General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution. Hal T. Shelton

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СКАЧАТЬ of its lands east of the Mississippi, and transferring its claims west of that river and New Orleans to Spain. In return for Cuba, Spain gave Florida to Britain. Thus, Britain prevailed over its rivals for colonial power.

      Months of grueling combat exacted a toll on Montgomery. Years later, Janet Montgomery recalled her husband telling her of the campaign that “the duty was so severe, and he complained that by the heat and severity he lost a fine head of hair.”³⁵ Although his ordeal left him with no permanent health impairment, Montgomery’s outstanding service during the Seven Years’ War sapped much of his vigor. In 1764, his family became concerned about his weakened condition and requested the British government to grant him a leave to return home: “The Relations of Captain Richard Montgomery, of the 17th Regiment of Foot, . . . having represented to me, that the bad State of Health, to which he is reduced by Seven Years Service in America, makes it necessary for him to return to this Kingdom, where His private Affairs also require his Presence.”³⁶ However, Montgomery felt that he could not curtail his duties with the regiment. Several months later, British Army Headquarters in North America replied to the ministry: “Captain Richard Montgomery’s Regiment Being ordered upon Service, he will decline accepting any permission, to absent himself from his Duty at present, but as soon as the Service, for which his Regiment is intended, is over he will have leave to return to England.”³⁷

      The service to which the dispatch referred involved hostilities with the Indians, known as Pontiac’s Rebellion. This Ottawa chief had been France’s staunchest ally during the French and Indian War. Angered by the French surrender, Pontiac organized a general uprising of eighteen Indian tribes against the British. In 1763, he denounced the Treaty of Paris and instigated attacks on British outposts throughout the northwestern frontier, overwhelming eight of twelve scattered forts and forcing the evacuation of two more. After an initial surprise assault failed, the British stronghold at Detroit continued as a prime target for subsequent attacks by Indians. On May 12, 1764, the military command placed the 17th Regiment into a newly formed expedition under Col. John Bradstreet with a mission of reinforcing the beleaguered Detroit garrison. After arriving there, Montgomery and his regiment were instrumental in preventing Indians from taking the important location. As a result, the rebellious tribes became discouraged and eventually forced Pontiac to sign a peace treaty in 1766.³⁸ After the crisis at Detroit had passed, Montgomery finally took his leave to return home in 1765. Two years later in July 1777, the 17th Regiment concluded its North American tour of duty and redeployed back to England.

      While in Britain, Montgomery gradually recovered his health. He also had time to step back and reflect on the larger meaning of the war. On the one hand, he was justly proud of his military accomplishments and advancement within his chosen field of endeavor. On the other, he encountered the disillusionment that many feel when weighing the consequences of a horrific conflict in its aftermath. After all, Montgomery had beheld at close range the carnage and ruin that empire-building engendered. Thus, he was left torn between these two powerful emotions.

      A precipitous impediment to the rate of promotion within the officer corps added to Montgomery’s growing discontent. During wartime, military expansion and personnel casualties allowed rapid battlefield promotions for deserving soldiers. With the onset of peacetime and demobilization, advancement in the British army became bogged down in political and bureaucratic maneuvering. Patronage, once again, reigned over merit as a basis for military preferment. Montgomery had risen from ensign to captain in less than six years. Ten more years would pass while he languished at the rank of captain. Nearing twenty years of total time in service and lacking an influential benefactor, Montgomery considered his prospects for attaining a personally rewarding culmination to the brilliant earlier part of his career.

      During the late 1760s, Montgomery became friends with such prominent Whigs as Isaac Barré, Edmund Burke, and Charles James Fox. These political opposition leaders were becoming progressively more outspoken in their criticism of the British ministry. Barré shared a similar experience with Montgomery. He had entered the British army as an ensign in 1746 and later served with great distinction in North America during the Seven Years’ War. Although he rose ultimately to the rank of lieutenant colonel and commanded a regiment, Pitt turned down his next promotion, ending his interest in a military career. Montgomery, Barré, and Burke also were fellow alumni. All three received a liberal education at Trinity College in Dublin, although Barré and Burke had graduated some years before Montgomery. All these factors served to strengthen the intellectual bond among these individuals. They spent many hours together discussing politics while Montgomery was stationed in England. However, Montgomery’s association with Barré, Burke, and Fox garnered him little favor with the politicians who dominated the British government.³⁹

      So, Montgomery concluded his remarkable military service in the Seven Years’ War—and beyond. Yet, he remained concerned about his future in the British army and began to question the validity of governmental political policies. This period of fallow service, based on stagnation in rank, would position the unfulfilled, restless war veteran at the crossroads of a major life change.

      When a chance to purchase a major’s commission presented itself in 1771, Montgomery eagerly lodged his money. However, a political favorite of Lord North’s ministry procured the majority to which Montgomery felt his services entitled him. Because of his lack of influential political patronage, Montgomery found himself shut out from continued advancement in the British military establishment. On April 6, 1772, the disappointed captain sold his own commission in revulsion to what he regarded as the deprivation of his rightful military promotion.⁴⁰

      Now, Montgomery had resentfully quit the British army that he faithfully and ably served for so long. Still a relatively young man at the age of thirty-three, he began looking for new horizons where he could find the opportunities that had eluded him since the end of the Seven Years’ War.

      CHAPTER FOUR

       Decision for the Patriot Cause

      In this most eligible of all situations,

      the life of a country gentleman . . .

      he devoted his time to sweet domestic intercourse .

      Nor from that happy spot did he wish to stray . . .

      But when the hand of power was stretched forth

      against the land of his residence,

      he had a heart too noble not to sympathize

      in its distress . . .

      Although his liberal spirit placed him

      above local prejudices,

      and he considered himself as a member

      of the empire at large;

      yet America, struggling in the cause of Liberty,

      henceforth became his peculiar country,

      and that country took full possession of his soul,

      lifting him above this earthy dross, and every

      private affection . . . ¹

      In late 1772 or early 1773, Richard Montgomery migrated to America. Before making this major change in his life, he explained his reasons for leaving England in a letter to his cousin, John Montgomery: “As a man with little money cuts but a bad figure in this country among peers, nabobs, etc., I have cast my eye on America, where my pride and poverty will be much more at their ease.” Montgomery obviously understated his financial situation. Although lacking a title or influential patronage, he was far from impoverishment. СКАЧАТЬ