My 5G Grandfather, Joel Loveland, of Glastonbury, Connecticut, died in 1776 in the service of his country during the Revolutionary War. He had been a prisoner of the British in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, since the failed American attack on the city on December 31, 1775. His unit had endured great hardship and privation since embarking at Newburyport on September 12, 1775. The expedition was ill-planned and under-provisioned, and the resourceful courage demonstrated by the troops on the march up the Kennebec and over the 'Height of Land' has been well documented. The many journals of participants in the battle provide detailed accounts of the march and siege that culminated with the unsuccessful storming of the walls of the city during a snowstorm, just after 5:00 a.m. on New Year's Eve of 1775.
The Invasion of Canada in 1775, by Edwin Martin Stone, has as an appendix,
"The following list of the killed, wounded and taken prisoners of the American troops at Quebec, on the 31st December, 1775, is copied from Ware's Journal, several times before quoted. The asterisks are suffixed to the original, though no signification is given." In a footnote to the above, Stone remarks that "(t)his list of killed, wounded, and taken prisoner is evidently incomplete."
...Capt. HANDCHITT'S COMPANY. Killed.- Lt. Samuel Cooper, Nath'l Goodrich, Wm Goodrich, Peter Heady, Spencer Merwick, John Morriss, Theophilus Hide.
Wounded.- David Sage, [Sergt.]
Prisoners.- Capt. Oliver Handchitt; Lt. Abijah Savage; 1Benj. Catlin, Quart.; Pelatiah Dewey, Sergt.; Gabriel Hodgkiss, 1st Sergt.; Gershom Wilcox, Sergt.; Roswell Ransom, corp.; Jedediah Dewey, corp.; *John Risden, Samuel Biggs, Samuel Bliss, Rich'd Brewer, Sam'l Burroughs, Nath'l Coleman, Stephen Fosbury, *Isaac George, 2Isaac Knapp, Edw'd Lawrence, Joel Loveman, *3Elijah Marshall, Daniel Rice, 4David Sheldon, Ichabod Swaddle, Jonathan Taylor, Solomon Way, *Noah Whipple, Abner Stocking, Moses White, 5Simon Winter.
Listed in the King's Service - 6John Bassett, Drummer; Patrick Newgent.
...
The Loveland Genealogy includes the following in the entry under Joel,
From the Eastbury (Glastonbury) Church Records we have: "Heard of the death of Joel Loveland who died at Quebec, Aug. 7, 1776, a prisoner." From the "Connecticut Men in the Revolutionary War," pages 52, 92, we have: "Joel Loveland, taken prisoner at Quebec, Dec. 31, 1775, and died Feb'y 28, 1776." From these records it appears he was detached from the 10th Company, 2nd Regiment, Gen. Spencer's Connecticut troops, to join Arnold's ill-fated expedition to Quebec.
We find in the Eastbury, Conn., Church Record: "1776. Aug 7. Heard that Joel Loveland died at Quebec a prisoner." From the Connecticut Roster we have: "Joel Loveland taken prisoner at Quebec, Dec. 31, 1775, and died Feb'y 28, 1776."
"... from letters of correspondents we have: "Joel Loveland and his two sons died prisoners at Quebec during the Revolutionary War."
The 2nd Connecticut Regiment was raised under Col. Joseph Spencer after the Battle of Lexington & Concord, and saw action in the following campaigns:
For a ripping good read, please see Arundel, by Kenneth M. Roberts. Published in 1931, he tells the story of the Northern Army on the march to Quebec through the eyes of one Steven Nason of Arundel, Maine, and this is historical fiction that makes the march come alive for any one with ancestors associated with this tragic campaign. Roberts has also published a valuable compilation of known diaries and other documents relating to the expedition, including accounts from both British and American participants in the battle.1.Siege of Boston (April 1775 - March 1776)
2.Detachment at Battle of Breed's Hill (June 17, 1775)
3.Detachment with Benedict Arnold on the march to Quebec through present day Maine, Fall - Winter 1775