James Livingston ( American Revolution ) James Livingston ( March 27 , 1747 – March 9 , 1832 ) was born in New York , but was living in Quebec ( as Canada was known following the French and Indian War ) when the American Revolutionary War broke out . He was responsible for raising and leading the 1st Canadian Regiment of the Continental Army during the invasion of Canada , and continued to serve in the war until 1781 . He retired to Saratoga , New York , where he served as a state legislator and raised a family of five children . Pre - war life . James Livingston was born March 27 , 1747 , to John Livingston and Catherine Ten Broeck , in Albany , New York , where his father was from the locally prominent Livingston family , and his mother was the sister of General Abraham Ten Broeck . By 1765 , the family had moved to Montreal . American Revolutionary War . Livingston was living in Chambly , working as a grain merchant , when the invasion of Quebec began in September 1775 . As early as August , he had been in contact with General Philip Schuyler , mostly through the efforts of John Brown , an American spy . On August 18 , he sent a messenger to Schuyler at Fort Ticonderoga , presumably with information on British military readiness at Fort Chambly and Fort Saint - Jean ; unfortunately , this messenger destroyed the message , fearing he might be captured with it . General Richard Montgomery ( who was married to one of Livingston ' s relatives ) , who was in command of Ticonderoga at the time , sent John Brown back to Livingston . On the 28th , they sent word back to Montgomery with news that spurred him to begin the invasion : the British had almost completed ships capable of threatening the American naval superiority on Lake Champlain . Up to , and then also following , the arrival of the American forces at Île aux Noix in early September , Livingston was active in the Chambly area , raising local support for the Americans . On September 15 , he reported to Schuyler that militia under his control had cut off Fort Chambly from communication with Montreal , and that Brown and Ethan Allen were raising additional troops and guarding the southern shore of the Saint Lawrence River . Forces under his command , numbering about 200 , participated in the capture of Fort Chambly on October 18 , along with militia under Brown ' s command . On November 20 , Montgomery made him a colonel in the Continental Army , and gave him command of the 1st Canadian Regiment , consisting mainly of the troops he had recruited . This regiment then served at the battle of Quebec in December 1775 , and the ensuing retreat . They later saw action in the Saratoga campaign , including the relief of the siege of Fort Stanwix in August 1777 , both Battles of Saratoga , and the Battle of Rhode Island . Livingston was in command of Verplanck ' s Point on the Hudson River in September 1780 , when he played a crucial role in the unmasking of Benedict Arnold ' s treachery . While on guard duty , his troops fired on the British sloop of war " Vulture " , forcing that vessel to retreat southwards . This ship had brought British Major John André to meet with General Arnold . Since the ship was driven off , André was forced to attempt travel by land to New York in civilian clothing . He was captured with incriminating papers in his possession . André was hanged as a spy , and Arnold , knowing that his plot discovered , managed to escape to the British lines . He retired from the Continental Army on January 1 , 1781 . In recognition of his service , he was granted of land near where Tyre , New York is today . In 1801 , Congress awarded him another of land near the modern location of Columbus , Ohio . Life after the war . Livingston had married Elizabeth Simpson , an immigrant from Cork , Ireland living in Montreal , in 1772 ; they had at least two sons , Edward and Richard Montgomery ( named after the general in his memory ) and three daughters , Elizabeth , Catharine and Margaret . Elizabeth married a business partner of John Jacob Astor , Peter Smith , and was the mother of the famed abolitionist Gerrit Smith . Margaret married Daniel Cady , and one of their children was Elizabeth Cady Stanton . After the war , Livingston settled in Saratoga . From 1783 to 1794 he served in the New York State Legislature . He died in Saratoga at age 85 in 1832 .