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MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Vol. XI APRIL 1884 No. 4

MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY

ON the last day of the year preceding that of our Declaration of
Independence there fell one of the noblest martyrs to liberty —
Major -General Richard Montgomery — whose death was
mourned by friends and foes, and whose memory, after the lapse of a
century, still lives in the grateful hearts of the millions of freemen of this
giant Republic, whose foundation was sprinkled with his blood.

Richard Montgomery, the third son of an Irish baronet, was born De-
cember 2, 1738, at Convoy House, his father's country seat, near Raphoe,
in the north of Ireland. The genealogy of the Montgomery family, orig-
inally from Neustria, goes beyond A.D. 912, when Rollo was made first
Duke of Normandy ; and later to that Comte de Montgomerie, who mor-
tally wounded Henry II. of France, July 10, 1559, in a tournament in
honor of the marriage of his daughter. Though, on his death-bed, the
king forgave the Count, the queen-mother Catherine de Medicis did not,
but pursued the brave Huguenot with implacable vengeance till she
brought him to the scaffold. May 27, 1576.

After receiving a liberal education at Dublin College, Montgomery, in
his eighteenth year, September 21, 1756, entered the British Army, as an
Ensign of the Seventeenth Infantry, being soon after called to the field.
Fortunately for America his career opened here, and not in the Seven
Years War of Prussia. In 1757 his regiment was ordered to Halifax, and
the next year took part, under the immediate command of General Wolfe,
in the capture of Louisburg, the American Gibraltar, guarding the en-
trance to the St. Lawrence from the Atlantic. During the investment and
siege of this great fortress — one of the most noted monuments of French
power on this continent — young Montgomery showed such heroism and
military capacity that he was promoted to be a Lieutenant, July 10, 1758.

The news of Montcalm's bloody repulse of the British attack upon

Vol. XI. -No. 4-19

/A/

2/4

iMAJOR-GENEKAI, RICHARD MONTGOMERY

m.\J()R-(;i;nf,kai. kkiiari) mox icomkrv 275

Ticondcro^a, July S, 175S, havint;- reached General Amherst at Cape Bre-
ton, he, after leaving proper garrisons both at Louishurg and Halifax,
without orders, hastened to the relief of the defeated Abercrombie with
five of his most efficient regiments, including the seventeenth. Landing at
Boston, September 13, Amherst marched for fourteen days through an
almost trackless wilderness to Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake
George ; and, in November following, was appointed to supersede Aber-
crombie in the chief command of the British forces in America.

The next year England, anxious to profit by the advantage acquired
by the capture of Cape Breton, decided upon a vigorous campaign, by
sending Stanwix to complete the occupation of the posts connecting
Lake Erie with the Ohio; Prideaux to reduce Fort Niagara; Amherst to
move upon Montreal by Lake Champlain ; and Wolfe, with a large force
supported by a fleet, to attack Quebec,

Leaving Fort Edward, at the head of the Hudson, June 21, 1759,
Amherst, with eleven thousand men, including iMontgomery's regiment,
without a blow, took possession of Ticonderoga, July 26, and of Crown
Point, August 4 — both posts having been abandoned by the French.
These strong works, the keys to the defense of Lakes George and Cham-
plain, which had been the bone of contention in several campaigns, thus
fell into British possession, the banner of the Bourbons never again float-
ing over them. The road to Montreal by the Sorel couid now have been
easily opened ; but Amherst was a mediocre general, without fertility of
resource or the daring enterprise of Wolfe, who, in nobly accomplishing
his part of the campaign, fell in the arms of victory, September 13, 1759,
before Quebec.

Though Amherst's operations were unproductive of great results, it
gave Montgomery the opportunity of surveying with his quick military
eye the field of his after glory in a nobler cause. We have assumed that
Montgomery was with his regiment, which formed a part of Amherst's
army, though many authorities to this day assert that he was at Quebec.
It is barely possible that he was detached from his regiment, as he was a
favorite with Wolfe, for whom he had done such gallant service at
Louisburg; but we think it almost certain that he was with the seven-
teenth, under Amherst, and that he has been confounded with some one
of the thirteen officers of the same name then in the British army, two of
whom — George, an Ensign in the fifteenth, and the barbarous Alexander,*
Captain of the forty-third — were at the capture of Quebec.

* Some years since, tlie Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, published an Extract from a
Manuscript Journal relating to the Uiierations before Quebec in 1759, kept by Colonel Malcolm

2-(i

MAJUR-CKM.RAI. RICH A III) MOX TCJUMHRV

Authorities cquall}' differ as to Montgomery's position in the next
campaign, of 1760, of which Montreal was the objective point of the
three Hritish armies by which Canada was subjugated : the first, under
Amherst, making an absurd and dangerous flank march of 400 miles by
the circuitous route to Oswego and down Lake (Jntario and the St. Law-
rence ; the second, under Haviland, by the true strategic line of the Sorel,
of less than 50 miles; and the third, under Murray, up the St. Lawrence
from Quebec. As Montgomery became the Adjutant of his regiment in
the spring of this year, May 15, 1760, we have little doubt that he then
was, and had been present with it since its departure from Louisburg, and
in this campaign accompanied Colonel Haviland over the ground made
memorable by his after invasion of Canada in 1775, which we shall soon
detail.

