What is Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec regiment category

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It appears that these men participated in Benedict Arnold's march to Quebec - I can't find a regiment name for this campaign of about 1100 men

Does Arnold's regiment have a category?
There are dozens of soldiers  that only served in this campaign

Norcross, Philip, Gardnerstown. Sergeant, Capt. Oliver Colborn's co. of Minutemen,
Col. Arnold's regt. ; entered service July 25, 1775; service, 20 days.  v11 p 508

Fuller, Edward, Gardnerstown. Private, Capt. Oliver Colburn's co. of Minute-men,
Col. Arnold's regt. ; enlisted July 25, 1775 ; discharged Aug. 14, 1775 ; service, 20 days.  V6 p157

Aory, David, Gardner's Town. Private, Capt. Oliver Colburn's co. of Minute-men,
Col. Arnold's regt.; enlisted July 25, 1775; discharged Aug. 14, 1775; service,
20 days.  v1 page 93

Oliver Colburn (1744 - 1788)

WikiTree profile: Oliver Colburn
in WikiTree Help by Darryl Rowles G2G6 Mach 6 (61.2k points)

1 Answer

+4 votes
Facts from Robert K. Wright, "The Continental Army,"1989, Center of Military History, United States Army (the official Army account of the Revolution):

- Congress met on May 10 "resume its coordination of the thirteen colonies' efforts...It face the fact that four colonies were already in a state of war". (p. 21)

- On May 16, Richard Henry Lee made a motion that Congress form an army. (p. 22)

- By May 18, Congress head learned that Fort Ticonderoga had been captured by a force headed by Ethan Allan and Benedict Arnold. (p. 22)

- On May 31, Congress received Arnold's report that British forces were massing in Quebec. "Congress asked Connecticut to send troops." (p. 23)

- On June 14, Congress approved an American Army by authorizing the enlistment of ten companies of riflemen. They also "accepted responsibility for the existing New England troops." (p. 23)

- "The 'expert riflemen' authorized on 14 June were the first units raised directly as Continentals." (p. 24)

- George Washington was chosen as commander on June 15. (p. 25)

- Officers were appointed to various positions in the new army during June and July. (pp. 25-40)

- "the irregulars who had taken the fort under the leadership of Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Boys and Benedict Arnold, a Connecticut volunteer acting under a Massachusetts commission, quickly melted away." (p. 40)

- "On 20 July, Congress formalized [Philip] Schuyler's territorial department as one of the basic command elements of the Continental Army...Schuyler's little army in the New York Department, contained the 4th Connecticut Regiment..." (p. 41)

- "The Continental Congress authorized the formation of a special unit in Schuyler's army as a reward for Ethan Allen's role in the seizure of Ticonderoga...They were formed into a regiment...[They] elected Seth Warner...to the command." (p. 42)

- "Schuyler... launched an invasion of Canada on 31 August." (p. 42) [More details about his force structure are given on p. 41.]

- "Washington launched a second invasion directly from Boston...On 11 September he gave Benedict Arnold...command of a special force of 1,100 men drawn from the main army. Three rifle companies (Daniel Morgan's from Virginia and Matthew Smith's and William Hendricks' from the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiments and two provisional fire-company infantry battalions of New Englanders..." (p. 42)

- "A wounded Arnold, with only a handful of men, continued to blockade the city [Quebec] as 1776 began." (p. 43)

- In early 1776, both Schuyler and Washington (acting with Congress reorganized the New York Department, separating the Canadian force and reinforcing it. (pp. 56-65)

That is the timeline as given in the Army's official history. The men that you have listed enlisted after Ticonderoga and were all discharged before Arnold's campaign on Quebec began. Possibly they served in the siege of Boston, but the march to Quebec did not start until September.

As for the name of Arnold's "regiment" during the march... It would appear that it did not have a name. If it was called a "regiment," it was certainly an oddly formed one, lacking a staff, and consisting of "three rifle companies and two provisional fire-company infantry battalions." Probably it was called simply "Arnold's men".

So, at this point, the premise of the question appears to be incorrect.

Dealing with these militia units is always tricky. Best of luck :)
by Jim Moore G2G6 Mach 1 (19.2k points)

Let me rephrase the question:

For the soldiers who only participated in this campaign IE no other service during the war, what unit  name should be used in their 1776 sticker?   Of course the "catch-all" Massachusetts Militia, American Revolution category could be used for most of them.

REVISED (Jan 18, 2023) - corrected a typo.

Wright says that the participants in the campaign were drawn from the "main army" (p. 42) -- so NOT militia. I've gone through the unit lineages in the book to determine which units participated in the campaign for the "Invasion of Canada." Wright states that Morgan's company and the Pennsylvania companies were part of Arnold's force:

- Daniel Morgan's Virginia rifle company was an "independent" company, so not part of a regiment, but still a part of the Virginia Line in the Continental army. (p. 290)

- Captain Hendrick's company and Mathew Smith's company were two of the six companies of Pennsylvania riflemen collectively called the "Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment." Eventually (1 Jan 1776), the unit was redesignated as the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment. (p. 259)

Wright also states that Arnold's force included "two provisional fire-company infantry battalions of New Englanders." Admittedly, the two "provisional" companies of New England infantry were probably originally militia or state troops, but, as mentioned, on 14 June 1775, those troops at Boston, not withstanding their origin, were incorporated by fiat into the Continental Army. Wright identifies the following as participating in the invasion of Canada.

