rashness, but he shed tears when he spoke of it to the officers, and
declared that Pellew was a noble fellow.

The revolt of the American colonies, which rose in this year to the
importance of a national war, was soon to furnish him with objects
worthy of his skill and courage. On the 10th of May the Americans
surprised Ticonderoga, and, having secured the command of Lake Champlain
by a strong squadron, were enabled to prosecute offensive operations
against Canada. Sir Guy Carleton, the governor and commander-in-chief of
that province, had very inadequate means to defend it. The enemy took
Montreal, and in the beginning of December laid siege to Quebec,
expecting an easy conquest; but their commander, General Montgomery, who
had summoned Sir Guy Carleton in the most arrogant and threatening
style, was killed on the 31st, in attempting to storm the place, and his
troops were repulsed. The siege, however, was continued by Arnold, till
Commodore Sir Charles Douglas, in the _Isis_, with two other ships under
his Orders, forced his way through the ice, much before the season at
which the river is usually open. His appearance drove the besiegers to a
hasty flight, in which they suffered such extreme privations, especially
their sick and wounded, that General Carleton most humanely issued a
proclamation, in which he ordered them to be treated as fellow-creatures
in distress; and encouraged them to claim the offered hospitality, by
assuring them that they should be unconditionally liberated as soon as
they were able to return home. At the same time, with energy equal to
his humanity, he hastened to complete the deliverance of the province.
Additional reinforcements which reached him in the spring enabled him to
give the enemy a final defeat at Trois Rivières in June, and then to
take measures for wresting from them the command of Lake Champlain; an
object essential to the security of Canada, as well as to prosecuting
offensive operations against the New England States.