on November 13, following the siege of Fort St. Jean. Montgomery left a garrison of troops under the command of Major General David Wooster in control of Montreal before leading the rest of the army to Quebec City. The occupation of Montreal was poorly managed, and relations between the Americans and the population, including those supportive of the Americans, deteriorated for a variety of reasons. One major factor that contributed to the poor relations was the American interdiction of trade with the Indian populations on the upper St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, since the trade goods might be used to support British garrisons in those areas. The fur trade was economically important to the city, and its interruption affected both supporters and opponents of the American cause. Following the American losses at the battle of Quebec at the end of 1775, Wooster eventually led reinforcements to Quebec. He arrived early in April 1776, and the military administration of Montreal passed temporarily to Colonel Moses Hazen before going to Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, who had been in command at Quebec. The American forces occupying the city numbered about 500, with additional forces at posts outside the city. Wooster had reported to General Schuyler as early as March 5 of rumored scheming between British troops and Indians to the west of the city. In response to these alarming reports, as well as the unauthorized departures of two fur traders and Claude de Lorimier, a British Indian agent from Montreal, Hazen had sent 400 troops commanded by Colonel Timothy Bedel of Bedel's Regiment to occupy a strategic position at the Cedars in early April. Lieutenant Isaac Butterfield led an advance force that arrived at the Cedars on April 26 and began construction of a wooden stockade fort, fortifying it with two 4-pound cannons. Bedel and the rest of the detachment arrived on May 6. British call to arms The Indian agent Lorimier traveled west to Oswegatchie, where a company of the 8th Regiment of Foot under the command of George Forster had occupied Fort de La Présentation. Lorimier proposed recruiting a force of Indians to launch an attack on Continental forces at Montreal from the west. When Forster agreed, Lorimier went to Saint Regis, where he recruited 100 Mohawk men from Akwesasne. Word of these activities led the American rebels to fortify the Cedars. At Fort Niagara in early May the Loyalist