Through a Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775 Review

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Through a Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775 ReviewArnold's march to Quebec is a subject that an historian can research almost completely with little effort. Kenneth Roberts did us all a favor with his 1938 "March To Quebec" while writing Arundel, a fictional account of the campaign, which included almost all of the known and important journals by members of Arnold's expedition. Desjardin could almost have written his book from this single source, and in fact his end notes reference Roberts extensively. The journals contained in Roberts and an additional two dozen references cover 99+ percent of the known information concerning the march and the battle for Quebec with Roberts accounting for probably 80%.
In short, this book is a weaving of those journals into a narrative, complete with the inaccuracies and exaggerations in those journals. Most of the references listed are peripheral to the journals, even the primary sources, and the chapter on "America'a Hannibal" is superfluous in that it deals with Arnold in other campaigns. The reader is cautioned that this light read lacks the depth of analysis and discussion normally expected in a historical work. One could read the journals contained in Roberts's book and perhaps come away with a better appreciation of the travails and experiences of this campaign.
The march itself was probably best handled in an unreferenced work of 1903 by Justin Smith, "Arnold's March From Cambridge To Quebec." John Codman's 1901 work, "Arnold's Expedition to Quebec" also covers the ground well, although it contains information that has been impossible to verify from other sources or critical analysis. The battle is covered relatively poorly in primary sources, with the usual contradictory accounts, especially with respect to Arnold's attack on the lower town. Morgan's actions at the barricades fall more properly into the realm of myth-making, although clearly the riflemen fought as well as they could. The saga of the captured Americans, (of which my Great-great-great-grandfather James Dougherty of Smith's Lancaster Riflemen and who then violated his parole and fought in Washington's army until 1783 was one), is covered at any length only in Henry's journal, a page of two in others including several British sources, and a few letters and other documents such as those by James Dougherty. That Quebec would never have become the 14th colony to rebel and the capture of Quebec would have cost the patriots more than they would gain is also a fairly common opinion among historians.
In short, I recommend other works concerning Arnold's expedition for the casual historian of the Revolutionary period such as Roberts for the journals, Smith for a critical analysis of the march, and Arthur Lefkowitz's "Benedict Arnold's Army" for the overall invasion. But Desjardin's book is what it is, a composite of the stories as recorded by the participants.Through a Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775 Overview

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