Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery ( December 2 , 1738 – December 31 , 1775 ) was an Irish - born soldier who first served in the British Army . He later became a Major General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is most famous for leading the failed 1775 invasion of Canada . Montgomery was born and raised in Ireland . In 1754 , he enrolled at Trinity College , Dublin , and two years later joined the British army to fight in the French and Indian War . He steadily rose through the ranks , serving in North America and then the Caribbean . After the war he was stationed at Fort Detroit during Pontiac ' s War , following which he returned to Britain for health reasons . In 1773 , Montgomery returned to the Thirteen Colonies , married Janet Livingston , and began farming . When the American Revolutionary War broke out , Montgomery took up the Patriot cause , and was elected to the New York Provincial Congress in May 1775 . In June 1775 , he was commissioned as a Brigadier General in the Continental Army . After Phillip Schuyler became too ill to lead the invasion of Canada , Montgomery took over . He captured Fort St . Johns and then Montreal in November 1775 , and then advanced to Quebec City where he joined another force under the command of Benedict Arnold . On December 31 , he led an attack on the city , but was killed during the battle . The British found his body and gave it an honorable burial . It was moved to New York City in 1818 . Early life . Montgomery was born in Swords , Ireland . His father , Thomas Montgomery , was a former British Army Officer and a member of the Irish Parliament . He was a brother of Colonel Alexander Montgomery ( 1720 – 1800 ) and a cousin of Colonel Alexander Montgomery ( 1686 – 1729 ) , both Members of Parliament for County Donegal . Another first cousin was an M . P . for County Monaghan , also named Alexander Montgomery ( died 1785 ) . Richard Montgomery spent most of his childhood at Convoy House , the Montgomery family seat in County Donegal , where he learned to hunt , ride , shoot , and fence . Thomas Montgomery made sure that Montgomery received a good education ; he learned French , Latin , and rhetoric , and attended a school outside of Belfast . In 1754 , the same year that the French and Indian War began in North America , Montgomery enrolled in Trinity College . Despite his great love of knowledge Montgomery did not receive a degree . He was urged by his father and his oldest brother Alexander to join the military , which he did on September 21 , 1756 . His father purchased an ensign ' s commission for Montgomery , who joined the 17th Regiment of Foot . Seven Years War . North America . On February 3 , 1757 , the 17th Foot was ordered to march from its garrison at Galway and prepare to be deployed overseas . On May 5 , Montgomery and the 17th Foot sailed from Cork for Halifax , Nova Scotia , arriving in July . The British had planned an attempt on Louisbourg but the operation was called off , and they sailed instead for winter quarters in New York . In 1758 , the 17th Foot was sent back to Halifax , once again with the goal of taking Louisbourg . The British commanders , Jeffery Amherst and James Abercromby drew up a plan to assault the French at Louisbourg , which is located on the Atlantic coast of Cape Breton Island , north of Halifax . The French garrison consisted of only 800 men , while the British force had 13 , 142 troops supported by 23 ships of the line and 13 frigate s . On June 8 , 1758 , the attack on the fort began . Montgomery landed on the beach under heavy fire and ordered his troops to advance with fixed bayonet s . The outer French defenses withdrew back toward the city . Montgomery ' s unit and the rest of the British force chased the French back to a point just outside of the Fort ' s guns . At this point , the British prepared to besiege the city . Due to bad weather , artillery and other materials needed for the siege took several weeks to arrive onshore . Montgomery had his men dig entrenchments and build breastworks , also ordering his men stay alert to the possibility of a French attack . On July 9 , the French attempted a breakout , but it failed . On July 26 , following a series of actions resulting in the destruction of most their fleet , the French surrendered . General Amherst was impressed by Montgomery ' s action during the siege , and promoted him to Lieutenant . On July 8 , 1758 , James Abercromby attacked Fort Carillon on Lake Champlain , but was repelled with heavy losses . In August , Montgomery and the 17th foot sailed to Boston , marched to join with Abercromby ' s forces in Albany and then moved to Lake George . On November 9 , Abercromby was recalled ; Amherst replaced him as commander - in - chief . The British high command , for the 1759 campaign , developed a plan for a three - pronged attack into Canada , in which forces including the 17th foot would assault Fort Carillon and also capture Fort St . Frédéric , near Crown Point , New York . Under Amherst ' s command , Montgomery and the 17th Foot participated in the capture of