On this day 250 years ago outside Quebec, Major General John Thomas conducted a council of war to determine if the Continental Army could continue the Siege of Quebec or begin their retreat to Montreal and then New York. The Americans had received word that a British fleet was approaching with reinforcements to relieve Quebec, and the first British ship was spotted that day. The Americans decided to begin their retreat the next day and it would soon became a rout, leaving behind cannons, gunpowder and sick Continental soldiers recovering from smallpox.

Sources: https://revolutionarywarjournal.com/major-general-john-thomas/; https://legionmagazine.com/the-american-invasion/