at he could to keep the enemy at
arm's length from Montreal by putting every available
man into Chambly and St Johns. He knew nothing of Arnold's
force till it actually reached Quebec in November. Quebec
was thought secure for the time being, and so was left
with a handful of men under Cramahe. Montreal had a few
regulars and a hundred 'Royal Emigrants,' mostly old
Highlanders who had settled along the New York frontier
after the Conquest. For the rest, it had many American
and a few British sympathizers ready to fly at each
others' throats and a good many neutrals ready to curry
favour with the winners. Sorel was a mere post without
any effective garrison. Chambly was held by only eighty
men under Major Stopford. But its strong stone fort was
well armed and quite proof against anything except siege
artillery; while its little garrison consisted of good
regulars who were well provisioned for a siege. The mass
of Carleton's little force was at St Johns under Major
Preston, who had 500 men of the 7th and 26th (Royal
Fusiliers and Cameronians), 80 gunners, and 120 volunteers,
mostly French-Canadian gentlemen. Preston was an excellent
officer, and his seven hundred men were able to give a
very good account of themselves as soldiers. But the fort
was not nearly so strong as the one at Chambly; it had
no natural advantages of position; and it was short of
both stores and provisions.

The three successive steps for Montgomery to take were
St Johns, Chambly, and Montreal. But the natural order
of events was completely upset by that headstrong Yankee,
Ethan Allen, who would have his private war at Montreal,
and by that contemptible British officer, Major Stopford,
who would not defend Chambly. Montgomery laid siege to
St Johns on the 18th of September, but made no substantial
progress for more than a month. He probably had no use
for Allen at anything like a regular siege. So Allen and
a Major Brown went on to 'preach politicks' and concert
a rising with men like Livingston and Walker. Livingston,
as we have seen already, belonged to a leading New York
family which was very active in the rebel cause; and
Livingston, Walker, Allen, and Brown would have made a
dangerous anti-British combination if they could only
have worked together. But they could not. Livingston
hurried off to join Montgomery with four hundred 'patriots'
who served their cause fairly well till the invasion was
over. Walker had no military qualities what