America, north of the St. Lawrence and the Lakes, having changed
masters, a large British force was no longer required there ; hence detach-
ments from it were sent against the French and Spanish West India
Islands of Martinique and Cuba, the former of wliich surrendered, Feb-
ruary 13, 1762, to Monckton and Rodney, and a portion of the latter,
including Havana and Morro Castle, August 12, 1762, to Albemarle and
Pococ!:e — two events which doubtless hastened the Treaty of Versailles,
February 10, 1763, and confirmed Britain's possession of an empire in
North i^merica. In these two campaigns of 1761 and 1762, in the deadly
climate of the West Indies, Montgomery had his full share of toil and
danger, reaped fresh laurels as a brave and accomplished soldier, and won
his promotion. May 6, 1762, to a full captaincy in his regiment.

Soon after the official announcement of peace, the Seventeenth Infant-
ry returned to New York, and Montgomery obtained permission to revisit

Frazer. then Lieutenant of the 78th (Frazer's Highlanders), and serving in that campaign. Under
date of August 23d, 1759, '^ recorded in the Journal : " We were reinforced by a party of about
140 Light Infantry, and a company of Rangers, under the command of Captain Montgomery, of
Kennedy'^ or 43d Regiment, who likewise took command of our detachment, and we all marched to
attack the village to the west of St. Joachim, which was occupied by a Party of the enemy to the
number of about 200, as we sujiposed, Canadians and Indians. . . . There were several of the
enemy killed and wounded, and a few prisoners taken, all of whom the barbarous Captain Mont-
gomery, who commanded us, ordered to be butchered in the most inhuman and crue! manner." The
Editor of the publication, not content to let the Journal speak for itself, appended a note stating
that the Captain Montgomery here spoken of was " The Leader of the forlorn hope who fell at
Pres de VilU, "^ist December, 1775," thus falling into the grave error of confounding the noble
Lieutenant Richard Montgomery of the 17th with the brutal Captain Alexander Montgomery of
the 43d. Doubtless this unfortunate note, published under the sanction of an Historical Society,
on the very spot where these events transpired, has done much to perpetuate a mistake now almost
crystallized into history as a truth.

MA|iik-(;i:Ni;R.\i, km iiakI' mon rcoMi.KV

•//

**v- ' r rT"" '

MONTC.OMF.RV I'l.ACE ON THR HIDSON.
Ihiilt 1775-1776.

Kurope, where he remained for the next nine years, selling out his com-
mission, April 6, 1772, because a favorite had superseded him in the pur-
chase of a commission of major, to which Montgomery's services entitled
him. Of his occupation during this period of military inactivity wc have
few details. But we know that he was an earnest lover of liberty, and
was intimate in England with the brilliant Burke, the fascinating Fox,
and the bold Barre, his fellow British soldier wounded at Quebec, all of
whom, in Parliament, were the ardent advocates of America in her severe
struggle against the oppression of the mother country. Doubtless the
influence of this distinguished trio gave fornj and pressure to a mind
already in sympathy with the colonists, with whom he had stood shoulder
to shoulder in five eventful campaigns.

Montgomery, no longer in the British service, returned to America
early in 1773; purchased a farm of sixty-seven acres at King's Bridge,
near New York, upon which Fort Independence was subsequently built ;

278

MAjok-GKNKRAL RICHARD M( )Nn;().Mi;KY

n:Ti\irM> iu'kke.
{After I'n^rai'ing. by U'at;<f:it/. of /nihitiiii: /iv Sir yos/nta Ke)iiMs.\

soon after married Janet, the eldest child of Judge Robert R. Livingston*
and then moved to Rhinebeck, on the Hudson, where he followed his

* Montgomery, while still a captain in the British army, had met Janet Livingston at Clermont,
her father's country place on the Hudson, he having stopped th';re on his way to a distant post.
When Montgomery returned to America, he renewed his acquaintance with the lady and married
her in July, 1773.

maj()R-(;enkrai. ri(Iiar[) M()NT(;omerv

2-9

new vocation of agriculture with that /.cal and intelligence which charac-
terized all his actions. Here, though a foreigner, In? cjuickly gained the
confidence of his neighbors, and so proved himself ecjual to the exigencies
of the times that, in April, 1775, he was elected a delegate from Dutchess
Count)' to the first Provincial Convention held in New York, of which he
was a useful, modest and taciturn member, not having accjuu-ed the mc.'d-
ern mania for speech-making, liut the forum was not liis sphere, and
fortunately he was called to a higher and more congenial field of action.

RIGir J HOS. CIIARI.ES JAMES FOX.

The Cr-«tincntal Congress having resolved on armed resistance to the
oppression of the mother country, elected, June 15, 1775, George Wash-
ington commander-in-chief of all the colonial forces, and Horatio Gates,
adjutant-general; on the 17th, Ward, Lee, Putnam and Schuyler, major-
generals; and on the 22d, Pomeroy, Montgomery, Wooster, Heath, Spen-
cer, Thomas, Sullivan and Greene, brigadiers. Gf the three selected from
those who had been officers in the British army, Montgomery, though
perhaps inferior to Charles Lee in quickness of mind, was much superior
to both him and Gates in all the great qualities which adorn the soldier.

