’Where there was no Signs of any Human Being’: Navigating the Eastern Country Wilderness on Arnold’s March to Quebec, 1775

Benedict Arnold’s expedition through the wilds of Maine in 1775 during the American Revolution is typically discussed in two common tropes: the praise for Arnold’s leadership and bravery to overcome insurmountable odds, and the privation and suffering experienced by the soldiers in the face of the howling wilderness. This article complicates this narrative by examining how soldiers examine, interact with, impose order over, and find pleasure in the natural world. It argues that all soldiers have complex ideas about the environments in which they serve and that quite often—despite intense privation—they feel fear, consternation, intrigue, invigoration, and awe.