But reinforcements were slow in arriving, notwithstanding every exertion to hasten them, and from the first of January to the first of March, the effective force before that place had never exceeded seven hundred men, and had often been as low as five hundred.

In March, reinforcements arrived in greater numbers, and the army was increased to seventeen hundred; but this number was soon reduced by the small-pox, which had made its way into camp, where, in contempt of orders, it was propagated by inoculation.
To render the blockade in any degree effectual, this small army, which occupied the island of Orleans and both sides of the St.Lawrence, was spread over a circuit of twenty-six miles, and divided by three ferries.

The establishment of discipline had been impracticable, if attempted; and the Canadians were often injured and irritated.

There is reason to believe that even General Arnold was disposed to think himself in the country of an enemy; and that, in repressing disorders, he did not exert that energy which he had always displayed conspicuously in the field.
{March 4.} Many causes combined to diminish the attachment originally manifested by the Canadians to the United Colonies.

The necessities of his situation compelled General Arnold to issue a proclamation making paper money current, under the promise of redeeming it in four months, and denouncing those as enemies, who should refuse to receive it.