Center Stage
Another profile of a historical character in my fourth Yankee Doodle Spies novel, The North Spy, highlights a British officer who played a unique role in shaping the destiny of North America. Our character's political intrigue significantly contributes to the series of events that unfold in the action novel.
Another Irish Soldier
Guy Carleton was born on September 3, 1724, in Strabane, Ireland. He was the son of a Protestant landholder. However, he was comfortable with the Roman Catholics who comprised the local population and did not develop the same prejudices as most of his contemporaries. Carleton received a commission in the British Army at the age of 18 as an ensign in the 25th Regiment of Foot. He was promoted to Lieutenant two years later and served in the Jacobite Uprising in Scotland and the War of the Austrian Succession in Europe.
The Guards and Patronage
In 1751, he joined the 1st Foot Guards, and in 1752, he was promoted to captain. Carleton leveraged strong connections with notable figures such as James Wolfe and the Duke of Richmond. In 1757, Carleton was promoted to lieutenant colonel and served in Germany. In 1758, he was named the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot.
Fighting the French & Indians & Spanish
He saw a lot of action during the French and Indian War. He led an elite battalion of 600 grenadiers under now Major General James Wolfe at the Battle of Quebec, which resulted in the conquest of New France. After recovering from a severe head wound at Quebec, he served at Belle Isle, France, and as a colonel in Havana, Cuba, where he was again wounded in battle. Curiously, he fought alongside Richard Montgomery, a well-known British officer who would later become his nemesis.
Managing Quebec
By 1766, Carleton had returned to Quebec as its Lieutenant-Governor. Quebec was a French-speaking Catholic colony, and effectively governing it required all the skills and finesse that Carleton could muster. He won over the residents with initiatives aimed at ensuring religious and political freedoms. He cultivated relationships with the elites and soon gained their support for British rule.
However, conflict with the Governor-General, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, regarding the best methods to administer the new land led to his return to London. This journey would benefit him greatly. Later, Lord Dunmore would serve as governor in North Carolina and then Virginia. The Scotsman's aggressive stance contributed to driving both colonies toward rebellion.
Promotion and Eros
On May 22, 1772, at nearly 48 years old, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, the daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had nine sons and two daughters. While he was in London, Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, largely based on his recommendations. This act determined how the province was governed, guaranteed religious freedom, and extended Canada's colonial reach down the Mississippi River. Unfortunately, these measures set Britain on a collision course with the Protestant and expansionist thirteen colonies.
Governor-General
Major General Guy Carleton returned to Canada as Quebec's Governor-General in 1774 to find the 13 seaboard colonies engulfed in political turmoil and rebellion.
The outbreak of total rebellion by the New England colonies in 1775 had an immediate impact on Carleton's Quebec. The British commander-in-chief in North America, General Thomas Gage, stripped him of 800 British regulars to defend Boston. The local French did not rally in large numbers to support his militia forces, and he declined calls to enlist the native tribes.
Invasion and War
Thus weakened, he was unprepared for the winter assault unleashed by the American invasion in the fall of 1775. Two of America's finest commanders, General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, led daring thrusts across two fronts.
Fortunately, the Americans' bad timing, inadequate supplies, and deteriorating weather hampered what seemed to be an imminent and swift victory.
Stout Defender
Guy Carleton also demonstrated true mettle in his own right. He executed a defensive action that delayed Montgomery's advance on Montreal, trading space for time. The beleaguered governor managed to hold out for a while in Montreal but nearly fell into rebel hands during his evacuation—determined to continue his defense further down the Saint Lawrence River at Quebec City, where he would make a last-ditch stand.
With Arnold now before Quebec and Montgomery set to join him, Carleton relied on three factors: the onset of winter, the heroics of his small force of regulars and provincials, and reinforcements from Britain. Miraculously for him, all three occurred, but not without significant effort and sacrifice.
The Americans' all-out assault on Quebec failed due to extreme weather, a solid and stubborn defense, and sound tactical decisions. General Montgomery fell mortally wounded in the blinding snowstorm that swirled around the city. Colonel Arnold took a musket ball in the leg, and the British captured several American leaders, including Dan Morgan and Ethan Allen. Carleton held strong against a weak American army scattered around the city until General John Burgoyne arrived in March 1776.
Counter Stroke
With fresh troops reinforcing him, Carleton launched a counteroffensive. In June, his crushing blow against acting American commander General John Sullivan at Trois Rivieres sent the scattered and ill-supplied Americans reeling back into New York.
Carleton then went on the offensive. Over the next few months, he built a fleet and launched it down Lake Champlain in October 1776. However, Colonel, now Brigadier-General Arnold, had recovered and stayed busy assembling a fleet of his own. The two clashed at Valcour Island on October 10. Arnold fought a clever battle and inflicted losses on the British fleet before Carleton decisively defeated him. The route to Albany and deep into the rebel heartland was now open.
But the Governor-General had second thoughts about continuing a new campaign so late in the season. He withdrew north to tighten his supply line and prepare for a final push the following season. It was a season that would not belong to him. Carleton's hesitancy in 1776 caused London to "go in a different direction."
A Different Direction
While the Americans used the winter respite to regroup and strengthen their hold on Lake Champlain, General Burgoyne returned to Britain. He convinced Lord George Germain and King George to appoint him as commander of the new army and the spring offensive into New York. Carleton responded by resigning as Governor-General and returned to Britain as the governor of Armagh, Ireland.
Military Disaster
Meanwhile, Burgoyne's failure and surrender to the Americans at Saratoga in October 1777 set off a series of events that brought the French and Spanish into the conflict against Britain. After Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, the British realized they had to manage what seemed to be their defeat in America.
Managing Defeat
With the signing of the Treaty of Paris, London recalled General Henry Clinton and sent Carleton to replace him as commander-in-chief in North America. His role was to manage the aftermath of defeat by enforcing the provisions of the peace treaty. Carleton ensured an orderly process and advocated for the rights and interests of the remaining Loyalists and British supporters of former slaves in the colonies. He refused to evacuate the last British garrison in New York until all Loyalist refugees were safely settled in Québec and Nova Scotia.
The Peer
In 1783, he was named the 1st Baron Dorchester when he sailed back to England. However, London once again required his administrative skills in North America. In 1786, he returned for another term as Governor-in-Chief of North America – Canada and the various maritime provinces.
Governor-in-Chief
He looked toward the economic development of the colonies. To this end, he purposefully misinterpreted the British ban on American imports to facilitate commerce with the American West. The ban would apply only to seaports.
Carleton was instrumental in dividing the colony into Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec), each with its own assembly, and he outlined the plan for British governance over all of its North American possessions.
To England's Green Pastures
On July 9, 1796, Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return. He died suddenly on November 10, 1808, at Stubbings House in Burchett's Green near Maidenhead, England. Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester, was buried in the parish church of St. Swithun's, Nately Scures.
Lasting Legacy
Although he was an accomplished leader of troops in combat, Carleton's legacy focuses on his skills as an administrator—a man capable of organizing and managing during peace, crisis, and war. His talents helped bring to a close the eight-year American War for Independence with decorum and reason, and they aided in building the future Dominion of Canada. Both of these demonstrate his status as a great leader who left a mark on the future of North America.