Fort Carillon . While the army was gathering prior to the battle , Montgomery ' s company was on guard duty ; he ordered his men to remain vigilant for French and Indian ambush parties . On May 9 his suspicions proved correct when 12 men from the 17th were attacked . Montgomery and the 17th met stiff resistance at first . Montgomery ordered that his men were not to fire at night , fearing they would shoot their comrades . On July 21 , the army began its movement toward Fort Carillon ; by the 26th they were in position outside the fort ' s walls , from which the French had already withdrawn most of their forces to Fort St . Frédéric . That night , after some exchange of cannon fire during the day , the French blew up Carillon ' s powder magazine , and Fort St . Frédéric the next day , and withdrew to the far end of Lake Champlain . The 17th , which was placed under the command of Major General Robert Monckton late in 1759 , spent the winter on garrison duty in the Mohawk River valley . On May 15 , 1760 , Monckton named Montgomery as regimental adjutant , a position awarded by the commanding officer to the most promising lieutenant in the regiment . In August , the 17th Foot joined with the Lake Champlain Division , and set out from Crown Point to participate in a three - pronged attack on Montreal . The 17th Foot captured the Île aux Noix and Fort Chambly before meeting with the two other divisions outside Montreal . The Marquis de Vaudreuil , Canada ' s French governor , seeing that the city could not be defended , surrendered the city without a fight . With the fall of Montreal , all of Canada fell into British hands . In the summer of 1761 , Montgomery and the 17th Foot marched from Montreal to Staten Island . Caribbean . After conquering Canada , the British government put together a plan to defeat the French in the West Indies . In November 1761 , Montgomery and the 17th set sail for Barbados , where they joined other units from North America . On January 5 , 1762 , the force left Barbados and headed towards the French island of Martinique , arriving there in mid - January . The French , having received word of an impending attack , had built up their defenses . A beachhead was quickly established , and the main offensive began on January 24 . The French outer defenses were overrun and the survivors fled to the capital , Fort Royal . The British prepared to launch an assault on the fort , but the French , seeing the situation was hopeless , surrendered . On February 12 , the entire island surrendered . After the fall of Martinique , the rest of the French West Indies , Grenada , Saint Lucia , and Saint Vincent , fell to the British without a fight . On May 6 , 1762 , in reward for his actions in Martinique , Lieutenant Colonel John Campbell promoted Montgomery to captain and gave him command of one of the ten companies of the 17th Foot . Spain entered the war in 1761 as an ally of France . The British high command believed that capturing Havana would destroy the lines of communication from Spain to its colonial empire . On June 6 , the assaulting British forces arrived seven miles off the shore of Havana . The 17th Foot , including Montgomery ' s company , was to capture Moro Fort , the key to the Spanish defense of the city . British battleships bombarded the fort , silencing all but two Spanish guns . On July 30 , Montgomery and the 17th Foot stormed and captured the fort . In late August 1762 , Montgomery and the 17th Foot were sent to New York , where they remained for the rest of the war . The conflict was ended by the signing of the Treaty of Paris on February 10 , 1763 . Pontiac ' s War . Angered by the French surrender , and unhappy with British policies that affected them , an Ottawa chief named Pontiac organized 18 Native American tribes that attacked British military and civilian settlements beginning in April 1763 . The tribes captured eight British forts and forced the evacuation of two more . General Amherst ordered the 17th to Albany in June 1763 to assist in combating the outbreak of hostilities . En route to Albany , the ship carrying Montgomery up the Hudson River ran aground near Clermont Manor , seat of the politically powerful Livingston family . While the ship was refloated , the Livingstons played host to the officers who were aboard the vessel . Montgomery was at this time introduced to Robert Livingston ' s 20 - year - old daughter Janet . While it has never transpired exactly what happened between them at this time , Janet noticed that the young Montgomery was not with the regiment ( having been given leave to return to England early ) when it returned to New York . The 17th was first assigned to garrison duty at Fort Stanwix , where Montgomery remained until 1764 . In 1764 , Montgomery applied to Colonel Campbell and General Thomas Gage for leave to return to England , as his service in the Caribbean had taken a toll on his health . Gage granted the leave , directing Colonel Campbell to give it as soon as possible . Campbell , whose officer ranks had been depleted in the Caribbean campaign , would only grant the leave after