Newburyport’s Road to Revolution Presents: Through a Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold’s March to Quebec, 1775
📅 Friday, September 19, 2025 – 7:00 p.m.📍 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Newburyport, MA
Exactly 250 years to the day after Benedict Arnold led his troops out of Newburyport, join us for a captivating lecture by historian and author Tom Desjardin on one of the most extraordinary—yet often overlooked—episodes of the American Revolution.
In September 1775, Arnold commanded eleven hundred Colonial soldiers on a daring, top-secret mission: to march and paddle nearly 200 miles through the untamed wilderness of Maine and Quebec to seize British-held Quebec City. It was a journey marked by hypothermia, disease, starvation, hurricanes, and blizzards. Dozens perished; survivors endured eating everything from dogs to lip salve before reaching their target. Though the attack ultimately failed, Arnold’s expedition helped pave the way for America’s eventual victory.
In Through a Howling Wilderness, Desjardin tells this gripping story of endurance, sacrifice, and leadership before Arnold’s name became synonymous with treason.
About the Speaker: Tom Desjardin holds a Ph.D. in U.S. History and is the author of multiple acclaimed books. A former archivist and historian at Gettysburg National Military Park, he has taught at Bowdoin College, advised film and television productions (including Gettysburg and Gods and Generals), and appeared on the History Channel, A&E, Discovery, PBS, and CSPAN. He is a former Commissioner of Education for Maine and director of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.
Funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism
