7:00 PM on zoom
This program is part of our series commemorating the Semiquincentennial of the United States of America.
250 years ago, in September 1775, eleven hundred soldiers boarded ships in Massachusetts, bound for the Maine wilderness. They had volunteered for a secret mission under the command of Benedict Arnold to march and paddle nearly two hundred miles and seize British Quebec. Before they reached the Canadian border, hundreds died, a hurricane destroyed canoes and equipment, and many deserted. In the midst of a howling blizzard, the remaining troops attacked Quebec and almost took Canada from the British, simultaneously weakening the British hand against Washington. Join author Thomas Desjardin for the harrowing tale with the enigmatic Arnold at its center.
About the presenter: Thomas Desjardin is the author of Through a Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold’s March to Quebec, 1775; Stand Firm, Ye Boys from Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign; and These Honored Dead: How the Story of Gettysburg Shaped American Memory.