the upcoming expedition . The British in 1764 organized two expeditions to combat the Native uprising . Montgomery and the 17th were on one of these expeditions , commanded by John Bradstreet , that went to Fort Niagara in July , where they were stationed for one month , while Sir William Johnson organized and held a major conference with Natives from around the Great Lakes . The conference drew more than 2 , 000 Natives ; Bradstreet ' s forces stayed there as a deterrent to rumored Native attacks . They then marched to Fort Detroit , which had been subject to a surprise attack earlier , arriving in August . For several weeks , Montgomery stayed at the fort , helping to improve its defenses , and also gaining an understanding of how to interact with the Natives . In September , Bradstreet left Fort Detroit for Sandusky , to meet with the Shawnee and the Delaware ; while the 17th remained on garrison duty at Fort Detroit and Fort Michilimackinac , Montgomery , whose leave had been granted , accompanied him . On October 3 , Montgomery and several other officers met with Thomas King , an Oneida chief . King had accompanied a detachment of Bradstreet ' s men on operations in Illinois ; he reported that the Natives were quite hostile there , and had recommended against military action against them . Two days later , at a larger conference with Bradstreet and Iroquois leaders , Bradstreet explained to them that the British would not be attacking the Shawnee and Delaware . Bradstreet then released Montgomery , who traveled first to Johnson Hall and then New York , where he delivered dispatches from Bradstreet to Gage before departing for England . Recovery . In Britain , Montgomery recovered his health . He associated with Whig Members of Parliament , who generally supported the colonists in their demands for more political freedom . Montgomery became friends with several prominent Whigs , among them Isaac Barre , Edmund Burke , and Charles James Fox . While stationed in Britain , Montgomery spent much of his time discussing politics with these three men . He began to question the British Government ' s policies . In 1768 , with the 17th Foot back in England , he began a recruitment drive ; before it began , his company was only 17 men . He also became engaged ; however , his fiancee proved to be untrue , and the engagement was broken . After being passed over for promotion in 1771 , likely because of his political affiliations , he sold his commission for about £1 , 500 and left the military in 1772 . He then bought scientific instruments ( microscopes , a barometer and hygrometer ) , surveying tools , and draftsmen ' s tools , and sailed for America in July of that year . He had decided to never marry or take up arms again , and to become a gentleman farmer . Settling in New York . He bought a farm at King ' s Bridge , 13 miles north of New York City . While adjusting to his surroundings , Montgomery renewed his acquaintance with Janet Livingston , who later recounted that " politeness led him to make me a visit . " After receiving permission from her father , he and Janet were married on July 24 , 1773 . After their marriage , Montgomery leased his farm to a tenant and moved to his wife ' s residence , “ Grassmere , ” a small house in Rhinebeck , New York . Montgomery bought some surrounding land and set to work fencing , ploughing fields , building a grain mill , and laying the foundation for a larger home . He said that he was " Never so happy in all my life " , but followed that up by saying " This cannot last ; it cannot last . " Three months after their marriage , Janet told him of a dream she had in which Montgomery was killed in a duel by his brother . Montgomery replied by saying " I have always told you that my happiness is not lasting . . . Let us enjoy it as long as we may and leave the rest to God . " Because Montgomery was now tied to the Livingston family , who supported the Patriot cause , he began to turn against the British government , seeing himself as an American instead of an Englishman . He came to believe that the British government was being oppressive and was acting like a tyrannical parent - state . New York Provincial Congress . On May 16 , 1775 , Montgomery was elected as one of the ten deputies to represent Dutchess County in the New York Provincial Congress . Although Montgomery had only lived in New York for two years and had not sought political involvement , he was well known and respected in the area and he felt obliged to attend . He was reluctant to go , but nonetheless went to New York City , 80 miles south of Rhinebeck . The first session began on May 22 . On May 26 , 97 delegates , including Montgomery , signed a resolution legitimizing its authority . Montgomery ' s views were those of a moderate Patriot . He believed that the American Government was wrong , but hoped for an honorable reconciliation . Gradually , the faction of the Congress that remained loyal to the King lost its influence , with some not participating on a regular basis . Montgomery was selected to serve in a site selection committee to decide the