RICHARD MONTGOMERY - America's First Military Hero

**** RICHARD MONTGOMERY - America's First Military Hero

It was on' January 17th~ 1776 that. the Continental Congress while meeting in Philadelphia learned that Major General Richard Montgomery wao, killed ,'It the battle fo," Qu.ebec. President. John Hancock wept as did Benjamin Franklin and others. Papular ballads and poems' were to tell of Montgomery's glorious campaign into Canada, and of his heroic death·in the calIse of libe~ty. Thomas Paine would write an inspira­ tional elegy in which the spirit of Montgomery would call upon the patriots to fight and sacrifice for. independenc~. That writing was published in June of 1776 and when it was distributed to the members of the Continental Congress it is said to have been what convinced ll them to prepare the II Decl arat i'on of Independence • Ri chard l"1c)nt.gnmery thus became ·America's first military hero and th~ inspiratibn behind the fight for independence.

In the hope that he would not. be forgotten the Cong,-ess ag,-eed to a resolutiol~ which was r-ecorded in its minutes as follows:

. IIResolved, that, to e>:press the venerat.ion of the' United Colonies for the late general, Richard Montgom­ er-y~ and the deep sense th~y erltel-tain o·F the many signal and inlpol~tant services elf ·that gallant officer~ ) who, after a series of successes, amidst the most discouraging difficulties, fell at length .in a gallant attack upon Quebec, the capital of Canada; l'And for transmitting ·to future'ages~ as examples. ·truly wOI-thy of imitation, his patriotism, conduc£~ boldness of enterprise, insuperable per~everance, and contempt of danger and death, a monument be procllred from Paris Clr ~ny other part of Fran~e, w~th an inscrip­ tion sacr~d to his' memory~ and expressive of 'his amiable character.and heroic achievements; l'And that the continental treaSLtrers be directed t.o ~dvance a sum, not e;{ceeding "l30t) sterling, to Dr. Benjamin Franklin .(who is desired to ~ee this resoiution properly e:·,ecL\t",d) for defraying the e:-'pense thereof."

December 2nd, 1988 will be the 250th anriiversary of the birth bf Richard Montgomery. He was born near Dublin, Ireland. He was from a proud family where a gr. gr~ grn gr. great grandfather, Gabri~l Morltqomel-Y~ was a captain in tt,e Scottish Guard o·F King I'~enry II of France~'wllO while .jo\Jsting with the king ill 1559 had the bad 'fc)rtu~e to cause his death by a wound to the eye. Later Gabriel M. was involved in ~ rebellion against the crown and execIJted.

Richa~d was the youngest 6f three boys and therefore not eligible tci inherit from the family estates. He received a liberal education '_. at TI-inity College in Dublin and became an ensi.gn in the B,-itio.;h a,-my in 1756 just short of his 18th birthday. Richard spent his 16 years 2

in the British army in €he same regiment~ the 17th Foot. It was ther,~ that he became a freemason in their" military lodge.

In 1758 he participated with his unit in the capture of louisbourg on t~\e'is12~d of Nova Scotia" Later t,e was with the British troops tll<:\t occupil:.~d Lake George~ Crown Po"int and Fort Ticonder'oga" l!Jhile in these parts he participated in many milita~y campaigns whictl~' little did he know~ would be.of great "benefit in later years when he assumec! command of the Northern Department of George Washington's Continental Arlny. ·Then he would have to capture those lands again but for· the Colonies.

He ret~rned to England with his regiment in 1763 and resigned his conlmission nine year's later with the rank of Captain. He thought often of his experiences in America and believed ther~ should be limitless opportunities for a man of spirit willing to work. In 1772 he returned to New York and purchased a small farm in King's Bridge just acr(~ss the Harlem River from the northern tip of Manhattan.

After he was settfed on his new property he visited New York lcity) twelve miles to the south on one of his supply trips and was blessed to meet a lady that he tlad-not seen for 14 years. Janet Livingston, the daughter of Judge Robert R. Livingston, was but 16 when Montgomery's British regimerit travelled up the Hudson River toward Albany in 1758. Montgomery's ship frequently stopped for goodwill visits at the estates along the. way. One of those visits was at the estate of Judge Livingston. While their- visit was but one day they re~embered each other. Now years later they would begin ~ friend­ ship, marl~Y and participate in the events that gave our nation its beginning ..

On June 22nd, 1775~ one week after Geo~ge Washington became con\mandel--in-chief, Montgomel-y was appointed b~igadier general and assigned under Major General Philip Schuyler to secure the areas north of New York City to Canada. Montgomery then advised that the neck of the Hudson River near· West F'oint should be secured and he as~~ed that ·FOI-tifications be placed.on the blLlffs overIQo~~ing the river. Mon'tgorn­ ery also conceived the idea to impede war-ships .at ·those narrows with.a massive but controllable chain stretching across the river. The chain was to have forged iron links 40 inch~s in diameter and weighing ·90 pounds each. When raised, ships could not pass. When lowered, it rested on ttle riverbed and the ships could then pass. The plans of this mechanism were one of the items later provided ~y Benedict Arnold. in his conspil-acy with John Andre"

In M2Y of 1775 11dntgamery·advanced to occupy Fort Ticondel~oga just captured by Colonel Ethan Allen. By November with their combined forces Ethan Allen and Montgomery captu~ed Forts Chambly and St. Jehn's which were strategically located between British heid Montreal c;l,nd the· u war zone" at Boston. Ethan Allen feeling the glory o·f ea:5ily winning those two forts quickly proceeded to Montreal expecting another easy win. He lost~ was captured and sent to England in irons to wait out the war. Montgomery proceeded to Montreal the following month and wittl prio~ ~~nDwledge of the area successfully captured the 3

city. Our Congress was overjoyed for Montgomery was then in control of .) two-thirds of British Canada .

