General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution. Hal T. Shelton
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in the Montgomery coat of arms until the Irish Montgomerys redesigned it many years later, adding an arm clad in armor grasping a broken lance to the design. The designers also changed the motto inscribed below the shield at this time by substituting “Patriae Infelici Fidelis” (Loyalty but Misfortune in One’s Native Land) for the Scottish “Garde Bien” (Protect Well).25
These past events and personalities, then, formed the lineage that Richard Montgomery inherited. His heritage helped to shape his value system and worldview throughout his life. Therefore, an understanding of the Montgomery ancestry facilitates perceptions of Richard’s later decisions and conduct.
With this warlike family tradition, it was natural for Richard to be disposed toward a military career. Befitting a son of landed gentry, he acquired a liberal education as a youth. After receiving his initial education at St. Andrews School, Richard enrolled in Trinity College, Dublin, in 1754. He attended two years of college when, upon the advice and urging of his father and oldest brother, he made a final decision in favor of joining the army. Thomas probably influenced his son toward military service because he wanted Richard to follow in his footsteps and those of his forefathers in maintaining the Montgomery military tradition. Alexander had already established himself as an army officer, having received an appointment sometime before. His father purchased an ensign’s commission for Richard, and he entered British military service on September 21, 1756, at the age of eighteen. He spent the next eight years of his early manhood in the 17th Regiment of Foot in the British army.26
The 17th Regiment had a long and honorable history. In 1688, King James II hurriedly expanded his army to meet the threat of William III to his throne. He added four thousand Englishmen to the army lists, together with three thousand men from both Ireland and Scotland. Raising the new regiments, which included the 17th, brought the total army strength to forty thousand men. King James felt confident that he could defend his crown with such a force. However, political conspiracy, not force of arms, caused the overthrow of James. Most of his high-ranking officials deserted him, and he fled into exile without a major military confrontation. The 17th Regiment survived the “Glorious Revolution” and several army reorganizations that followed. It later distinguished itself during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), fighting under the Duke of Marlborough throughout wartorn Europe.27
It is ironic that Richard Montgomery became a member of the same regiment that James II formed to oppose his ancestor, Sir Hugh Montgomhery, who was then in the service of William III. Nevertheless, the 17th Regiment was proud of its reputation as a time-honored Irish unit, loyal in its support to the British Empire. Richard must have shared this military tradition after joining the 17th as a young, inexperienced officer. The time of Richard’s induction into the army was the eve of a momentous world event that would provide the 17th another opportunity to bravely serve the king—the Seven Years’ War. It would also furnish Richard an opportunity to uphold the Montgomery family heritage and prove himself as a professional soldier.
CHAPTER THREE
Duty in the Seven Years’ War
When first a soldier . . . I stood in arms. Then, in Britannia’s cause. I drew my sword, and charg’d the rival Gaul.1
Having borne a share in all the labour of our American wars, and the reduction of Canada. Little did he foresee the scenes which that land had still in reserve for him! Little did those generous Americans, who then stood by his side, think they were assisting to subdue a country, which would one day be held up over us a greater scourge in the hands of friends, than ever it was in the hands of enemies!2
The nagging imperial rivalry between Great Britain and France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries led ultimately to the Seven Years’ War between these two contending national powers as they struggled for world supremacy. Although global in overall scope, the part of the military conflict that occurred in North America became known as the French and Indian wars. This belligerency represented a series of protracted colonial wars between the British army, augmented by provincial militia, and French troops, assisted by their Indian allies.
Competing British and French claims in the Ohio Valley on the colonial western frontier touched off the final confrontation for control of the continent. In 1747, a group of prominent Virginians organized the Ohio Company of Virginia for the purpose of land speculation and fur trading.
Two years later, the company was able to influence the British government to grant it some two hundred thousand acres in the Ohio Valley.
The French, viewing the British initiative as a direct challenge to their own claims and designs in the region, retaliated by building two forts on the upper Ohio River and increasing their presence in the disputed area. In 1753, Virginia Gov. Robert Dinwiddie sent a twenty-one-year-old militia officer, Maj. George Washington, to protest the French intrusion into territory that the British claimed as part of the Virginia colony. The French spurned Washington’s diplomatic grievance when he presented it to the military authorities at Fort Le Boeuf (near the present-day site of Erie, Pennsylvania).
The British-French contention then focused on a strategic geographic area identified by the Forks of the Ohio (near present-day Pittsburgh). During January 1754, a Virginia militia company began work on a stronghold there. On April 17, 1754, a larger French force captured the half-completed stockade and then built Fort Duquesne on the site. The Virginia assembly countered by raising an independent regiment and sending a small expedition under Washington against the French. In May 1754, the young officer (now a militia lieutenant colonel) routed a French patrol and killed its commander. Expecting an attack from the main French military establishment at Fort Duquesne, Washington retreated and hastily constructed Fort Necessity while waiting for the rest of the regiment to join him. On July 3, 1754, a superior French and Indian force attacked Fort Necessity, forcing Washington to surrender his untenable position the next day. This action gave France temporary control of the entire Ohio region.
When news of Washington’s defeat reached London, the British government sent Gen. Edward Braddock to America with the mission of defending Britain’s claims. On July 9, 1755, Braddock was leading his army of some fourteen hundred British regulars and seven hundred colonial militiamen in an advance on Fort Duquesne when attacked by a nine-hundred-man force of French and Indians. Braddock’s humiliating rout, which cost him his life, was one of the worst military disasters in British history and underscored the depths that English fortunes had plunged in the struggle against France in North America.3
In May 1756, the Seven Years’ War formally began in Europe, with Britain and Prussia pitted against France, Austria, Sweden, and some German states. Spain would join the French alliance later. During this period, Britain suffered frustration and disappointment in its military strategy against France. After William Pitt became prime minister in 1758, British prospects in the conflict began to improve. Pitt, who recognized the value of Canada and the American western frontier to the British war effort, sent a well-organized military task force to the colonies to turn around the situation. Montgomery’s 17th Regiment was included in this army upon which Britain pinned its hopes.
The orders for his regiment to be part of the invasion force must have been a welcome change for young Montgomery. Since he accounted for just one of nine ensigns (the lowest-ranking officer in the army) assigned to the unit, he was eager for an opportunity to distinguish himself. At this point in his life, Montgomery represented a loyal and proud member of His Majesty’s armed forces, sworn to protect the British dominion. Advancement through the ranks measured success in his chosen profession of arms, and the aspiring officer knew that military recognition and promotion were attained much more rapidly in wartime. Like all junior officers, he trusted that enthusiasm and fortitude would overcome his lack of experience in the pending hostilities.4
Montgomery also regarded the mission as a grateful break in the tedium of routine garrison duty. Since joining the unit, his days had been filled with endless drill and practice as the regiment simulated battlefield tactics during peacetime. This was the opportunity to employ these skills for their intended purpose. Braddock’s debacle had raised questions by some detractors over the British army’s readiness to fight the French and Indians in America,