Russell Dewey's Journal

Russell Dewey, son of Moses,  was born in Westfield in 1754.  Starting in 1775, he began his military career as a fifer in various companies, was at Bunker Hill and this journal documents his travel from Western MA to Quebec and the seige there.

He resigned from military service in 1805 and returned to Westfield to farm. He lived on the west corner of Franklin & Shepard Streets. He died in 1827 at the age of 72.

The Seige of Quebec was authorized by the Continental Congress without declaring war on Quebec. The Americans wanted to stop this northern entrance into the colonies and hoped to win support for the American cause in Canada. General Richard Montgomery led a force of  up the Richelieu River to Montreal, sucessfully capturing that city while Major-General Benedict Arnold north through Maine and then met up with Montgomery in Quebec. Although the Americans had substantially more forces, the Canadians were able to repulse Montgomery and Arnold's attack, capture 400 of them and suffer few casualties of their own. While Sir Guy Carleton, govenor of Quebec, was willing to wait out the winter seige, the Americans needed reinforcements because many of the soldier's enlistments were expiring. Russell Dewey waspart of the replacement forces.  The Americans were repulsed again in March of 1776. In May after the ice had thawed the rivers for navigation, a small British fleet of 200 regulars arrived, harbinger of the 9,000 soldiers that came later-some of them Hessians who would end up in Westfield.

For more information on the Seige of Quebec see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quebec_%281775%29#Siege

http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/battledetail.aspx?battle=6

The British viewpoint can be seen here: http://www.britishbattles.com/battle-of-quebec-1775.htm and a Canadian view here: http://www.sevenyearproject.com/battle-of-quebec.html.