Canadian Regiment, First
Canadian Regiment, First
CANADIAN REGIMENT, FIRST. On 20 November 1775, Brigadier General Richard Montgomery authorized James Livingston, a New-York-born merchant then living near Chambly, Quebec, to raise a force of Canadians for the Continental service. The unit was to consist of eight companies, but probably was never recruited to full strength. The Canadians participated in the assault on Quebec (31 December 1775, at St. John's Gate) but they did not distinguish themselves. Livingston led his remaining troops in the retreat from Canada, after which Congress gave him permission to recruit in New York, in part among pro-American refugees from Quebec. The regiment remained with the Northern army in 1776 and through 1777, participating in the battles of Saratoga in September and October of that year. Reorganized into five small companies in 1778, it served in the Hudson Highlands for two years, until 1 January 1781, when its remaining personnel were absorbed into Moses Hazen's Second Canadian Regiment and Livingston retired.
SEE ALSO Canadian Regiment (Second); Saratoga, First Battle of.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wright, Robert K. Jr. The Continental Army (Army Lineage Series). Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History, 1983.
revised by Harold E. Selesky