On May 23, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee — including Benjamin Harrison, Richard Henry Lee, John Adams, James Wilson, and Edward Rutledge — to consult with General Washington and his officers about the deteriorating situation in Canada. Earlier that spring, Congress had already sent Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll north in a last‑ditch effort to persuade Canadians to join the American cause. The mission failed for political and cultural reasons, and by late May the American invasion was collapsing. The committee’s task was to coordinate a withdrawal and prevent the disaster in Canada from spreading to the northern frontier.