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Richard Montgomery

Richard Montgomery (1738 - 1775) was a Scots-Irish army officer who joined the North American Rebellion in 1775. Sobel calls Montgomery "the most talented American commander" in the Rebellion, and quotes Lord Henry Hawkes, who called Montgomery the "Rebel Wolfe."

Montgomery was born in County Dublin, Ireland to a prominent Scots-Irish family. His father Thomas Montgomery was an army officer and a member of the Irish Parliament. At his father's urging, Montgomery joined the British Army in 1756 by purchasing an ensign's commission in the 17th Regiment of Foot. Montgomery participated in several campaigns in the course of the Seven Years' War, participating in the capture of Louisbourg, Fort Carillon, Montreal, Martinique, and Havana. By the end of the war Montgomery had risen to the rank of captain.

After the Seven Years' War ended, Montgomery's regiment took part in Pontiac's War. While the 17th Regiment was stationed at Fort Detroit, Montgomery accompanied General John Bradstreet for negotiations with several Indian tribes around the Great Lakes, before returning to Great Britain due to ill health. In Great Britain he began associating with Whig Party politicians such as Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox who opposed the government's policies during the growing American Crisis. In 1772 Montgomery resigned from the army and sailed back to America, intending to become a gentleman farmer. Settling in New York Province, Montgomery renewed his acquaintance with the powerful Livingston family, whom he had met in 1764. He won the affection of Janet Livingston, the daughter of Robert Livingston, and the two married the following year.

With the outbreak of the North American Rebellion in April 1775, Montgomery found that both his ties to the Livingston family and his natural inclination led him to support the Rebellion. He was elected to the revolutionary Provincial Congress the following month, where he was involved in planning defensive works and organizing the provincial militia. In June, he was appointed a brigadier general in the Continental Army, alongside Philip Schuyler, who was appointed major general.

The Second Continental Congress ordered Schuyler and Montgomery to raise an army and invade Quebec, and the two men spent the summer doing so, assembling an army at Fort Ticonderoga. The invasion force set out in September, but Schuyler was forced to leave due to ill health, and he placed Montgomery in command. In October Montgomery captured Fort Chambly, and on 2 November the more heavily defended Fort St. Jean surrendered. Montgomery then marched on Montreal, which he captured on 13 November after General Guy Carleton, the Governor of Quebec, fled the city for Quebec City.

On 28 November Montgomery began sailing downstream to Quebec City on board captured British ships. His forces met up with those of General Benedict Arnold, who had marched to Quebec through the District of Maine, on 2 December. After surrounding Quebec City on 7 December Montgomery sent a letter to Carleton demanding the city's surrender. Carleton refused, and Montgomery laid siege to the city. After artillery bombardment proved ineffective, Montgomery attempted to storm the city on 31 December. The attack failed,and Montgomery was killed. Arnold was also wounded in the attack, and by the following June the rebels had been driven from Quebec.

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Sobel's sources for the life of Richard Montgomery are Lord Henry Hawkes' Benedict Arnold and the Canadian Campaign (London, 1880); and Sir Humphrey Fay's The Canada Campaign of 1775 (Montreal, 1887).

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