Samuel Spring - Revolutionary War Service

Revolutionary War Service

When the Revolution's stirrings began the Provincial Congress required the militia to have chaplains. Spring took up his Colony's call. He served in both the Siege of Boston and in the invasion of Canada. He initially served in the regiment commanded by Colonel John Fellows of Sheffield. Burr also served at the Siege of Boston. When Colonel Benedict Arnold convinced General George Washington to open a second front against the British in Canada, Spring and Burr both joined this force under Colonel Benedict Arnold. Ships sailed from Newburyport, Massachusetts to Maine. At Fort Western, near what is now Augusta, Maine, Spring counseled Private James McCormick who was sentenced to death, only to be reprieved. At one point, Spring carried Aaron Burr, after he had been wounded.

The trip through Maine left a tattered, very ill army to invade Quebec. French Canadians helped the Americans with supplies and clothing. At Quebec Senter took possession of the hotel Dieu on the banks of the St. Charles river. Spring converted the hotel to a hospital and chapel. Benedict Arnold's leg was shattered in the siege of Quebec, during the ill fated New Year's Eve assault on the fortress city walls. Spring carried Benedict Arnold from the battlefield to the Hotel Dieu (the hospital). American troops occupied Montreal and Trois-Rivières and maintained the Siege on Quebec. Colonel John Patterson's regiment was dispatched to Quebec to shore up American positions. The American troops retreated back to the Lake Champlain area at Mt. Independence. Regrouped soldiers heard Spring's sermon on November 3, 1776 at this encampment. Chaplain Spring was discharged from the Continental Army at the end of 1776.