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May-2021-Newsletter EXPEDITION MESSENGER NEWSLETTER OF THE ARNOLD EXPEDITION HISTORICAL SOCIETY May 2021 In This Issue: Calendar Nichols Cabin in Use May 22 – Trail clearing. Meet at Pond Road turnout by 8:30 AM. Newsletters Posted Online Rain date May 29. Road Plaques: Winslow Montresor revisited June 19 – Directors’ meeting at New Book About the March - excerpt Colburn barn, 9:30 AM. Maine Today on the Trail August 28 – Fort Halifax Day, Winslow. Parade 9 AM, events 11-4. Nichols Cabin in Use Newsletters Posted Online, Mostly From July 26 to August 13, the Nichols Thanks to Mike Holt, the AEHS web page cabin on Middle Carry Pond will be in use has been greatly updated and improved. by volunteers from the Maine Appalachian Links to past issues of this newsletter are Trail Club doing cleanup between there included, but there are some gaps. If you and the West Carry. have copies of issues #81 through #99 (1996 – 2001) please contact Mike at 20 Osborne St., Fairfield ME 04937 or by email. May 2021 p. 1 Road Plaques: Montresor revisited Winslow/Fort Halifax A short video covers John Montresor, the Clayton McLaughlin has been traveling the British Army engineer whose map, while Arnold route documenting the imperfect, was all Arnold had to go on in commemorative plaques along the way. 1775. (It is on YouTube as “Mapping This issue we feature Winslow, Maine. The Revolutionary New York” but the subtext marker is on the east bank of the Kennebec admits to covering “parts of neighboring River about three hundred yards south of colonies”. Address any complaints to the Fort Halifax. In 1775 the boats were all Society of the Cincinnati.) drawn up into the embayment on the west side of the river; the troops on foot would A copy of Montresor’s map of 1760 have used the old military road that appears on page 7 below. connected Fort Western and Fort Halifax along the east bank. During the flood of 1987 this plaque was under four to five feet of water. Hopefully they will have better weather for Fort Halifax Day this year (see Calendar). May 2021 p. 2 New Book About the March Before proceeding with the narrative of the army’s progress and Our own Steve Clark and Steven Darley understanding of the route’s intricacies and are working on a new book on the March topography is important. Above this point to Quebec, to be featured in the Journal of the American Revolution. Steve C. has the Kennebec becomes continuously rapid shared some chapters he has written. Here water. Ten miles beyond the portage the is the first chapter, so far numbered “X”. river reached the Forks where it divides into its east and west branches. The East Across the Great Carrying Place Branch bears northeast to its source, – A New Look Moosehead Lake. by Steve Clark The Expedition at this point was on The west branch assumes a new the Upper Kennebec’s main stem, strung name, the “Dead River,” which was and is out for more than twenty miles and was far from dead. This branch swings west, struggling through shallow, fast water then south gaining a phenomenal 700 feet conditions, typical for that time of year. making it virtually impassable for any The men were out of their bateaux, craft, with long stenches of heavy rapids dragging the heavily-laden craft over the and several huge falls. river’s gravel and rock-strewn beds. The lead division was Capt. Daniel Morgan’s Above this unnavigable stretch, the crack rifle company and two Pennsylvania river reaches an upland plateau, then the rifle companies. Dead River placidly assumes its name winding 25 miles across this valley. Above the fourth and final portage, Devil’s Falls, the men observed that the Native Americans had discovered a route was entering the mountains and the shorter and safer portage to avoid this bad river was becoming continuously fast stretch centuries before, in order to prevent water. This frequent dragging on the river’s damage to their fragile bark canoes. It bottom caused more leaks on the slowly became a part of the main route of travel disintegrating bateaux. from the Atlantic to reach the St. Lawrence Valley. On Oct. 7th the lead elements reached a small brook on the west shore of The portage was called the Great the river. This marked the beginning of the Carrying Place and was a difficult thirteen Great Carrying Place portage trail. miles in length. It utilized three small ponds to lessen the portaging effort. It had May 2021 p. 3 been known to Native Americans and by the Kennebec to the first pond (East various Jesuit missionaries. It had also Carry), was a distance of 3.25 miles, but been explored and documented by a British the climb was a phenomenal 800 feet, engineer, Montresor, in 1761. His about two-thirds the height of the Empire descriptions were utilized by both Gen. State Building. More on this later. Washington and Arnold to plan the campaign to capture all of Canada. It is important to comprehend the However, the thirteen-mile carry presented effort required for such a major portage. many formidable difficulties to the army’s There were four separate legs on the entire passage. 