2«0

MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY

■'■t>

general in their service, is an event which must put an end for a while,
perhaps forever, 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, vinst be
obeyed.'' From that hour he was no longer a Briton, but, with heart and
soul, devoted himself to the service and glory of the land of his adoption.
On his departure to Canada, Judge Livingston said to him : " Take care
of your life." " Of my honor, you would say," quickly responded Mont-
gomer)-.

Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been captured by Colonel Ethan
Allen and Seth Warner, in May, 1775, thus giving us the command of
Lake Champlain, when Congress, aware that Canada was weakly defended
and had a large discontented French population, wisely resolved upon the
invasion of that province, thus to prevent its becoming a base of hostile
operations against us by the armies of Great Britain. According to the
plan of campaign devised by General Washington and Doctor Franklin,
Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, at the head of a body of New York
and New England troops,* were to seize Montreal, the approach to which
was barred by the strong fortifications of St. John's and Chambly, on the
Sorel, the outlet of Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence; while Arnold
marched through the wilderness of Maine.

On the 26th of August the movement began down the placid waters of
the beautiful Champlain Lake, which, for nearly two centuries, had been
the scene of long campaigns and desperate battles. On the 6th of Septem-
ber the invading army appeared before the first of these barriers, effected
a landing, and defeated an Indian ambuscade; but Schuyler, deceived in
regard to the strength of the garrison of St. John's, and the disposition of
the Canadians and Indians, fell back to Isle aux Noix, which he com-
menced fortifying, and then hastened to Ticonderoga for reinforcements.
In reporting these transactions to Congress, General Schuyler says: "I
cannot estimate the obligations I lie under to General Montgomery for the
many important services he has done and daily does, and in which he has

* Among these troops was one Quackcnbosh, who invariably asked for a leave of absence when
any firing was heard, his courage, like Bob Acres', immediately oozing out. Montgomery remarked
to his captain : " I think this qttake-in-the-bush had better at once be discharged."

282

MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD MOXTCIOMKRV

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6 d UJ 1-3 S '

MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD MONT(]OMERV 2H3

had little assistance from me, as I have not enjoyed a moment's health
since I left Fort George, and am now so low as not to be able to hold a
pen."

In consequence of this sickness Schuyler retired to Albany, the com-
mand of the whole invading force devolving upon Montgomery, who hesi-
tated not a moment, but abandoning his island intrenchments, was, on the
1 8th of September, again before St. John's, of which he began the invest-
ment and siege. Having accomplished the first as best he could, he began
the latter, but soon found his mortars defective, his artillery too light for
breaching, his ammunition scanty, his artillerists unpracticed, his engineer
incompetent, the ground too wet and swampy for trenches, the weather
cold and rainy, malaria producing much sickness, and his troops disaffected
and insubordinate.''' To escape these unfavorable circumstances, Mont-
gomery proposed to move to the north-west side of the fort, where the
ground was firm, and from there to make an assault ; but the troops re-
fused to second their leader, and to crown his embarrassment, the expedi-
tion of the restless Etiian Allen against Montreal had terminated, Sep-
tember 25th, in the capture of himself and many of his detachment. At
length, however, Montgomery, by his firmness and address, succeeded in
carrying out his views of moving his camp to the higher ground, and soon
after, October i8th, Colonel Bedel, with Majors Brown and Livingston,
captured Fort Chambly,t which being twelve miles lower down the Sorel,
had been left with a feeble garrison. This was an important event, as large
supplies of ammunition, artillery, and military stores fell into Montgomery's
hands, which enabled him to press the siege of St. John's. This strong
work, garrisoned by nearly all of the regular troops in Canada, capitulated
November 3d. after a vigorous defense of nearly seven weeks, all hope of
succor from Governor Carleton having been destroyed by his defeat, Octo-
ber 31st, at Longueil, by the detachment under Colonel Warner.

Immediately the Americans pressed on toward Montreal, which was
abandoned, November 12th, to the triumphal entry of Montgomery; but
Governor Carleton, disguised as a peasant, escaped in a canoe with muffled
paddles, passing on a dark night the American batteries and armed vessels
without observation, and reached Quebec on the 19th, to the great joy of

*" They are the worst stuff imaginable for soldiers," says Montgomery. " They are home-
sick ; their regiments are melting away, and yet not a man dead of any distemper amung them.
There is such an equality among them that the officers have no authority, and there are few among
them in whose spirit I have confidence ; the privates are all generals, but not soldiers. . . .
Would I were at my plow again."

t The colors of the Seventh British Fusileers, captured here, were the (irst taken in the Revo-
lution and sent to the Continental Congress.

!S4

MAJOR-GEXERAI. RICHARD MONTCOMKKN

the <farrison, who placed every confidence in his well-known couraj^^e and
ability, and without whom Canada was lost. When tiie news of Mont-
{^^omcry's brilliant success reached Congress it passed a vote of thanks, and
he was promoted, December 9th, 1775, to be a major-'jencral ; but his un-
timely death prevented his ever receiving the just reward of his merits.
The vote of thanks by the Continental Congress was conveyed to Mont-
gomery in the following letter from its President:

" Philadelphia, \ovcml)er 30th, 1775.