~., Sir Guy Carleton who was well known to Montgomery was the British tommander and Governor-General of Canada. Montgomery hoped to capture Carleton at Montreal but failed. Carleton slipped away dressed as a farmer and escaped to Ouebec. A month later Montgomery was to attack Quebec and be killed instantly in the first volley of cannon fire. Like Generals Wolfe and Montcalm before him he had died in a battle for that fortress. He was buried three nights later by the civilians of the town. General Guy Carleton permitted neither military nor masbnic services for Montgomery.

In retrospect, the actions of Ge~eral Montgomery during 1775 prevented Carleton and his army assisting the British in Boston. Had Carleton been free to come south they most certainly would have surrounded our Continental Army and the war would have then ended. That di d not happen and in March of 1776 the Dri t ish in' Bostem ,~ere force~ to evacuate. And finally the British lost the war and the United States was born~

By the arrangements ofN.w York Governor De Witt Clinton the remains of our first American milit.ry hero ~ere brought to Albany on July 4·th, 1818 to lie in state at the Capitol. Then the coffin was placed an board the steamboat RICHMONn and carried down the Hudson to New York City where it rests today ina crypt at St. Paul's Chapel in Trinity churchyard not too many steps from the resting place of Alexand~r Hamilton and General Horatio Gates. There was a funeral I processiOn of four o~ five thousand people headed by the Vice Presi­ dent. Not since the death of George Washington had the country seen so great and emotional a funeral. The monument designated by congress in 1776 with inscriptions by Benjamin·Franklin was now to be erected at Montgomery~s final restj.ng place.

Our colonial leaders wel~e saddened uP08 learning of MontgomerY~5 death. In September of 1776 Montgomery c6unty in Maryland was named. It was the first county to be. named for an Americ~n and by an elected representative body. Previously all counties were named by the King's appointed governDr~ Sdon there would be sixteen counties named after QUI'"" h f.:'r R Q ..

The states with those sixteen counties are: Arkansas~ Georgia, Illinois~ IndiaTla~ Iawa~ Kansas, I

OUI- country did not h".ve another "ar hero like ~10ntgomery until the Second World War ..hen in 1942 a young Navy pilot named Colin Kelly (:rashed his plane into a Japa!'leSE~ battleship" As tt·.E~ memory o'f Colin Kelly helped sell $4-00 million of war bonds in ~942 and 1943 so (jid the memory o·f MDntgomefY~5 death inspire the col(Jnialists" Ma~ylanders enlisted, formed r-egimerlts and marched to the war under the· commands o·f Otho Williams, William S,nallwood and Za~ck Magruder. Their- slogan wa s: "RemE'mb er- RI CHARD 1'1D1~ TGOI1ERY" .

For many years proud Amer"icans would name theil- little boys a'fter" Montgomery_ So named was our own Montgomery Blair who became prominent i!l Abe Lincdlll~s cabinet as the great Postmasteru Yes, he was na~ed after Richard by a proud father who loved tlis countl~Y and knew well its short history.

Should not this year, 1988, be the one to remember- Ric~ard Montgomer-y? It is his 250th bir-thday. Without his br-ave deeds George Washington most likely would not have been able to win the Revolution­ ,-,r-y War-. And we w6uld pr-obably sti 11 be Br-itish subjects. OLtr- county would pr-obably be named Queen Elizabeth county or maybe Victoria COLlnty. We migh~ even have become a province of Canada. Who knows! BIJt I 'feel sure we would not be what we are today if it had net been for the deeds of Richard Montgomer-y.

Theoldhistor-y books do refer to Montgomer-y as America's first mi 1 i tary hero. He was so r-ega.r-ded at the cOL,nty's centenni al cel ebr-a­ tion held in 1876 by the then county e,·,ecutives. I sLlggest we US!? this year to again remember Richard Montgofnery~ his valor, h:ls cClurage. his boldness. A study of' Richard Montgomel-Y by our students cOIJld only be a study of the great and wonderful beginnings of ourcountr-y. And to learn of our beginnings might give us a bettel~ appre~iatidrl of WhlJ we arwe today."

On May 30t~\ our country celebrates Memorial Day to remernber" our patr-iotic war- dead. Might this year-'s Memorial Day also be devoted to remembering our first military hero. I'm Sllre cur many civic and fraternal organizations would bo inspired to par-ticipate with the CGLlnty in a sp~cial Richar"d Montgomery celebration this year. I 'fl()tice there is a Janet Montgomer-y chapter- of the D.A.R. in the county. There is also a ver-y prominent Richard Montgomery High school here, Richard Montgomery was a freem~50n as was George Washington~ Benjamin Frank­ lin, John ~1ancock, OthCI Wil1iam5~ William Smallwood, ar;d Daniel Carroll. In Rockville, Maryland ~ masonic lodge is named after Richard MontgD~ery and its membership takes pride in their civic activities.

Richar-d Montgomery~ OUj- first military herD~ is he to be remember-ed or forgotten?

by J .. Kenneth Gibala~ 4902 Arctic Tel"race February 26, 1988 Rockville, M~ 20853 COLmty of r'lolitgomery