13-mile portage. The first and worst was from the Kennebec to the first pond (East First, the route was poorly marked, Carry), a distance of 3.25 mi. The second which was why Lieutenants Church and was shorter 0.6 mi., from East to Middle Steele had been ordered ahead to mark and Carry. The third was from Middle to West reconnoiter it. Carry, a more or less level 2.5 mi. The fourth was another very difficult 3.6 mi. Second, the portage trail was only over a high ridge and a really bad bog to the width of a single lightweight bark reach the end of the portage. These canoe. A 400-pound wooden bateau carried overland distances totaled approximately by men on either side would require a ten miles. The total distance across the pathway six to eight feet wide. Therefore three ponds was another 2.5 miles. These much labor would have to be expended in estimates are found in the various men’s the widening. This would also slow the journals. advance and expend much of the men’s energy. The crews had only rudimentary On each of the four legs, each axes to accomplish this. For an army bateau had to be unloaded, then four to six depending on speed and surprise to capture men had to lift the 400-pound bateau and Quebec, this did not bode well. struggle with it over the rough, freshly-cut path, strewn with rocks, slumps, roots and Third, and by far the most critical mud. Then each crew had to retrace their was the issue of elevation that had to be steps to carry across the cargo, oars, overcome along the route. The gain from paddles, poles, their personal equipment Fort Western at tidewater up the Kennebec and of course their arms. to the Great Carrying Place had been a difficult 450-foot upriver climb, but had The total weight of the cargo is been spread out over seventy miles. From unknown. The best estimate is about a half May 2021 p. 4 ton when beginning at Fort Western. Most Col. Arnold established a temporary of this was food. The expedition was headquarters on the shore of the pond planned to feed 1100 soldiers for 45 days overseeing each contingent as they began or about 110-120 tons, based on each the next leg of the portage. At this point he soldier of that era receiving a little over 3 and his officers estimated that desertions lb. per day. and sickness had shrunk his small army from its original 1080 that left Cambridge All these estimates indicate that to about 950 effectives (record keeping in multiple trips were needed over each the young army was far from precise). This portage. How many? The Rev. Spring in was discouraging but not unusual for his journal observed that each boat’s crew militia armies of that era. There were no had to undertake about six trips to get Continental troops, as there was no nation everything over. yet. Worse, the quartermaster revealed they were already short on rations. He We have elaborated upon the reluctantly ordered the reduction of the unique nature of the barrier called the daily allotment of food to three-quarter Great Carrying Place to ensure the reader rations for each soldier (the exact amount will comprehend the profound change it is unknown, but a standard ration for would have wrought upon the army and its armies of that period was approximately soldiers. Now let us resume with the three and one-third pounds, hardly enough narrative. for men exerting so vigorous an effort). Unfortunately, any large game that could As soon as each bateau’s crew had have supplemented the rations had been completed the many trips out of the valley driven far away by the noise, gunfire and to the first pond, they launched their bateau smell of nearly a thousand solders. and crossed the small pond, a half mile to its SW shore. Many of the men not finding Also, the plague of all armies of room in the heavily-laden boats had to that era, dysentery, had already struck. crash through the thickly-wooded shore to Arnold ordered a log cabin to be hastily reach the beginning of the next portage.
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