17761776 Club
Thompson walks into a swamp at Trois-Rivières; 200 Americans captured, the Quebec invasion is broken
A local farmer leads the 2,000-man column off the road as British reinforcements land behind them, cutting off any retreat north.
By the spring of 1776, the Continental Army's ambitious invasion of Quebec — launched the previous autumn with hopes of pulling Canada into the revolution — was already unraveling from smallpox, expiring enlistments, and a population that had grown hostile to its uninvited liberators. On June 8, 1776, Brigadier General William Thompson led roughly 2,000 men across the St. Lawrence River toward Trois-Rivières, expecting to find a small British garrison; instead, a local farmer deliberately led them into a swamp while British reinforcements landed behind them. Thompson was captured, more than 200 Americans were taken prisoner, and the remnants of the force retreated to Fort Ticonderoga — ending the last battle ever fought on Quebec soil…
