Center Stage
Another profile of a historical character in my fourth Yankee Doodle Spies novel, The North Spy, gives the stage to a British officer who played a unique role in shaping the destiny of North America. Our character's political pique plays no small part in enabling the series of events that unfold in the action novel.
Another Irish Soldier
Guy Carleton was born on 3 September 1724 in Strabane, Ireland. He was the son of a Protestant landholder. Yet, he was comfortable with the Roman Catholics who made up the populace and did not develop the same prejudices most of his contemporaries held. Carlton received a commission in the British Army at age 18 as an ensign in the 25th Regiment of Foot. Carleton was promoted 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, was promoted to captain. Carleton leveraged good connections with such luminaries 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 lots of action during the French and Indian War. He led an elite battalion of 600 grenadiers under now Major General James Wolfe for the Battle of Quebec, which led to the conquest of New France. After recovering from a severe head wound at Quebec, he served at Belle Island, France, and as a colonel at Havana, Cuba, where he again was wounded in battle. Curiously, he fought alongside Richard Montgomery, a renowned British officer who would later be his nemesis.
Managing Quebec
By 1766, Carleton was back in Quebec as its Lieutenant-Governor. Quebec was a French-speaking Catholic colony, and properly governing it took all the skills and finesse Carleton could muster. He won over the residents with initiatives to ensure religious and political freedoms. He wooed the elites and soon had them supporters of British rule.
But conflict with the Governor-General, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, on how best to administer the new land sent him back to London. This trip would be very good for him. Later, Lord Dunmore would become governor in North Carolina and then Virginia. The Scotsman's strident approach helped drive both colonies to rebellion.
Promotion and Eros
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham. They had nine sons and two daughters. While he was in London, the Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, in significant part based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was administered, guaranteed religious freedom, and extended Canada's colonial reach down the Mississippi River. Unfortunately, these measures helped put Britain on a collision course with the Protestant and expansionist 13 colonies.
Governor-General
The now Major General Guy Carleton returned to Canada as Quebec's Governor-General in 1774 to find the 13 seaboard colonies in the throes of 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 turn out in great numbers to bolster his militia forces. And he declined exhortations to tap the native tribes.
Invasion and War
Thus weakened, he was not prepared for the winter onslaught unleashed by the American invasion in the fall of 1775. Two of America's best commanders, General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, led bold thrusts across two fronts.
Fortunately, bad timing by the Americans, poor supplies, and worsening weather combined to stymy what appeared to be an imminent and speedy victory.
Stout Defender
Guy Carleton showed true mettle in his own right as well. He fought a defensive action that slowed Montgomery's thrust on Montreal, trading space for time. The beleaguered governor held out for a while in Montreal but almost fell into rebel hands when he finally evacuated—resolved to continue his defense farther down the Saint Lawrence River at Quebec City, where he would make a last-ditch defense.
With Arnold now before Quebec and Montgomery due to join him, Carleton counted on three things: the onset of winter, heroics by his small force of regulars and provincials, and reinforcements from Britain. Miraculously for him, all three transpired. But not without great efforts 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. The British captured several American leaders, including Dan Morgan and Ethan Allen. Carleton hung strong with 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. But Colonel, now Brigadier-General Arnold, had recovered and stayed busy putting together a fleet of his own. The two clashed at Valcour Island on 10 October. Arnold fought a shrewd battle and inflicted losses on the British fleet before Carleton resoundingly defeated him. The way 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 thrust the following season. It was a season that would not be his. Carleton's hesitancy in 1776 caused London to "go in a different direction."
A Different Direction
While the Americans used the winter respite to recoup and reinforce their hold on Lake Champlain, General Burgoyne returned to Britain. He convinced Lord George Germain and King George to give him command of the new army and the spring offensive into New York. Carleton responded by resigning as Governor-General and returned to Britain as governor of Armagh, Ireland.
Military Disaster
Meanwhile, Burgoyne's failure and surrender to the Americans at Saratoga in October 1777 led to a chain of events that brought the French and Spanish into the war against Britain. After Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, the British knew they had to manage what appeared to be its 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. He was there to manage defeat by enforcing the peace treaty provisions. Carleton ensured an orderly process and fought for the rights and interests of the remaining Loyalists and British supporting former slaves in the colonies. He refused to evacuate the last British garrison in New York until all Loyalist refugees were safely ensconced in Québec and Nova Scotia.
The Peer
In 1783, he was named the 1st Baron Dorchester when he sailed back to England. But once again, London needed his administrative skills in North America. In 1786 he returned for another stint 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 deliberately misinterpreted the British ban on American imports to allow commerce with the American West. The ban would only apply to seaports.
Carleton was the force behind dividing the colony into Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) with their own assemblies and set forth the plan for British governance of all of its North American possessions.
To England's Green Pastures
On 9 July 1796, Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return. He died suddenly on 10 November 1808 at Stubbings House at 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 centers on his skills as an administrator – a man who could organize and manage during peace, crisis, and war. His talents helped wind down the eight-year American War for Independence with decorum and reason and helped build the future Dominion of Canada. Both of these mark him as a great leader who made an imprint on the future of North America.