placement of military defensive positions in New York , and was also involved in organizing the provincial militia and securing its supplies . American Revolution . Appointment . After the appointment of George Washington as Commander - in - Chief of the newly formed Continental Army on June 15 , 1775 , the Second Continental Congress asked the New York Provincial Government to select two men for service in the army . One would be a Major General , the other a Brigadier General . The assembly favored Philip Schuyler as the Major General . Montgomery expressed concern over this , as he did not believe that Schuyler had enough combat experience for such an appointment . Montgomery wrote that " Phil Schuyler was mentioned to me . . . His consequence in the province makes him a fit subject for an important trust — but has he strong nerves ? I could wish to have that point well ascertained with respect to any man so employed . " Although Montgomery knew he was under consideration for Brigadier General , he did not publicly show any desire for the appointment . Nonetheless , Schuyler was appointed Major General , and Montgomery Brigadier General , on June 22 . Montgomery was ranked 2nd in command of all the Brigadier Generals . In view of this appointment , he said , " The Congress having done me the honor of electing me brigadier - general in their service , is an event which must put an end , for awhile , perhaps for ever , 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 , must be obeyed . " Plan . On June 25 , George Washington passed through New York City on his way to Boston . Washington assigned Montgomery as deputy commander under Schuyler . A few days later , Schuyler received orders from the Continental Congress to invade Canada . The idea was that the army was to invade Quebec , where the Hudson River and the northern lakes could supply the army . A force was quickly assembled at Fort Ticonderoga and Schuyler left to take command of the army on July 4 . Montgomery stayed in Albany for several more weeks making the final arrangements for the invasion . His wife followed him as far north as Saratoga , where he told her " You shall never have cause to blush for your Montgomery . " Through July and early August , Montgomery and Schuyler continued to organize their force , raising the men and materials needed for an invasion . While they organized , Washington decided to expand the invasion , ordering Benedict Arnold to lead another invasion force that would invade Quebec from Maine . It was to join with Schuyler ' s army outside Quebec City , where they would launch a joint attack on to the city . Invasion of Canada . In August , Schuyler left to meet with representatives of the Iroquois Confederacy in order to keep them neutral during the invasion , leaving Montgomery in command of the forces at Fort Ticonderoga . While Schuyler was away , Montgomery received intelligence that the British were building two gunboats on Lake Champlain , which , when complete , would give the British military access to the lake . Without asking permission from Schuyler , he moved 1 , 200 men north on the schooner " Liberty " and the sloop " Enterprise " . Montgomery wrote a letter to Schuyler , explaining the situation . Schuyler returned to Fort Ticonderoga on August 30 , ordered an additional 800 men to reinforce Montgomery , and then , despite being ill , set out to join Montgomery . He caught up with Montgomery on September 4 on Isle La Motte , where he assumed command and ordered the advance to continue to Île aux Noix , a small island in the Richelieu River . Schuyler , whose health was poor , drafted a proclamation in which he called the Canadians " Friends and Countrymen " , asking them to help expel the British from Canada . On September 6 , Montgomery led a probing force to Fort St . Johns , the key to the British defense of Montreal . Montgomery led the main body of troops toward the fort through a marshy and heavily wooded area . A flanking party led by Captain Matthew Mead was ambushed by 100 Native Americans allied to the British . The party held its ground , forcing the ambushing Natives to fall back to the fort . Montgomery , fearing that the British force was larger than he had anticipated , called off operations for the rest of the day and withdrew his force to a spot beyond the range of the British guns . Believing that the fort could not be captured quickly , Schuyler recalled Montgomery ' s force and fortified Île aux Noix . Schuyler ' s health declined , so Montgomery assumed command of the daily functions of the army . On September 10 , a larger force of 1 , 700 men led by Montgomery moved toward the fort . In the swampy area around the fort , it was so dark that two parties of Americans ran into each other ; each feared the other to be the British , and both fled . Montgomery ran to intercept them and ended the flight . As they advanced toward the fort , the force came under British grapeshot fire . One party of Americans attacked the British breastworks , inflicting 2 casualties , after which they fell back . The next morning , Montgomery