A Strategic Stretch of River

 

Found myself paddling down the Richelieu River this past Monday morning in the Canadian province of Quebec.  I'd been looking to get in one more paddling trip before summer's end and sought to find a waterway that had some historical significance, and that I hadn't previously visited.  The more I looked into the 77-mile long Richelieu River the more I came to appreciate just how active the stretch of it between the Canada/US border and Fort Saint Jean was during the late summer/fall of 1775.  At that time Major General Philip Schuyler was directed by the Continental Congress to lead an expeditionary force out of Lake Champlain and down the Richelieu River into Quebec.  The expedition consisted of some 1200 men, 2 sailing vessels (Liberty and Enterprise), and numerous batteaux.  Their mission was part of a two-pronged incursion (the other prong being Arnold's Expedition through Maine...) into Quebec with the expectation that both would ultimately combine and capture Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River.  While examining maps of the Richelieu I noticed a point of land on the river's east side called Remember Baker Point and, curious to learn more, came across Mark A. Anderson's blog post, The War Years (1775 - 1783), which provides a detailed account of an incident that occurred while Captain Remember Baker was scouting in advance of Schuyler's expedition.  This historical marker explains the basic facts...

The marker stood at the actual location from 1929 until 2024 when it was relocated to Isle La Motte on the US side of the border...

I stopped briefly at Isle La Motte to visit the new location before driving across the border into Quebec where, for the first time in my life, I was in a place where everyone spoke a different language than I.  Scouted several launch sites and enjoyed my second-ever A & W dining experience before checking into a hotel in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu for the night.  

Early the following morning I launched into the Richelieu River near Ile Ash in Lacolle, Quebec.  A wealth of local paddling information and printable maps was found on the website La Route Bleue.

The view southward and upriver towards the US border and Lake Champlain in the distance...

Paddled a couple of miles downriver to the spot where Remember Baker was killed in a dustup over one of his boats (No Trespassing signs discourage landing)...

Presumably, Baker is buried here.

From there I continued another few miles to the 210-acre Ile aux Noix...

This bald eagle greeted my arrival there (always a good omen)...

I landed on the island's east side where it's said Schuyler's base camp was located...

These days tourists can visit the Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada on Ile aux Noix. Fort Lennox was built between 1819 and 1829.  However, this year Fort Lennox was closed for repairs.

After my visit I headed south back to where I'd launched...

Looking to the southwest a far-off mountain could be seen (perhaps the Adirondacks?)...

The next morning after checking out of my hotel I launched on the river's east shore at Parc Goyette.  This put me just across the river from Fort Saint Jean (Continental forces called it St. Johns)...

A little closer view...

Today the site is home to the Royal Military College Saint Jean.

 

According to information found on Wikipedia, The National Museum of the United States Army, and The Revolutionary War Journal, the British fort that once stood here became a major obstacle to Schuyler's expedition.  On September 6, 1775 Schuyler and company disembarked from Ile aux Noix and came about 11 miles downriver.  Anyone here then would have seen the sailing vessels Liberty and Enterprise along with many smaller boats landing somewhere near the Bernier River on the west shoreline...

...and then tried to approach the fort on land.  Near the creek's south side they came under attack from a force of more than 100 Mohawk warriors. 

 
 I paddled a little more than a mile from Fort Saint Jean up to and into the creek-like Bernier...

...then followed its winding course to this bridge...

...where it became too shallow.  About 1400' from this location is a historical marker (I visited by car)...

Following this skirmish Schuyler's force retreated to their camp at Ile aux Noix.  At this point, Major General Schuyler fell ill and turned over command to Brigadier General Richard Montgomery.  Another trip downriver to the fort and back upriver occurred on September 10th.  On September 17th, Montgomery decided to besiege the fort.  It ultimately took until November 3rd for the fort's commander Major Charles Preston to finally surrender to Montgomery.  By this time much of the decent weather had expired.

It seems to me that Baker's demise and Schuyler's illness may have been bad omens, just as Arnold's expedition experienced the bad omen of a drunken soldier murdering a fellow soldier early in their expedition.  Following the failed New Year's Eve attack on Quebec City, in which Richard Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded, the now combined force slowly retreated back up the Saint Lawrence and Richelieu River on their way home.  A detailed account of the retreat was found at RevolutionaryWarJournal.com: Canada Lost: The American Retreat from Quebec January - June 1776 by Harry Schenawolf. During the retreat they spent another10 days camped on Ile aux Noix where, according to Wikipedia, more than 900 men died from small pox and were buried in mass graves on the island. 

Before leaving the Richelieu I looked over to the entrance of the 12-mile long Chambly Canal. Today vessels heading downriver towards the Saint Lawrence River can avoid the rapids by taking the canal (seen to the left in this photo)...

The lift bridge at the canal's entrance looks like a gigantic mute swan to me.

This same stretch of river was also traversed in 1609 by Captain Samuel de Champlain along with an Algonquian war party in canoes on their way to the lake that would later bear his name.  This plaque is located on Isle La Motte...

The Richelieu River is named for Cardinal Richelieu, a powerful minister under Louis XIII.  The river was previously called the Iroquois River (per Wikipedia).  

Ile aux Noix is said to mean isle of nuts (walnuts) (per Wikipedia).

Trash was extremely rare in these parts...