"Sir : I am directed by the Congress to transmit you their Thanks lor your gr^ai and
signal services in the expedition committed to your command, against the Britisli tiooits
in tiie Province of Canada. The reduction of St. John's and Montreal they esteem of in-
expressible advantage to the i'nitcd Colonies, and the most mortitying contravention to
the ministerial system of enslaving the extensive territory of Canada. It cannot, therefore,
fail of retlecting singular luster on the character of the Oeneral so essentially instrumental
in preserving that liberty by the abolition of which a corrupt Parliament intended to anni-
hilate every appearance of freedom in America. Nor are the humanity and politeness
with which you have treated those in your power less illustrious instances of magnanimity
than the valour by which you reduced them to it. The Congress, utterly abhorrent from
every species of cruelty to prisoners, and determined to adhere to this benevolent maxim
till the conduct of their enemies renders a deviation from it indispensably necessary, will
ever applaud their officers for beautifully blending the Christian with the concjueror, and
never, in endeavouring to acquire the character of the hero, to lose that of the man.

"The victories already gained in Canada afford us a happy presage of the smiles of
Providence in the further designation of the Continental arms in the North, and will, in all
l^robability, greatly facilitate the entire reduction of the deluded malignanis in that i'rov-
ince to liberty. These, Sir, are exploits so glorious in their execution, and so extensive in
their consequences, that the memory of (leneral Monti^omcry will doubtless be c '^qual
duration with the remembrance of the benefits derived from his command.

"At the same time that the Congress rejoice with you in the success of their arms
under your immediate direction, they cannot avoid expressing their concern at the intima-
tion you give of your intention to retire from the service. They are sensible that the loss
of so brave and experienced an officer will be universally regretted, as a misforlune to all
America. But they still hope that, upon reconsidering the matter, the same generous and
patriotick motives which first induced you to take so capital a part in opposing the unpro-
voked hostilities of an unnatural enemy will prompt you to persevere in the cause, and to
continue gathering fresh laurels, till you find our oppressors reduced to reason, and
America restored to her constitutional liberties.

"I am, &c.,
" John HanC(jck, President.

'• To General Montgomery."

Though now master of one of the most important keys to Canada, not
a moment was to be lost in gaining pos'^ession of the other, for, as Mont-
gomery wrote to Congress : " Till Quebec is taken, Canada is unconquered."

MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD MUXTGOMKRV

'S5

'Jotwithstandin^ the severity of the weather, the desertion of many troops,
he insubordination of officers, and a multitude of discouragements, he
ed on his band of three hundred patriots over frozen ground and drifting
nows, keeping alive their hopes, and cheering tiiem on to endure every
lardship, by his own noble example of self-sacrifice and heroic devotion
o his adopted country. Soon, November i/th, he learned that the advent-
irous Arnold had completed that memorable march — one of the most
wonderful on recoriJ — with his half starved, freezing army, through deej)
wamps, trackless forests, and tangled ravines, over craggy highlands and

PKKSCDi GATE, (.IIEIIEC.

iifficult portages, and down the rushing rapids of the Kennebec and the
Jhaudiere. After a brief delay before Quebec, Arnold marched up the St.
Lawrence to join Montgomery. On the 1st of December the two heroes
net at Pointc aux Troubles, twenty miles above the city, Montgomery
:aking command of the combined force, now only nine hundred effective
lien, with which, on the 4th, in the face of a driving snowstorm, he
narched on Quebec, and on the 5th, after a slow and excessively fatiguing
Tiarch, reached St. Foye, establishing his headquarters at Holland House.
He was now in sight of the goal of his ardent wishes, to reach which

286 MAJOR-C.ENERAL RICHARD MONTOOMKRV

for three months he had endured every species of toil and suffering. In
his brief campaign, ahiiost insurmountable obstacles had been overcome,
and victory after victory had crowned his heroic efforts. Ticondcroga,
Crown Point, Forts St. John's and Chambly, Montreal, Sorel, and Three
Rivers had all been captured by less than an ordinary brigade of American
recruits, whose march seemed irresistible, and whose prowess spread terror
everywhere. The Canadian peasantry believed them invincible and ball-
proof ; by a curious mistake they being represented as "incased in plate-
iron " — vc'tiis en toll', instead of vctus en A^ /A'- -clothed in linen (the shirt
uniform of Morgan's riflemen).''*'

The Red Cross of St. George now floated solitary on the ramparts of
Quebec, for Levi, Sillery, St. Foye, Lorette, Charlesbourg, the Island of
Orleans, Beauport, and every inch of British territory around the city, were
in possession of the invaders. It was a proud moment for Montgomery
when he contemplated all this, and surveyed the historic grounds around
him— in front, the Plains of Abraham, where Wolfe and Montcalm had
joined, September 13, 1759, in their death struggle; on either side the
battle-field of St. Foye, where, six months later, April 28, i;6o, the vain-
glorious Murray had nearly lost all that British valor had won ; and beyond,
with its clustering associations of nearly two centuries, the fortress capital
of Canada, whose capture would perhaps crown him conquerer of British

America.

Quebec, at tlie confluence of the St. Lawrence and St. Qiarles rivers,
in 1775, was divided into the Upper and Lower Town, the former, occupy-
ing much the larger area, being perched upon the summit of a huge, high
rock, and mostly inclosed with formidable fortifications on the brow^ of its
precipitous sides, while the latter comprised a narrow, low fringe of land,
of unequal width, between the base of the rock and the banks of the two
rivers. This citadel of British power was provisioned for eight months,
was armed with two hundred pieces of heavy artillery, had a garrison of
1,800 regulars, militia and marines, and was commanded by the brave,
cautious and accomplished General Guy Carleton, afterward Lord Dor-
chester, who, as Governor of Canada, possessed almost absolute authority.