called a council of war , in which it was agreed to make another attack on the fort . However , word spread that a British warship was advancing up the river , and half the New England troops fled out of fright . Montgomery , believing his force could no longer take the fort , retreated back to Île aux Noix . Montgomery , furious at the flight of the New England troops , asked Schuyler to appoint a court - martial board . Meanwhile , Schuyler ' s health had not improved . He left for Ticonderoga on the 16th to recover , giving full control of the operation to Montgomery . Siege of St . Johns . Outside of Fort Saint - Jean ( Quebec ) , Montgomery continued to receive reinforcements . He granted leaves to commanders who he felt were not fit for their position . He said " I hope we shall have none left but fighting men on whom I can rely . " On September 16 , Montgomery organized another expedition against the British fort . In total , he had 1 , 400 men . He sent a naval component , with 1 schooner , 1 sloop , and 10 bateaux with 350 troops to counter any move by the British warship , " Royal Savage " . Montgomery took the rest of his force and sailed up the river , landing near St . Johns on September 17 . The British garrison was 725 men commanded by Major Charles Preston , who just 3 years earlier had been Montgomery ' s superior officer in the British Army . Montgomery and his troops spent the first night near the landing area , under light fire from the British guns . The next morning , he ordered Major Timothy Bedel to occupy a position north of the fort , but when Montgomery saw that his men were apprehensive , he chose to lead the mission himself . As Montgomery led his troops , they came upon a fight between British troops and another American party . Montgomery took command of the skirmish and forced the British party back into the fort . Montgomery sent Bedel with a force to entrench themselves about a mile north of the fort . Montgomery then put other troops around the fort and began a siege . Preston and the British forces had many more guns and much more ammunition than the Americans and thus achieved a 10 - to - 1 firepower advantage for the first few weeks . Montgomery concentrated his forces on improving the siege works . Within several days they had erected 2 batteries under consistent fire from the fort . On September 22 , Montgomery was nearly killed while inspecting the breastworks when a cannonball from the fort shot past him , ripping his skirt and knocking him off the breastwork , although he landed on his feet . The troops observed that this " did not seem to hurt or frighten him . " The Americans continued to receive armaments from Ticonderoga , with guns arriving on September 21 and also on October 5 . However , the artillery were positioned too far away to do much damage to the fort . With the arrival of the new guns , Montgomery planned to move the emphasis of the bombardment from the east side of the fort to the north side , where they would be closer . However , his officers unanimously rejected this plan , fearing that many men would desert due to the increased danger . Montgomery ordered that a new battery be built where the " Royal Savage " could be threatened . On October 14 , the battery was completed and then used to sink the British ship . In mid - October , James Livingston , an American expatriate living near Chambly ( and a relative of Montgomery ' s wife Janet ) , suggested to Montgomery that he might have better success attacking Fort Chambly , which , about 10 miles downstream , was weaker than St . Jean . Montgomery approved of the idea and ordered 350 men to take Chambly . On the night of October 16 , two American guns were slipped past Fort St . Jean and moved towards Chambly . The next morning , these guns opened fire on Chambly . After two days of bombardment , holes were driven into the fort ' s walls and the chimmney had been knocked down . The British commander surrendered the fort , capturing 6 tons of gunpowder and 83 men . Montgomery sent the colors of the 7th Royal Fusiliers , who had been defending the fort , to Schuyler , the first standards of a British regiment captured in the war . Washington sent a letter of congratulations to Montgomery and commented that he hoped " that his next letter be dated from Montreal . " The capture of Chambly improved morale in the ranks of Montgomery ' s army , so much so that he went through with his plan to establish a battery north of Fort St . Jean , this time without opposition . While the Americans were constructing the batteries , the British heavily bombarded the American workers , but this resulted in few casualties . General Guy Carleton , commanding the British forces at Montreal , realized that the situation at Fort St . Jean was becoming desperate . He personally led a relief force at the end of October , but American forces successfully prevented it from crossing the Saint Lawrence River south of Montreal . On November 1 , the new batteries erected north of the fort were complete . The Americans began to fire at the fort and continued to do so throughout