Note that there were two forces involved in the invasion--Arnold's and Montgomery's. Here is a list of the New England units that Wright identifies as participating in the "Invasion of Canada":

- 4th Connecticut Regiment and 5th Connecticut Regiment. These three regiments were all part of Schuyler's Northern Department (p. 41) so they would have been part of Montgomery's invasion force.

- Capt. Edward Mott's Connecticut company participated in the invasion. It was one of ten companies authorized as Connecticut State Troops on 27 April 1775. (The lineage of the companies is complicated but it eventually became part of the 10th Continental Regiment on 1 Jan 1776.) (pp. 238-9). The company was assigned to "Spencer's Brigade" on 22 July 1775. I cannot determine if Spencer's Brigade was part of Montgomery's force or Arnold's force, although there are some clues that it was the former.

- The 1st Connecticut Regiment, formed in May 1775, were State Troops that were adopted into the Continental Army on 14 June 1775 and assigned to the New York Department on 25 Jun. (p. 241) It's unclear whether they were part of Montgomery's force or Arnold's force.

- "Bedel's Regiment was originally New Hampshire state troops. It consisted of three companies. (p. 199) The force structure of the New York Department (p. 41) does not mention any New Hampshire units so I assume that these were assigned to Arnold's force--either two of the three companies or re-organized into two companies.

So Arnold's force was five companies. It certainly included the companies of Morgan, Hendricks and Smith. The other two were probably from Bedel's regiment because, in general, Connecticut units were assigned to Schuyler's New York Department.

Wright does not identify any Massachusetts forces in the invasion of Canada.

Please note that the "Invasion of Canada" and the "Defense of Canada" were two separate campaigns. After the defeat of Montgomery and Arnold at Quebec, additional forces were sent to hold the ground they had gained. Several Massachusetts units were involved in the "Defense"; but they were not among Arnold's invasion force.

So, bottom line...

- No militia or state troops in Arnold's invasion force--only Continentals.

- No Massachusetts units--militia, state troops, or Continental--in Arnold's invasion force.
Perhaps you can review these soldiers:
[[Fuller-810|Edward Fuller (1746-1831)]]
[[Colburn-1726|Oliver Colburn (1744-1788)]]
[[Bailey-23742|Nathaniel Bailey (1743-1832)]]
[[Fuller-790|Francis Fuller (1749-1844)]]
[[Goodwin-1259|Andrew Goodwin (1751-1821)]]
[[Goodwin-1015|Jeremiah Goodwin (1753-1816)]]
[[Norcross-52|Samuel Norcross (1752-1839)]]
Well, I'm not going to do your research for you, but I took a quick look at a few of these. The only relevant claim that I saw was that some were in "Col. Arnold's" regiment of Minutemen during 1775. Even if this is the same Colonel Arnold, I see nothing that claims that the regiment went with Arnold to Quebec.
Hi Jim, thanks for taking a look.   I was not asking you to "do my research for me" I was asking for your expert opinion. You see to be certain what units they do not belong to but have no idea what unit they do belong to.  ;D

I didn't look at all of them, but the ones that I did look at seem to belong to: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Col._Benedict_Arnold%27s_Regiment%2C_Massachusetts_Militia%2C_American_Revolution , Col. Benedict Arnold's regiment of Massachusetts Militia. 

My reasoning is this: 

- The DAR summaries of the few that I looked at say that they were in Col. Arnold's regiment.

- I took a quick look (a closer look is justified) at Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution ( https://archive.org/details/massachusettssol00mass/ ) . There are several pages of Arnolds, but in my quick look, I noticed only one colonel--Benedict.

Now, it should be noted that Arnold was from Connecticut. It was an oddity that he commanded a Massachusetts militia regiment. I ran into a note somewhere (I wish I could remember where) that he never actually fought with them. 

Of course, Washington allowed Arnold's militia to remain in Boston, to defend their home state, but I'm left wondering how Arnold came to Washington's attention and was given the important command of one of the pincers of the invasion of Canada. 

It might be worthwhile to take a look at Nathaniel Philbrick's biography of Arnold ( https://www.amazon.com/Valiant-Ambition-Washington-Benedict-Revolution/dp/0143110195 )

Best of luck!

I'll look into the service records for the others that have been placed in Col. Benedict Arnold's regiment of Massachusetts Militia. and see how they compare to this group.
Thank you very much
Darryl
Re my suggestion to look at Philbrook's book... I took a look and it provides little useful information re Quebec.

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