72 Facts About Richard Montgomery

Richard Montgomery was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army.

Richard Montgomery 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 Quebec.

Richard Montgomery steadily rose through the ranks, serving in North America and then the Caribbean.

In 1773, Montgomery returned to the Thirteen Colonies, married Janet Livingston, and began farming.

Richard Montgomery's remains were moved to New York City in 1818.

Richard Montgomery was born near Swords in the north of County Dublin in Ireland.

Richard Montgomery was born into an Ulster Scots gentry family, the County Donegal branch of the Clan Montgomery.

Richard Montgomery's father, Thomas Montgomery, was a British Army officer and a Member of Parliament for the pocket borough of Lifford in east Donegal, which returned two MPs to the Irish Parliament.

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.

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's father purchased an ensign's commission for Montgomery, who joined the 17th Regiment of Foot.

Richard Montgomery landed on the beach under heavy fire and ordered his troops to advance with fixed bayonets.

Richard Montgomery had his men dig entrenchments and build breastworks, ordering his men stay alert to the possibility of a French attack.

Richard Montgomery ordered that his men were not to fire at night, fearing they would shoot their comrades.

The 17th Foot, including Richard Montgomery's company, was to capture Moro Fort, the key to the Spanish defense of the city.

We do not know what happened between them at this time, but Janet noticed that Richard Montgomery was not with the regiment when it returned to New York.

The 17th was first assigned to garrison duty at Fort Stanwix, where Richard Montgomery remained until 1764.

In 1764, Richard Montgomery applied to Colonel Campbell and General Thomas Gage for leave to return to England; his service in the Caribbean had taken a toll on his health.

For several weeks, Richard Montgomery stayed at the fort, helping to improve its defenses, and gaining an understanding of how to interact with the Natives.

Bradstreet then released Richard Montgomery, who traveled first to Johnson Hall and then New York, where he delivered dispatches from Bradstreet to Gage before departing for England.

Richard Montgomery associated with Whig Members of Parliament, who generally supported the colonists in their demands for more political freedom.

Richard Montgomery became friends with several prominent Whigs such as Isaac Barre, Edmund Burke, and Charles James Fox.

Richard Montgomery became engaged; however, his fiancee proved to be untrue, and the engagement was broken.

Richard Montgomery had decided never to marry or take up arms again and to become a gentleman farmer.

Richard Montgomery bought a farm at King's Bridge, 13 miles north of New York City.

Richard Montgomery bought some surrounding land and set to work fencing, ploughing fields, building a grain mill, and laying the foundation for a larger home called "Grasmere", though it was yet to be completed at the time of his death and the tiny cottage was his only residence in Rhinebeck.

Richard Montgomery came to believe that the British government was being oppressive and was acting like a tyrannical parent-state.

Richard Montgomery was reluctant to go, but nonetheless went to New York City, 80 miles south of Rhinebeck.

Richard Montgomery believed that the British Government was wrong, but hoped for an honorable reconciliation.

Richard Montgomery was selected to serve in a site selection committee to decide the placement of military defensive positions in New York, and was involved in organizing the provincial militia and securing its supplies.

Richard Montgomery expressed concern over this, as he did not believe that Schuyler had enough combat experience for such an appointment.

Richard Montgomery was ranked second in command of all the brigadier generals.

Richard Montgomery stayed in Albany for several more weeks making the final arrangements for the invasion.

Richard Montgomery led the main body of troops toward the fort through a marshy and heavily wooded area.

Richard Montgomery, fearing that the British force was larger than he had anticipated, called off operations for the rest of the day and withdrew his force to a spot beyond the range of the British guns.

Schuyler's health declined, so Richard Montgomery assumed command of the daily functions of the army.

The next morning, Richard Montgomery called a council of war, in which it was agreed to make another attack on the fort.

Richard Montgomery, believing his force could no longer take the fort, retreated back to Ile aux Noix.

Richard Montgomery left for Ticonderoga on the 16th to recover, giving full control of the operation to Montgomery.

Outside of Fort Saint-Jean, Richard Montgomery continued to receive reinforcements.

Richard Montgomery granted leaves to commanders who he felt were not fit for their position.

Richard Montgomery sent a naval component, with 1 schooner, 1 sloop, and 10 bateaux with 350 troops to counter any move by the British warship, Royal Savage.

The next morning, he ordered Major Timothy Bedel to occupy a position north of the fort, but when Richard Montgomery saw that his men were apprehensive, he chose to lead the mission himself.

Richard Montgomery took command of the skirmish and forced the British party back into the fort.

Richard Montgomery sent Bedel with a force to entrench themselves about a mile north of the fort.

Richard Montgomery then put other troops around the fort and began a siege.

Richard Montgomery ordered that a new battery be built where the Royal Savage could be threatened.

Richard Montgomery approved of the idea and ordered 350 men to take Chambly.

Richard Montgomery sent the colors of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, who had been defending the fort, to Schuyler, the first standards of a British regiment captured in the war.

At sundown, Richard Montgomery ordered the firing to stop and sent a prisoner captured at Chambly inside with a letter asking for the garrison's surrender.

Richard Montgomery saw this as a challenge to his authority and this, along with the lack of discipline in the army, caused Richard Montgomery to threaten resignation.

Letters from Washington in which Washington expressed his troubles with the discipline of troops convinced Richard Montgomery to continue his command.

The next day, the army moved toward the city; when they arrived, Richard Montgomery ordered the city to be surrounded.

Several days later, Richard Montgomery sent a letter into the city appealing the merchants telling them that they had come to liberate the civilians of Quebec.

Richard Montgomery, wanting his message to reach the inhabitants of the city, then sent the proclamation over the wall with bows and arrows.

Richard Montgomery then resumed firing on the city, but the effect was little better.

Richard Montgomery was to assault the Lower Town district, the part of the city near the river shore, while Arnold was to attack and take the Cape Diamond Bastion, a strong part of the city walls on the highest point of the rocky promontory.

Richard Montgomery believed that they should attack during a stormy night, therefore the British would not be able to see them.

However, the storm soon subsided and Richard Montgomery called off the attack.

Richard Montgomery issued the order to attack and the Americans began to move towards their designated positions.

Once Richard Montgomery's death was announced, Benedict Arnold assumed command of the American colonial forces.

Richard Montgomery's name was used very often in literature; among the authors who used his name was Thomas Paine.

Richard Montgomery was brave, he was able, he was humane, he was generous, but still, he was only a brave, able, humane, and generous rebel.

Richard Montgomery attended Washington's inaugural ball that followed his swearing as president, and visited Washington and his family several times more.

Richard Montgomery sailed for Ireland soon after, and returned to America in 1790 after she had a falling out with her sister-in-law over British-American politics.

In 1818, Stephen van Rensselaer, Governor of New York, obtained permission for Richard Montgomery's remains to be moved from Quebec to New York.

In June 1818, Richard Montgomery's remains set off for New York City.

Janet stood out on her porch and watched the boat bring Richard Montgomery's remains down the river, fainting at the sight.

The Liberty cargo ship SS Richard Montgomery, built in 1943, was sunk in 1944 in the Thames Estuary, and remains there, with its masts showing.

General Richard Montgomery had planned it before his departure from Grassmere in 1775, and construction was originally planned to start in 1776.

Richard Montgomery is mentioned in a Fort Saint-Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean.

Richard Montgomery is briefly mentioned in the 2015 Broadway musical Hamilton in the song "Right Hand Man" in which Aaron Burr states he "was a captain under General Richard Montgomery until he caught a bullet in the neck in Quebec" which refers to his death in the Battle of Quebec.