Beschreibung:

ARNOLD, Benedict. Autograph note signed ("B Arnold Col.," with flourish), addressed "To whom it may concern," n.p. [camp, west of Quebec], 19 January 1776. 1 page, 4to, boldly penned, very slight dampstains, verso docketed "B.Arnold's pass to Capt. Mott..." THE WOUNDED ARNOLD, IN THE WAKE OF THE DISASTROUS ATTACK ON QUEBEC. Colonel Arnold, commanding American forces beseiging the citadel of Quebec, issues a pass: "The bearer Capt. [Edward] Mott is sent with the Carioles [dog-sleds] to take care of the Money, Baggage, which he is Ordered to Deliver some officer of the Garrison. By Order of the General..." On the night of December 31, 1775, during a blizzard, Arnold and Richard Montgomery, with a small but seasoned force of American troops, mounted a full-scale attack on the defensive perimeter of Quebec. In the assault, Montgomery's attacking column was decimated and Montgomery himself fatally wounded. Arnold's column (which included Daniel Morgan, John Lamb and Henry Dearborn) broke through the outer defenses but was eventually overwhelmed and repulsed with severe loses. Arnold was badly wounded in the left leg. From his hospital bed, Arnold assumed command of the remains of the much weakened expeditionary force, continuing the seige: "By sham and bluff, Arnold kept Quebec under siege until 1 April," when finally relieved, and when news of his Kennebec expedition and his bravery in the seige itself spread, he became, ironically, "one of the first heros--and to date the only live one--of the Revolution" (W.S. Randall, Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor , p.225. He was rewarded by an appointment to Brigadier General. Captain Mott, named in the document, had served with Ethan Allen and Arnold in the taking of Fort Ticonderoga. Letters of Arnold written during the Canada expedition are extremely rare.