Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Ulster-Scots soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for leading the unsuccessful 1775 invasion of northeastern Quebec.
This article is about the 18th-century soldier. For other uses, see Richard Montgomery (disambiguation).
Richard Montgomery
2 December 1738
Swords, Dublin, Ireland
31 December 1775 (aged 37)
Quebec City, Province of Quebec, British America
(reinterred in 1818 to St. Paul's Churchyard, Manhattan, New York City)
- British Army (1756–1772)
- Continental Army (1775)
Montgomery was born and raised in Ireland to an Ulster-Scots family. In 1754, he enrolled at Trinity College, Dublin, and two years later joined the British Army to fight in the French and Indian War. He steadily rose through the ranks, serving in North America and then the Caribbean. After the war he was stationed at Fort Detroit during Pontiac's War, following which he returned to Britain for health reasons. In 1773, Montgomery returned to the Thirteen Colonies, married Janet Livingston, and began farming.
When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Montgomery took up the Patriot cause, and was elected to the New York Provincial Congress in May 1775. In June 1775, he was commissioned as a brigadier general in the Continental Army. After Philip Schuyler became too ill to lead the invasion of Canada, Montgomery took over. He captured Fort St. Johns and then Montreal in November 1775, and then advanced to Quebec City, where he joined another force under the command of Benedict Arnold. On 31 December, he led an attack on the city, but was killed during the battle. The British found his body and gave him an honorable burial. His remains were moved to New York City in 1818.
Early life[edit]
Montgomery was born near Swords in the north of County Dublin in Ireland, on 2 December 1738. He was born into an Ulster Scots gentry family, the County Donegal branch of the Clan Montgomery. His father, Thomas Montgomery, was a British Army officer and a Member of Parliament (MP) for the pocket borough of Lifford in east Donegal, which returned two MPs to the Irish Parliament.[2] Thomas' brother Alexander Montgomery (1720–1800) and cousin, another Alexander Montgomery (1686–1729), were both colonels and MPs for County Donegal.
Richard Montgomery spent most of his childhood at Abbeville House in Kinsealy, near Swords, in County Dublin, where he learned to hunt, ride, shoot, and fence.[2] Thomas Montgomery made sure that his sons received a good education; Richard attended the school of the Rev. Saumarez Dubourdieu in Leixlip, and learned French, Latin, and rhetoric. Richard Montgomery entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1754.[3]
Despite his great love of knowledge, Montgomery did not receive a degree.[4] He was urged by his father and his oldest brother Alexander to join the military, which he did on 21 September 1756.[5] His father purchased an ensign's commission for Montgomery, who joined the 17th Regiment of Foot.[5]
Recovery[edit]
In Britain, Montgomery recovered his health.[29] He associated with Whig Members of Parliament, who generally supported the colonists in their demands for more political freedom. Montgomery became friends with several prominent Whigs such as Isaac Barré, Edmund Burke, and Charles James Fox.[29] While stationed in Britain, Montgomery spent much of his time discussing politics with these three men. He began to question the British Government's policies.[30] In 1768, with the 17th Foot back in England, he began a recruitment drive; before it began, his company was only 17 men. He also became engaged; however, his fiancée proved to be untrue, and the engagement was broken.[31]
After being passed over for promotion in 1771, likely because of his political affiliations, he sold his commission for about £1,500 and left the military in 1772.[32] He then bought scientific instruments (microscopes, a barometer and hygrometer), surveying tools, and draftsmen's tools, and sailed for America in July of that year.[33] He had decided never to marry or take up arms again and to become a gentleman farmer.[34]
American Revolution[edit]
Appointment[edit]
After the appointment of George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the newly formed Continental Army on 15 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress asked the New York Provincial Government to select two men for service in the army.[46] One would be a major general, the other a brigadier general. The assembly favored Philip Schuyler as the major general. Montgomery expressed concern over this, as he did not believe that Schuyler had enough combat experience for such an appointment.[47] Montgomery wrote that "Phil Schuyler was mentioned to me ... His consequence in the province makes him a fit subject for an important trust – but has he strong nerves? I could wish to have that point well ascertained with respect to any man so employed."[47] Although Montgomery knew he was under consideration for brigadier general, he did not publicly show any desire for the appointment.[47] Nonetheless, Schuyler was appointed major general, and Montgomery brigadier general, on 22 June.[48] Montgomery was ranked second in command of all the brigadier generals.[49] In view of this appointment, he said, "The Congress having done me the honor of electing me brigadier-general in their service, is an event which must put an end, for awhile, perhaps for ever, to the quiet scheme of life I had prescribed for myself; for, though entirely unexpected and undesired by me, the will of an oppressed people, compelled to choose between liberty and slavery, must be obeyed."[50]
Mourning[edit]
Schuyler and Washington were devastated upon hearing of Montgomery's death.[104] Schuyler believed that without Montgomery, victory in Canada was not possible. He wrote to Congress and Washington that "My amiable friend, the gallant Montgomery, is no more; the brave Arnold is wounded; and we have met a severe check, in an unsuccessful attempt on Quebec, May Heaven be graciously pleased that the misfortune may terminate here."[104] Washington wrote to Schuyler, "In the death of this gentleman, America has sustained a heavy loss, as he had approved himself a steady friend to her rights and of ability to render her the most essential services."[104] Congress reacted to Montgomery's death by trying to keep the loss as quiet as possible.[105] They feared the news would lower the morale of the troops and civilians.[105]
On 25 January 1776, Congress approved the establishment of a monument in memory of Montgomery.[106] [107] A state memorial service was also scheduled and carried out on 19 February 1776. Throughout the thirteen colonies, Montgomery was viewed as a hero, and Patriots tried to use his death to promote their cause in the war.[108] Montgomery's name was used very often in literature; among the authors who used his name was Thomas Paine.[109] The poet Ann Eliza Bleecker wrote an "Elegy on the death of Gen. Montgomery" in his memory.
Montgomery was also mourned in Britain.[109] Whigs attempted to use his death to show the failure of the British policies on the American Colonies. Prime Minister Lord North acknowledged Montgomery's military ability but said "I cannot join in lamenting the death of Montgomery as a public loss. Curse on his virtues! They've undone his country. He was brave, he was able, he was humane, he was generous, but still, he was only a brave, able, humane, and generous rebel." Newspapers in London paid tribute to Montgomery, with the Evening Post bordering its 12 March edition in black as a sign of mourning.[110]