An early American defeat in Quebec during the Revolutionary War, notable for a repudiated prisoner exchange and inflated atrocity reports.
Key Facts
- Date of first surrender
- May 19, 1776
- Distance from Montreal
- 45 km (28 mi) west of Montreal
- Anglo-Iroquois commander
- Captain George Forster
- American garrison commander
- Brigadier General Benedict Arnold
- Officers court-martialed
- Bedel and Butterfield cashiered from Continental Army
- Prisoner exchange outcome
- Repudiated by Second Continental Congress; no British freed
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the Continental Army's invasion of Quebec beginning in September 1775, Brigadier General Benedict Arnold received reports of British and Iroquois military preparations west of Montreal. In April 1776 he dispatched a detachment under Colonel Timothy Bedel to the Cedars, a strategically important river portage point, to counter this perceived threat.
In May 1776, a combined Anglo-Iroquois and Canadian militia force under Captain George Forster confronted the American detachment at the Cedars. The garrison surrendered on May 19, and American reinforcements were captured after a brief skirmish on May 20. Arnold arrived with a larger force and negotiated the release of all prisoners in exchange for an equal number of British captives.
The prisoner exchange agreed upon by Arnold and Forster was repudiated by the Second Continental Congress, and no British prisoners were released. Bedel and Butterfield were court-martialed and cashiered; Bedel later regained his commission after volunteer service. News of the engagement spread with greatly exaggerated casualty figures and fabricated accounts of Iroquois atrocities.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, Colonel Timothy Bedel, Lieutenant Isaac Butterfield.
Side B
1 belligerent
Captain George Forster.