Investment of the place was out of the question, with only 800 Ameri-
cans to guard the numerous avenues leading to the enemy's extensive
works. Siege was equally impracticable, as there could be no sapping and

* In the early part of the Revolution part of the troops assumed the dress recommended by
Washington— a liuntinK shirt and long gaiter breeches— made of tow-cloth steeped in a tan vat

until it reached the color of a dry leaf. This was called the shirt uniform, or rifle dres^ and -

supposed to carry no small terror to the enemy as the insignia of a thorough marksman.

was

MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD M(3NTG0MERY

2S7

'c^^i^,

288 MAJOR.CKNKRAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY

mining in the hard frozen soil, covered with deep snow-drifts ; besides,
Montgomery had no skilled engiiieer, nor any breaching artillery. He had
' ontemplatcd storming the fortifications from the first, for, writing to the
Hon. R. R. Livingston, from Montreal, Montgomery says : " If my force
be small, Carleton's is not great. The extensiveness of his works, which, in
case of invest, ent, would favor him, will, in the other case, favor us.
Masters of our secret, we may select a particuhxr time and place to attack,
and to repel this the garrison must be prepared at all t inns and places —^
circumstance which will impose upon it incessant watching and labor by
day and by night ; which, in its undisciplined state, must breed discontents
that may compel Carleton to capitulate, or perhaps make an attempt to
drive us off. In this last idea there is a glimmering of hope. Wolfe's suc-
cess was a lucky hit, or rather a series of lucky hits. All sober and scien-
tific calculation was against him, until Montcalm, permitting his courage to
get the better of his discretion, gave up the advantages of his fortress and
came out to try his strength on the plain. Carleton, who was Wolfe's
quartermaster-general, understands this well, and, it is to be feared, will not
follow the Frenchman's example."

Preliminary, however, to a coup de main, it was necessary to know the
character and extent of the enemy's works, his means of introducing sup-
plies, the strength and composition of the garrison, and the disposition of
the inhabitants of the city and vicinage. These precautions consumed pre-
cious days of the midwinter of a boreal clime which was now upon our be-
numbed handful of besiegers, among whom mutiny and small-pox pre-
vailed, and whose enlistment would in a short time expire, Montgomery,
almost in despair, summoned the city to surrender, but received no re-
sponse ; he paraded his troops before the place, but Carleton was not to be
drawn from behind his defenses ; and the discontented Canadians of the
garrison dared not rebel in the presence of the British soldiery. Resorting
next to more active measures, Montgomery threw every night from thirty
to fifty shells from his five small mortars into the city ; but these doing
little damage, he erected, at 700 yards in front of St. John's Gate, a battery
for his five light guns and one howitzer, the platforms being cakes of ice,
and the epaulment made with gabions filled with compacted snow con-
gealed into a solid mass. This, too, owing to the distance and small caliber
of his guns, failed of success, the battery being soon demolished by the
enemy's superior artillery, which kept up an effective fire upon every point
where troops were to be seen. On one occasion, as Montgomery was recon-
noitering near the town, the horse which drew his cariole was killed by a
cannon ball.

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ST. JOHN S r.ATF., (11 EIIF.C.

Weeks hud now been spent in unavailing efforts to capture the city,
biting cold and drifting snows paralyzed almost every movement, sickness
and privations were producing mutiny, and perils on every hand were
gathering around the undaunted leader in that terrible campaign ; but his
noble soul rose superior to every misfortune, and sustained him with the
same moral grandeur which inspired Marshal Ney till the last of the rear-
guard of Napoleon's Grand Army had escaped the pursuing foe and the
deadlier rigor of a Russian winter.

In a council of war, held December i6th, it was resolved, as the only re-
maining, though desperate alternative, to carry the place by storm. As the
time for assault drew near, three companies of Arnold's detachment muti-
nied ; but Montgomery's firmness and address soon brought them back to
a proper sense of their duty. Finally, at two o'clock on the morning of the
last day of the year, the whole command was paraded, in three columns,
for the last dread trial. The plan, essentially different from that first
adopted and abandoned when disclosed by a deserter, was for the first and
second divisions to assault the Lower Town, then to meet and unitedly force
their way into the city through the picketed passage at the foot of Moun-
tain Street, since 1797 know as the Prescott Gate ; while the third, under

Vol. XI. — No. 4 — 20

290

m.\J()R-(;i:ni:kai, kk hard montc.omkkv

Livitii^ston and Brown, was, from tlic l^lains of Abraham, to alarm and dis-
tract the attention of the garrison by feigned attacks upon the Uj)i)er
'I'tjwn, in the neigiiborhijod of St. John's and St. Louis' Gates and Cape
Diamond bastion. The morning was dark and gloomy ; a violent pelting
storm of cutting hail almost blinded the men and the drifting snows ob-
literated all traces of highways. To recognize each other, tlie soldiers
wore hemlock sprigs or pieces of white paper in their caps, on which some
of them wrote : " Liiunrrv UR Death." A more daring attack than that

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I'ALACK CATK, QlEBEt.

which they were about to undertake is, perhaps, not on record upon the
page of history.

