Qualla: Battle of Trois-Rivières

Battle of Trois-Rivières: Introduction

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Antoine Gautier knew these swamps. The local farmer watched the American soldiers file off their boats at Pointe du Lac in the darkness of June 7, 1776, and when they asked him to guide them to Trois-Rivieres, he agreed readily. Then he led 2,000 Continental Army troops straight into a waterlogged morass from which it took them hours to escape. By the time the mud-caked Americans stumbled out the other side, the British had formed battle lines, warships had cut off the retreat, and the last battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on Quebec soil was already decided. The engagement at Trois-Rivieres was brief, chaotic, and thoroughly one-sided, but it carried enormous consequences: it ended the American dream of making Canada the fourteenth colony.

Battle of Trois-Rivières: An Invasion Already Failing

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Continental Army had invaded Quebec in September 1775, buoyed by the hope that French-speaking Canadians would join the revolution. The campaign peaked with a disastrous assault on Quebec City on New Year's Eve, where American commander Richard Montgomery was killed and Bened...

Battle of Trois-Rivières: Into the Morass

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Command of the American forces fell briefly to Brigadier General William Thompson before General John Sullivan arrived at Sorel on June 5 with reinforcements from Fort Ticonderoga. Just hours before Sullivan appeared, Thompson had already dispatched 600 men under Colonel Arthur S...

Battle of Trois-Rivières: Grapeshot and Retreat

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

When Thompson and a portion of his men finally emerged from the swamp, they were met not by a sleepy garrison but by HMS Martin, which blasted them back into the mire with grapeshot. A column under Colonel Anthony Wayne, the future "Mad Anthony" of Revolutionary War fame, fared l...

Battle of Trois-Rivières: The End of the Northern Dream

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The defeat at Trois-Rivieres broke the back of the American invasion. Sullivan, now commanding the remnants, ordered a full retreat, first to Fort Saint-Jean and then to Fort Ticonderoga. By June 17, the last Continental soldiers had left Quebec. Benedict Arnold, fittingly, was r...

Battle of Trois-Rivières: Remembered in Three Plaques

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Today the city of Trois-Rivieres commemorates the battle with three plaques, each reflecting a different perspective on the same June morning. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada placed one at the National Historic Site honoring the British participants. In August 19...