Richard Montgomery

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You may have been looking for another Richard Montgomery, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, or Richard Montgomery High School.

John Trumbull's depiction of the death of General Montgomery in the attack on Quebec.

Richard Montgomery (December 2, 1736 – December 31, 1775) was an Irish-American soldier who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

He was born in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland, the son of Thomas Montgomery (a member of Parliament) and Mary Franklin Montgomery.

He was an officer in the British Army in the Seven Years' War. His service was in Canada and the Caribbean. He reached the rank of captain in May 1762. In 1763, when peace was concluded, he went to New York, and in 1765 returned to England.

In England he associated with whig members of Parliament who supported the colonists in their demands for more freedom.

On April 6, 1772, he sold his Army commission and decided to move back to New York, buying a sixty-seven acre (270,000 m²) farm at King's Bridge in what is now the Borough of The Bronx of New York City.

On July 24, 1773, he married Janet Livingston, sister of Robert R. Livingston, a prominent New Yorker who was on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. He then moved to his wife's farm near Rhinebeck, which was to be his home for the few remaining years of his life. In 1775, although having resided in New York only three years, he was elected to the New York provincial legislature.

He served as the second-ranking brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War, led the army into Canada (Invasion of Canada) where he captured two forts and the city of Montreal, and died while attempting to capture the city of Quebec during a fierce snow storm on 31 December 1775. The British recognized his body and ordered a honourable burial. In 1818, his body was moved to New York City and interred at St. Paul's Chapel.

Legacy

Places named after Richard Montgomery include:

In World War II the United States liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery was named in his honor.

External links

[Portraits of the Founders of America] (Including one of Montgomery)
[Grave of General Montgomery at St Paul's Church]

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