At five o'clock the two assaulting columns of Montgomery and Ar-
nold began their march. Arnold's division, himself leading the advance
guard of 30 men, followed by Lamb's piece of artillery mounted on a
sledge, and the main body of about 500 infantry and riflemen, under Mor-
gan, moved through the suburb of St. Roch, by way of St. Charles street,
near the river. The advance guard approached a picketed two-gun bat-
terv defending a barrier across the road, without being discovered, but the
main body had scarcely reached the Palace Gate when " a horrid roar of

MAJttK-tiKNKKAI. RK llAKI) .\InNT(,( )MI:KV

291

f ■' " . ■ .'i-r^ 'j i g ^ ^ff wa w w: -".i^'""* ^ ' "" ' '^ ■'^'^^

cannon and a rin^nn^ of all the bells of the city" sounded the alarm.
Covering the locks of their guns with the lappets of their coats, to protect
them from the pelting storm, the infantry and rifiemen ran single file, in
very open order, as rapidly as the deep snow and the various obstacles
would permit, along the base of the high rock upon which th'- fJpper Town
was built. The files, though thirty or forty yards apart, we.e exposed to
a terrible fire from the ramparts, to which no reply could be mad<% as only
the flash of the enemy's guns was to be seen. Arnold's forlorn hope
attacked and carried the battery after a desperate resistance, in which he
was severely wounded, and had to be car-
ried to the hospital. Though encourag-
ing the men as he passed to the rear, the
ardor of the main body was much damp-
ened. Nevertheless they hurried forward
under the severe enfilading and plunging
f.re of the garrison, to the attack of the
first barrier, which was carried, the em-
brasure being entered " when the enemy
were discharging their guns." From the
first to the second barrier there was a
circular course of about 300 yards, partly
through Dog Lane, opening into the head
of Sault-au-Matelot street, where the sec-
ond barricade closed the space between
the foot of the rock and the river bank.
Here a terrible conflict took place, the
enemy having dry and superior arms ; in
front, a shot-proof cover twelve feet high ;
behind two tiers of musketeers, supported
by an elevated battery of artillery; on
either side houses, giving a plunging fire from their upper windows ; and
reinforcements continually arriving from the other parts of the town now
unexposed, for already Montgomery had fallen ; Campbell, his successor, was
in flight, and the " dastardly persons employed to make the false attacks "
had signally failed. Flfforts to scale the barrier were made in face of the
desolating fire of musketry and grape; the platform within was emptied by
our unerring riflemen ; Morgan, Arnold's successor in command, brave to
temerity, stormed and raged ; all that valor could do was essayed ; the killed
and wounded literally choked the defile ; but human efforts could not
prevail against such surpassing odds. Now it was that Morgan, seeing the

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MAJOK-CIAKRAI. KhirAKD M( »N 1 ( ;< )M I'.RV

.MAj<)k-(;i;.M,k.\i. kk hard mi ).%!{.( )M1,rv

293

Quixotism of this unequal haiul-to-haiul encounter, ordered tlic occupation
of the houses on our side of tlie barrier, that our men mi^'Iit be better
screened and maintain a more effective fire. It was already da)-li^!'t, and
many of the best officers and men had been killed or wounded ; hesitation
and doubt seized m.uiy of the survivors ; and the critical moment for the
'ast cast of fortune was allowed to pass, when Captain Laws, at the head
of ?oo of the jrarri.son, sortied from the I'alace Gate, cutting off the retreat
of !■-' Americans, nearly four hundred of whom were captured, the remain-
i!ig survivors having escaped across
the ice covering the Hay of St.
Charles.

At the same time that Arnold's
division began its march, Moiugom-
ery, who could not be persuaded that
the commander-in-chief should not
expose his life in the advance, de-
scended from the Plains of Abraham,
at the head of his column of less than
three hundred, to the cove where
Wolfe landed in 1759, and then, in
Indian file, cautiously led his forlorn
hope along the margin of the St.
Lawrence toward the very narrow
pass of Prcs dc J 'illc\ having a preci-
pice toward the river on one side,
and the scarped rock extending up
to Cape Diamond on the other. Here
all farther approach to the Lower
Town was intercepted by a barrier,
and the defile, only wide enough
for two or three abreast, was swept by a battery of thrce-pounders loaded
with grape, placed in a block-house. At daybreak P»Iontgomery's approach
was discovered by the guard and Captain Barnsfare's gunners, who had
been kept under arms awaiting the attack which they had reason to
expect, from reports of deserters ; and, as had been previously concerted,
the Americans were allowed to approach unmolested to within fifty yards.
Montgomery, while the rear of the column was coming up with the lad-
ders, halted to reconnoiter in the dim dawn darkened with the driving
north-east storm. Deceived by the silence of the enemy, who with port-
fires lighted, were eagerly watching for his approach, Montgomery cried

UHEUK MUNTGDMEKY KF.I.L.