the rest of the day . The British guns fired back , but were less effective . The American guns caused few casualties , but inflicted heavy structural damage inside of the fort . Morale in the besieged garrison fell as the bombardment ( and declining rations ) took their toll . At sundown , Montgomery ordered the firing to stop and sent a prisoner captured at Chambly inside with a letter asking for the garrison ' s surrender . A messenger sent from Carleton to Preston was captured during the night , in which Carleton ordered that Preston continue to hold out . On November 2 , the British agreed to surrender with full military honors . They marched out of the fort on November 3 , and were sent into the colonies where they were interned . The British had suffered 20 killed and 23 wounded , while the Americans had only five killed and six wounded throughout the siege . Montreal to Quebec . Montgomery then turned the army toward Montreal . The march was difficult as there was snow , water , and ice on the ground and a winter storm struck several days after their departure . In an attempt to stop an escape of British troops from Montreal to Quebec , Montgomery sent a detachment to Sorel where the force briefly clashed with British troops . The British troops quickly withdrew to their vessels in the St . Lawrence River . When Montgomery and the main army reached the outskirts of the city , Montgomery sent a messenger in demanding the surrender of the city or they would suffer bombardment . While negotiations for the city ' s surrender took place , Carleton fled down the St . Lawrence River in a small flotilla of ships . The city surrendered on November 13 and Montgomery and his army marched into the city without a shot being fired . On November 19 , the British flotilla was captured , but Carleton narrowly escaped and made his way to Quebec City . Montgomery ' s kind treatment toward the captured British prisoners caused several officers to express their concern . Montgomery saw this as a challenge to his authority and this , along with the lack of discipline in the army , caused Montgomery to threaten resignation . Letters from Washington in which Washington also expressed his troubles with the discipline of troops convinced Montgomery to continue his command . On November 28 , Montgomery and 300 men went aboard some of the captured ships and began to sail to Quebec City . On December 2 , Montgomery joined Benedict Arnold ' s force at Pointe aux Trembles , 18 miles upriver from Quebec . On his arrival , Arnold turned over command of his forces to Montgomery . On December 3 , Montgomery gave Arnold ' s men , who had marched through the Maine wilderness to Quebec City and suffered much hardship along the way , much - needed supplies , including clothing and other winter supplies taken from the captured British ships . The next day , the army moved toward the city ; when they arrived , Montgomery ordered the city to be surrounded . On December 7 , Montgomery sent an ultimatum to Carleton , demanding the surrender of the city . Carleton burned the letter . Several days later , Montgomery sent a letter into the city appealing the merchants telling them that they had come to liberate the civilians of Quebec . However , Carleton discovered the plan and quickly had the messenger arrested . Montgomery , wanting his message to reach the inhabitants of the city , then sent the proclamation over the wall with bows and arrows . Attack and death . Unknown to Montgomery , he was promoted to Major General on December 9 for his victories at St . Johns and Montreal . After Montgomery was unable to convince Carleton to surrender , he placed several mortars a few hundred yards outside the walls of the city . The shelling of the city began on December 9 , but after several days it had failed to make a serious impact on the walls , the garrison , or the civilian population . With the shelling having little effect , Montgomery ordered the emplacement of another battery closer towards the city walls , on the Plains of Abraham , despite the fact it offered little natural cover from returning fire . On December 15 , the new batteries were ready and Montgomery sent a party of men under the flag of truce to ask for the city ' s surrender , however , they were turned away . Montgomery then resumed firing on the city , but the effect was little better . When the new batteries were hit by more effective fire from the British , Montgomery ordered their evacuation . As the bombardment of the city proved to be unsuccessful , Montgomery then began to plan for an assault . Montgomery was to assault the Lower Town district , the part of the city near the river shore , while Arnold was to attack and take the Cape Diamond Bastion , a strong part of the city walls on the highest point of the rocky promontory . Montgomery believed that they should attack during a stormy night , therefore the British would not be able to see them . On December 27 , the weather became stormy , and Montgomery ordered that the men prepare to attack , however , the storm soon subsided and Montgomery called off the