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1 comments about Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero.

1. 
   In St. Paul's churchyard in NYC, there's a nearly-forgotten monument honoring the final resting place of a man once considered a great American hero; the monument was erected by order of the US Congress in 1818, the first ever so ordered by that body. The man it honored was Richard Montgomery.
   
   Not too many people know that name today, but during the early years of the Revolutionary War, he was a greater hero than Washington. If he hadn't died so early during the war (on the last day of 1775 at Quebec), he might have rivaled Washington as the foremost leader of the Continental army.
   
   He was born in Ireland in 1738, joined the British army, and fought at Louisburg and Montreal during the French and Indian War. He became passionately interested in farming and in 1772 resigned his military commission, sailed for the colonies, and bought a farm in New York. A supporter of the colonial cause, he was made a brigadier general in the Continental army. In command of a 2,000-man force, in September 1775, he left Ticonderoga for Canada. He and his men besieged the heavily defended fort at St. Johns for nearly two months, until it fell; two weeks later he captured the nearly abandoned Montreal. As an earlier chronicle had said, he was "the hero who in one campaign had conquered two-thirds of Canada." These were the first victories achieved by American forces during the war and did much to bolster confidence and enthusiasm for the revolutionary cause in the colonies. Montgomery then headed for Quebec, where he met up with Benedict Arnold's troops who had marched up the Kennebec River, suffering much hardship. In a blinding snowstorm, the combined forces of about 700 men made a disastrously unsuccessful attack on the city; Arnold was wounded, but Montgomery was killed.
   
   Gabriel's account of Montgomery's life is clearly written and straight-forward in its approach. The most interesting chapter is also the longest, and is entitled "The Making of an American Hero." Montgomery apparently craved obscurity, but for 50 years after his death, that was not to be the case. Everyone it seemed knew of him and had only praise for his deeds (even the British). But soon after the monument was erected in St. Paul's graveyard, he fell into wished-for (but unfortunate for us) obscurity. Gabriel's book is concise and scholarly, and a joy to read. Highly recommended.

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