294

MAJOR-GENEKAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY

out to his little band, as soon as about sixty were assembled: " Men of
New York! you will not fear to follow where your general leads ! March on,
brave boys ! Quebec is ours ! " and then rushed boldly to charge the bat-
tery, over the drifted snow and blocks of ice, some of which he cleared
away with his own hands, to make room for his troops. The enemy, wait-
ing for this critical moment, discharged a shower of grape and musketry,
with deadly precision, into the very faces of the assailants. Montgomery,
pierced witli three balls, his Aide, Macpherson, the gallant Captain Chees-
man, and ten others, were instantly killed. For several hours after the re-
pulse of the American column Carleton was uncertain as to Montgomery's
fate ; but a field officer among the captured troops of Arnold's detachment
recognized among the thirteen frozen corpses, lying as they fell, \r\ their
winding sheets of snow, the Spartan leader of the heroic band.* Through
the courtesy of Carleton, the commanding-general of the British forces, the
body of Montgomery was privately interred, January 4, 1776, at the gorge
of St. Louis bastion. His short and light sword, of which he had thrown
away the scabbard, was found near him by James Thompson, overseer of
public works in the royal engineer department at Quebec, who dying at
the age of ninety-eight years, bequeathed it to his son, who in turn willed
it to his nephew, James Thompson Harrower, who has deposited "this
famous excalibur," for safe-keeping, in the museum of the Literary and
Historical Society, at Morrin College, Quebec.

* The oft-repeated story that Aaron Burr attempted to carry away the body of Montgomery,
has been handed down by Trumbull's pencil, and recently renewed with much exaggeration in Par-
ton's biography of him ; nevertheless, we believe it to be an error, and even doubt whether he was
with Montgomery's column, though his friend Matthew L. Davis, generally accurate in his state-
ments, says, " General Montgomery [when he fell] was within a few feet of Captain Hurr."

Burr, disguised as a Catholic priest, had been sent by Arnold to convey to Montgomery, when
at Montreal, the information of his near approach to Quebec. Pleased with Ikirr, MontgouKry
temporarily attached him to his staff, and had designed that he should lead, with forty men, an as-
sault upon Cape Diamond bastion. When this first plan was frustrated by its being disclosed to the
enemy by a deserter, Burr probably joined his old commander, believing more glory was to be gained
under the impetuous Arnold than under the brave but cautious Montgomery. In confirmation of
this is Arnold's own letter to General Wooster, written from the hospital where he lay wounded,
and while the assault of Quebec was yet in progress. He says : " At last accounts from my detach-
ment, about ten minutes ago, they were pushing toward the lower town, . . . The loss of
my detachment before I left it was about twenty men killed and wounded. Among the latter
is Major Ogden, who, with Captain Oswald, Caftain Burr, and the other volunteers, behaved
extremely well." This certainly implied that Burr was with Arnold's column, and not with Mont-
gomery's, which was a mile away. Possibly Burr assisted Arnold to the hospital, but certainly he
did not move Montgomery's body from where it fell and was found, " two paces from the brink of
the river, on the back, the arms extended," close to Cheesman and Macpherson, and two privates.
Burr was quite a small man, and not of sufficient strength to have carried off, if he had wished to
do so, the tall and heavy body of Montgomery.

MAJ( )R-f;i:Ni:RAI. RK hard M(>M(.nMr.l;V

295

■

" ]\vk-\, iir.Lve, and };l()nous was liis youiij,' caircr,--
llis mourners were two liosts—his friends and toes;
And fitly may the stranj^er, lin^erin^' here,
Pray for his gallant spirit's bright repose ,
For he was Freedom's champion, one of lliose,
The few in number, who had not o'erstejn
The charter to chastise which she bestows
On such as wield her weapons ; he had kejit
The whiteness of his soul, and thus men o'er him wept."

Looking now upon the attack of Quebec simply as a problem of en-
gineering, it is questionable whether the false attacks should not have been
real, and the latter feints. By the plan adopted, Montgomery and Arnold
had each to force their way, for about a mile, through the Lower Town,
during a violent storm, by narrow, obstructed defiles, and amid dark, intri-
cate passages, among storehouses, boats, wharves and snowdrifts, being at
the same time harassed by a constant plunging fire of a continuous line
of fortifications, which couid not be silenced ; then to make a second attack
by either cscalading the walls or forcing one of the gates of the Upper
Town ; and perhaps even a third attack upon the redoubt which then occu-
pied the site of the present citadel— Mrrr extremely dif^cult and danger-
ous operations ; whereas, had Diamond bastion and the incomplete line of
defenses fronting the Plains of Abraham, between it and St. John's Gate,
been simultaneously assaulted, the Upper Town w )uld probably have been
carried, and then the Lower Town would have offered no resistance — o>ie
not extremely hpzardous operation, considering the state of the garrison
and the extent of the works to be defended against dashing, desperate
men. Doubtless it was expected that the storm and darkness would pre-
vent the discovery of the march of the columns, but the event proved
what ought to have been expected of a vigilant garrison, commanded by an
observant and thoughtful officer, who, in fact, knew of the intended attack
eight days before it was ma-' \ Soon after the troops were in motion their
approach was known by the sentries, and before they had reached the first
barrier every bell in the city was tolled, the drums beat to arms, the inhab-
itants were running to the market place, and every soldier was at his post,
ready with cannon and musket to repel the assailants.