attack . As Montgomery waited for a storm , he was forced to revise his plans , because a deserter communicated the original plan to the defenders . In the new plan , Montgomery would attack the Lower Town from the south and Arnold would attack the Lower Town from the north . After breaking through the walls , Montgomery and Arnold would meet up in the city and then attack and take the Upper Town , causing resistance to collapse . To increase their chance of surprise , Montgomery planned two feint s . One detachment of troops ( the 1st Canadian Regiment under James Livingston ) would set fire to one of the gates while another ( under the command of Jacob Brown ) would engage the guard at Cape Diamond Bastion and fire rockets to signal the start of the attack . While the feints were conducted , artillery would fire into the city . Although Montgomery was reluctant to attack , enlistments for Arnold ' s men were expiring on January 1 , and he was concerned about losing their services . On the night of December 30 , a snowstorm struck . Montgomery issued the order to attack and the Americans began to move towards their designated positions . At 4 : 00 a . m . , Montgomery saw the rocket flares and began to move his men around the city towards the lower town . Although the rockets were to signal the attack , they also alerted the British of the impending attack and the city ' s defenders rushed to their posts . Montgomery personally led the march to the Lower Town , as they descended the steep slippery cliffs outside the city walls . At 6 : 00 a . m . , Montgomery ' s force reached a palisade at the edge of the Lower Town , which they had to saw through . After they sawed through a second palisade , Montgomery led the advance party through the opening . Seeing a two - story blockhouse down the street , Montgomery led the troops toward it , encouraging the men by drawing his sword and shouting , " Come on , my good soldiers , your General calls upon you to come on . " When the Americans were about away , the British forces in the blockhouse ( 30 Canadian militia and some seamen ) , opened fire with cannon , musket , and grapeshot . Montgomery was killed with grapeshot through the head and both thighs . Also killed in the burst of gunfire were Captains John Macpherson and Jacob Cheesman . With the death of Montgomery , his attack fell apart . Colonel Donald Campbell , the surviving officer , ordered a somewhat panicked retreat . Without Montgomery ' s assistance , Arnold ' s attack , after initial success , fell apart . Arnold was wounded in the leg , and a large number of his troops were captured , including Daniel Morgan . Funeral . On 1 January 1776 , the British started collecting bodies of the deceased and soon found the body of a low ranking officer of the American colonial army . After being brought to General Carleton , an American prisoner confirmed that the body was that of Richard Montgomery . Once Montgomery ' s death was announced , Benedict Arnold assumed command of the American colonial forces . As Montgomery was a well - respected man on both sides of the battlefield , Carleton ordered that he be buried with dignity , but not with too much fanfare . At sunset on 4 January 1776 , Montgomery ' s remains were put to rest . During his burial , American prisoners acknowledged Montgomery as a " beloved general " with " heroic bravery " and " suavity of manners " who held the " confidence of the whole army . " Mourning . Both Schuyler and Washington were devastated upon hearing of Montgomery ' s death . Schuyler believed that without Montgomery , victory in Canada was not possible . He wrote to Congress and Washington that " My amiable friend , the gallant Montgomery , is no more ; the brave Arnold is wounded ; and we have met a severe check , in an unsuccessful attempt on Quebec , May Heaven be graciously pleased that the misfortune may terminate here . " Washington wrote to Schuyler , " In the death of this gentleman , America has sustained a heavy loss , as he had approved himself a steady friend to her rights and of ability to render her the most essential services . " Congress reacted to Montgomery ' s death by trying to keep the loss as quiet as possible . They feared the news would lower the morale of the troops and civilians . On January 25 , 1776 , Congress approved the establishment of a monument in memory of Montgomery . A state memorial service was also scheduled and carried out on February 19 , 1776 . Throughout the colonies , Montgomery was viewed as a hero , and Patriot s tried to use his death to promote their cause in the war . Montgomery ' s name was used very often in literature ; among the authors who used his name was Thomas Paine . Montgomery was also mourned in Britain . Whigs attempted to use his death to show the failure of the British policies on the American Colonies . Prime Minister Lord Frederick North acknowledged Montgomery ' s military ability but said " I cannot join in lamenting the death of Montgomery as a public loss . Curse on his virtues ! They ' ve undone his country . He was brave , he was able , he was humane , he