The courage of the men and women who participated in the 1775 Arnold Expedition makes it one of the most inspiring episodes in American history. The event has interested me since childhood and I am thrilled to have had the chance to research the campaign and traverse its route across Maine and Canada. I believe that many diaries were kept during the campaign, with unusual diligence, because the people on the expedition realized that they were participating in a great historical event and wanted to record their experiences.
Besides working with a fascinating story and excellent contemporary source material, I enjoyed writing this book because it deals with the opening months of the American Revolution. This was an innocent period in our War for Independence, uncomplicated by the problems that would later plague the patriots. At the start of the Revolution, for example, the colonists were able to raise a large army of volunteers while printing presses cranked out millions of dollars in paper money to pay for the war.
During my research, I discovered a long out of print book about the campaign called Arnold’s Expedition to Quebec by John Codman, II. This obscure book, published over 100 years ago, turned-out to be the only complete history of the Arnold Expedition. I found it weak in its research but strong in its prose. Codman did such a masterful job of capturing the spirit of the event that I used relevant passages from his narrative for the chapter titles in my book.
I hope my history of the Arnold Expedition adds to our knowledge of the past, and especially of the courageous American patriots who pushed themselves to the limits of their endurance in a bid to snatch the strategic city of Quebec from the British.