The death of Montgomery made a profound impression, bccU In Europe
and America, for the excellency of his qualities and disposition had pro-
cured for him an uncommon .share of private affection, as hi.^. abilities had
of public esteem. The Continental Congress proclaimed for him " their
grateful remembrance, profound respect, and high veneration, and desiring
to transmit to future ages a truly worthy example of patriotism, conduct,

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boldness of cnterj^rise, insuperable per-
severance, and contempt of danger and
death," caused to be executed by
Caffit^^res, sculptor to Louis XVI,, a
monument of white marble, of the
most beautiful simjjlicity and graceful
proportions, with emblematic devices,
and a classical inscription written by
rVanklin, which, since 1789, has adorn-
ed the front of St. Paul's Church, in
the city of New York. Even in the
British Parliament the fallen hero was
eulogized by the most eloquent speak-
ers — Chatham, Burke, and Barre — as if
he had been the most dex'oted servant
of the Crown. Lord North, too, while
acknowledging his worth, concluded
by saying, " Curse on his virtues ; they
have undone his country."

P'orty-three years after Montgom-
ery's death his remains, of which the
skeleton was found nearly entire, by
" an Act of Honor" of the Legislature
of the State of New York, were re-
moved from Quebec, and buried, July
8tli, 18 1 8, with brilliant military cere-
monies, near the cenotaph ejected by
Congress to his memory. As the body was borne down the Hudson River,
the steamer, as directed by Governor Clinton, jiaused before " Montgomery
Place." "^ near Barrytown, where the widow of the hero resided, and who thus
describes the mournful pageant : "At length they came by with all that re-
mained of a beloved husband, who left me in the bloom of manhood, a perfect
being. Alas ! how did he return ? However gratifying to my heart, yet to my
feelings every pang I felt was renewed. The pomp with which it was con-
ducted added to my woe ; when the steamboat passed with slow and solemn

* When Moutgonu-ry left his Kingsbridge farm, he commenced erecting a house upon a place
(now called (Irasmere) near Rhineheck, which belonged to his wife, but the building was not com-
pleted till after the (ieneral's death. His widow resided here till the sjiring of 1776, when she
removed to Montgomery Place, named in honor of the (leneral and modeled after the house in Ire-
land belonging to \'iscount Raneleigh, who married Montgomery's only sister. Their son, Hon.
William Jones, superintendeil the construction of Montgomery Place.

.MI)NI(;ii\rKKN S IciMI'.

2(jS

.MAIOR-CENF.RAL RICHARD MONTfiOMERY

<fi< jLem^ e. fy^JL,^ ^ei-*'^^ A'^^L. '^J^'^y^t^

AN ORIGINAL LETTER.
MONTGOMERY TO COLONEL BEDEL, ST. JOHNS.

(/•r^w //if collection of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet.)

movement, stopping be-
fore my house, the troops
under arms, the Dead
March from the muffled
drums, the mournful mu-
sic, the splendid coffin,
canopied with crape and
crowned by plumes, you
may conceive my anguish.
I cannot describe it. Such
voluntary honors were
never before paid to an
individual by a republic,
and to Governor Clin-
ton's munificence much
is owing."

Of Washington's thir-
teen generals, elected by
the Continental Congress,
some were mere sabreurs,
many incompetent, and
several effete from sick-
ness or age : two only —
Schuyler and Greene —
could be compared to
Montgomery, and neither
of these was his superior
in character, attainments
or military experience.
Of such material as Mont-
gomery, Napoleon made
the marshals of his Em-
pire ; for he was as it\trcp-
id as Ney, as steadfast as
Macdonald, as fearless as
Massena, as prudent as
Soult, as resolute as Da-
voust, as self-poised as
Suchet, and as impetuous
as Lannes; ever ready to

MAJOR-GENKRAL RRIIAKD M( )NT(i( )M KK\

-99

lead in the forefront of battle to do or die for his country. It must be
ever lamented that a spirit so elevated and so devoted to the cause of
liberty should have been sacrificed, in the bloom of manhood, in a conflict
so unequal and so hopeless of success. Winkelried met not a more glorious
death, nor did Austrian pikes at Sempach pierce a braver heart than that
of the noble martyr of Pres de Ville, worthy to rank among the first heroes
and patriots.

Montgomery was the embodiment of the true gentleman and chival-
rous soldier; high-born, handsome in person and athletic in form, graceful
and simple in manners, modest and taciturn in speech, generous and frank
in disposition, loving to kindred and fond of his fireside, of sanguine
temperament tinged with melancholy, cultivated in taste and studious of
books, self-reliant and of sound judgment, faithful to duty and zealous in
its performance, just to all and guided by a high moral sense, firm of
will in carrying out his convictions, true to friends and generous to foes,
brave as a paladin and the soul of honor— he united every manly attri-
bute to the gentleness and affection of woman.

His letters to his wife, amid all his difficulties and sufferings, are those
of a knightly lover, sighing and longing to worship at the altar of his
household gods. Though a soldier from boyhood, he delighted in the calm
pursuit of agriculture, and reluctantly bade adieu to his " quiet scheme of
life " only because " the will of an oppressed people, compelled to choose
between liberty and slavery, must be obeyed." When he resumed his
sword in the cause of our independence, he shrank from no danger,
evaded no responsibility, energetically performed every duty, imparted his
own confidence and courage to all about him, won the love and esteem of
his soldiery, and tempering authority with kindness, checked insubordina-
tion, removed discontent, and converted a disorderly band of turbulent
freemen into a disciplined army of patriots. He was truly a '^servant of
humanity, enlisted in its corps of immortals," and his heroic end was the
amaranthine crown to his useful and unsullied career.

' Death made no coiuiiiest of this conqueror,
For now he lives in fame, though not m life."

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