command at Valley Forge was assumed by Col. Nathaniel Wade, whose home still stands across from the South Green.

The Kennebec River

The 170-mile Kennebec River served as an important waterway and source of sustenance for the Wabanaki population, and for its first couple of dozen miles was populated by small colonist villages. As the expedition ran out of food, they increasingly relied on anything they could find, even eating shoe leather. One evening, a sergeant returned to camp with a dozen brook trout, which infantryman John Henry described as having an “extraordinary appearance, long and broad.”

Contributing to the expedition’s survival were the hundreds of thousands of large salmon that spawned in the lower Kennebec tributaries in late fall. On September 25, John Pierce wrote in his journal, “Rowed up the River 12 miles—(the) river abounds in fish of many Sorts.” On October 1 he wrote, “Pursued our Journey about 7 miles up the river past ye Devils Falls So called—water very rapid. Pleasant Country—had a very hard day of work on account of the rapidity of the water. Ate broiled salmon for supper.” Two days later: “Observed heaps of Stones on the Sides of (the river) which we were informed were carried there by ye Salmon and Trouts–the river is full of fish.“

Undated photo of fishing on the Kennebec River

In the 18th century, thousands of boatloads of Kennebec River salmon were floated to markets in Portland, Boston, and New York. Then in 1837, the Kennebec River Dam Company built the Edwards Dam below the head of tide in Augusta. Maine citizens tried to stop the construction, fearing the decimation of anadromous fish populations, but the company succeeded in obtaining legislative approval. The population of Atlantic salmon, river herring, striped bass, shad, and sturgeon immediately plummeted, and within thirty years, the local fishing industry had completely ended, and Augusta’s productive drift net fishery was abandoned. By the 1950s only a few hundred migrating salmon were counted annually.

In 1984 the Edwards Dam was converted to produce a paltry 3.5 megawatts of electricity, but after years of efforts by Maine citizenry, the dam was removed on July 1, 1999. The Fort Halifax Dam on the Sebasticook River, the largest tributary to the Kennebec was removed in 2008. In 2018, more than five million alewives swam up the Kennebec River, the largest alewife run in the country. The numbers of salmon are a fraction of what they originally were, but Maine officials believe that the increase in the number of alewives returning to Maine’s rivers will help increase populations of Atlantic salmon by providing “prey buffering” from predators. Advocates for s

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