Quebec During the American Invasion, 1775-1776: The Journal of Francois Baby, Gabriel Taschereau, and Jenkin Williams

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This book documents the widespread support for the Continental cause in 1775-1776, and the multiple reasons why the efforts of the Continental Congress lost momentum in Quebec.Translator S. Pascale Vergereau-Dewey presents a readable rendering of a succinct yet detailed narrative. Historian Michael P. Gabriel also wrote the 2002 biography, Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero, the story of the Irish-born American who died in the Dec. 31, 1775 midnight effort to capture Quebec City.The Forward by Louis Balthazar (professor emeritus, University Laval) gives a great sense of the sentiments of Quebec, who still have a great interest and belief in what the United States represents.If you are from Quebec, you may like finding many familiar names.

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The three writers of the journal were agents sent by the British governor of Quebec, Sir Guy Carleton, to travel among the surrounding parishes and missions to find out who had lent support to the American troops in their invasion of Canada during the Revolutionary War. The Americans knew that they had support among some of the French-Canadian "habitants" (i. e., peasants). Though this support turned out not to be widespread or effective enough to help the Americans to victory, Carleton wanted to weed the supporters out of the local militias. In their journal, Baby and the others reported parish by parish the actions they took against individuals posing a threat to British control of Canada and the reasons for this. Some militia men performed military duties such as standing guard for the invading rebel forces; others encouraged support for them; and others offered them food or transpiration. Carleton's punitive measures were mild, dismissal from the militia in most cases; but they were effective in virtually eliminating what support there was for the Americans among the French-Canadian peasants. The journal is an important historical document first published in the 1920s.