Kennebec River, Voyage Up the Kennebec During Arnold Expedition

Creator

Preview

Creation Date

1836

Description

An image scanned from a black and white illustration of the voyage up the Kennebec River during the 1775 Arnold expedition from Maine to Quebec. The image was used to illustrate a passage in A Book of the United States edited by Grenville Mellen published in 1836 that reads, "General Washington, foreseeing that the whole force of Canada would be concentrated about Montreal, had projected an expedition against Quebec in a different direction from that of Montgomery. His plan was to send out a detachment from his camp before Boston, to march by way of Kennebec river; and passing through the dreary wilderness lying between the settled parts of the province of Maine and the St. Lawrence, to penetrate into Canada about ninety miles below Montreal. This extraordinary and most arduous enterprise was committed to colonel Arnold, who with one thousand and one hundred men, consisting of New England infantry, some volunteers, a company of artillery, and three companies of riflemen, commenced his march on the 13th of September. It is almost impossible to conceive the labor, hardships, and difficulties which this detachment had to encounter in their progress up the rapid stream of the Kennebec, frequently interrupted by falls, where they were obliged to land and carry their boats upon their shoulders, until they surmounted them, through a country wholly uninhabited, with a scanty supply of provisions, the season cold and rainy, and the men daily dropping down with fatigue, sickness, and hunger" (p. 653).

Rights and Access Note

Rights assessment remains the responsibility of the researcher. No known restrictions on publication. For information about the process and fees for obtaining higher resolution scans or another file format, contact Special Collections.

Recommended Citation

Requested credit line: Image courtesy of Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, DigitalCommons@UMaine,
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/spec_photos/3370

Format

jpeg

Part Of

A Book of the United States: Exhibiting Its Geography, Divisions, Constitution and Government