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Richard Montgomery




's depiction of the death of General Montgomery in the Attack On Quebec .]]

Richard Montgomery ( December 2 , 1736December 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:

See also: List Of Places Named For Richard Montgomery


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