The final hours of 1775 witnessed one of the most audacious and ill-fated military operations of the American Revolution. As snow swirled through the narrow streets of Quebec City and temperatures plunged well below freezing, a ragged army of American soldiers launched a desperate assault against the fortified capital of British Canada. The attack would end in catastrophe, claiming the life of one of America's most promising generals and effectively dooming the colonial invasion of Canada.