was generous , but still , he was only a brave , able , humane , and generous rebel . " Newspapers in London paid tribute to Montgomery , with the " Evening Post " bordering its March 12 edition in black as a sign of mourning . Aftermath . Janet would outlive Montgomery by 53 years . Janet always referred to him as " my general " or " my soldier " and guarded his reputation . After his death , Janet moved to the house near Rhinebeck on which Montgomery had begun work before the war . Janet remained interested in politics for the rest of the war and was always a harsh critic of Loyalist s . After the war , former Continental Army general Horatio Gates proposed marriage to her , but she declined . In 1789 , Janet stopped in New York City on her way to visit some of Montgomery ' s relatives in Ireland . She attended Washington ' s inaugural ball , as he had just been sworn in as president , and also visited Washington and his family several times more . She sailed for Ireland soon after , and returned to America in 1790 after she had a falling out with her sister - in - law over British - American politics . In 1818 , Stephen van Rensselaer , Governor of New York , obtained permission for Montgomery ' s remains to be moved from Quebec to New York . In June 1818 , Montgomery ' s remains set off for New York City . On July 4 they arrived in Albany and took a boat down the Hudson to New York City . Janet stood out on her porch and watched the boat bring Montgomery ' s remains down the river , fainting at the sight . When his remains arrived in New York City , 5 , 000 people attended the procession . His remains were interred on July 8 , next to his monument at St . Paul ' s Chapel in Manhattan , which had been completed in 1776 . Janet was pleased with the ceremony and wrote , " What more could I wish than the high honor that has been conferred on the ashes of my poor soldier . " Years later , when Andrew Jackson was corresponding with Edward Livingston he wrote " Present me in the most respectful terms to your aged sister [ Janet ] . Says to her , if I ever should be within one hundred miles of her dwelling I will visit and have the high honor of shaking by the hand the revered relict of the patriotic Genrl . Montgomery , who will ever live in the hearts of his countrymen . " Three months after this letter , Janet died , on November 6 , 1824 . Memorials . Montgomery ' s home in Rhinebeck , New York is now the General Montgomery House , a historic house museum moved from Montgomery Street to 77 Livingston Street . The oldest structure in the Village of Rhinebeck , the building is also used for monthly meetings of the Chancellor Livingston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution . The United States Navy has named a number of ships over the years , including a frigate that was begun in 1776 , and burned before completion to prevent its capture by the British . The liberty ship SS " Richard Montgomery " , built in 1943 , was sunk in 1944 in the Thames Estuary . Its cargo of 3 , 173 tons of munitions continues to pose a threat to the local area . In Philadelphia , there is a statue of Montgomery in Fairmount Park , near the Philadelphia Museum of Art . Places . Fort Montgomery , a massive masonry fortification mounting 125 guns on Lake Champlain was named for the General . Its construction begun in 1844 , it was designed to guard the strategically important frontier between Canada and the United States ; only ruins remain today . Montgomery has several places named after him . Counties named for him are to be found in North Carolina , Missouri , Arkansas , Illinois , Indiana , Kansas , Maryland , Ohio , Pennsylvania , New York , Georgia , Virginia , and Kentucky . Cities and towns named for him most notably include Montgomery , Alabama , that state ' s capital and second largest city , as well as Montgomery , Minnesota . There is a township in New Jersey , a village in New York , and a town in Massachusetts as well . Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville , Maryland bears his name , itself located in the county named after him Montgomery County . Montgomery Place , a mansion in Barrytown , New York , was constructed in 1803 and named in his honor by his widow . General Montgomery had planned it before his departure from Grassmere in 1775 , and construction was originally planned to start in 1776 . Legacy . Montgomery is mentioned in a Fort Saint - Jean plaque erected in 1926 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada at the Royal Military College Saint - Jean . " Constructed in 1743 by M . de Léry under orders from Governor la Galissonnière . This post was for all the military expeditions towards Lake Champlain . In August 31 , 1760 , Commandant de Roquemaure had it blown up in accordance with orders from the Governor de Vaudreuil in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the English . Rebuilt by Governor Carleton , in 1773 . During the same year , under the command of Major Charles Preston of the 26th Regiment , it withstood a 45 day siege by the American troops commanded by General Montgomery . "