On this day 250 years ago at Pointe-aux-Trembles (now Neuville) on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec Province of Canada, the Gaspee and Maria unloaded three hundred American soldiers, four cannons and six mortars commanded by General Richard Montgomery. There they met the larger force commanded by Colonel Benedict Arnold. Two hundred Canadian soldiers commanded by Colonel James Livingston were marching down the bank of the river to join the American forces. General Montgomery’s combined army totalling only about 1100 troops would spend the next couple of days preparing for the attack on Quebec.
Sources: Beck at 256; https://www.americanrevolution.org/arnolds-expedition-montgomery-joins-arnold/; https://www.americanrevolution.org/arnolds-expedition-montgomery-joins-arnold/
On this day 250 years ago after crossing the Congaree River near present-day Columbia at the head of about 1500 South Carolina Militia, General Richard Richardson issued a proclamation calling on the inhabitants of the Dutch Fork region between the Broad and Saluda Rivers to surrender Loyalist leaders. Additional militia from North Carolina as well as South Carolina were marching to join Richardson’s force. This was the beginning of the “Snow Campaign” that would suppress Loyalists in South Carolina for the next four years. Richardson and some of his men camped that night at Evan McLauren‘s house, where they captured several Loyalist officers in the areas. Richardson’s expedition included Captain Thomas Sumter and Major William “Danger” Thomson who would go on to great fame in the Revolution.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Campaign; https://revolutionarywarjournal.com/general-richard-richardson-south-carolinas-first-in-freedom/#more-33323
On This Day In The Revolution 