Montagu returned to England in the beginning of 1785, and being then unable to obtain employment afloat he went, in October 1786, to France on a twelve-months' leave. In October 1787 he was back in England, but had no employment till the outbreak of the revolutionary war, when at his own special request—apparently on account of the name—he was appointed to the 74-gun third-rate , one of the grand fleet under Lord Howe during the campaigns of 1793 and 1794.