In the Shadow of Cedars

Late Sunday afternoon, May 19, 1776, Major Isaac Butterfield assembled 390 men under his command at the fort they had built on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River in Canada at a place called Cedars and surrendered them to British Captain George Forster…. For this, the first surrender of American patriots to the British in the American Revolution, the name of the tavern keeper from Westmoreland, New Hampshire, was known to every member of Continental Congress. He was branded a scoundrel by Thomas Jefferson, and in John Adams’ opinion the major deserved ‘an infamous death and immortal disgrace.’ Adams called the surrender ‘the first stain on American arms.’

But in the accounts of the surrender at Cedars one thing remains constant through more than a century and a half of comment and criticism-Butterfield, though central to the action there, is treated peripherally and quickly dismissed. It is curious that the man whose decision so exasperated Continental Congressmen as well as the military leadership of the Revolution never inspired serious inquiry. This is his story.”

Charles Butterfield, a retired, award-winning teacher, has lectured on New England citizen soldiers in the Revolution for the Vermont Humanities Council. Previous publications include Biology and Values and Another Light (with photographer Larry Richardson). He lives in Hinsdale, New Hampshire.