1738–1775
Richard Montgomery
1
Events in Crown Point
Biography
Richard Montgomery was born in County Dublin, Ireland, in 1738 and spent his early career as a British Army officer, serving in the Seven Years' War in North America and seeing action at the siege of Louisbourg, at Crown Point, and at Havana. He developed an intimate knowledge of the Lake Champlain corridor — the strategic highway linking Canada to the American colonies — during his years of service in that theater. After resigning his commission in 1772 he settled in New York, married into the prominent Livingston family, and became a prosperous farmer with deep sympathies for the colonial patriot cause.
When Congress organized an invasion of Canada in 1775, Montgomery received a brigadier general's commission and took command of operations moving northward through Lake Champlain. Crown Point, which he had known as a British officer, became the logistical foundation of his advance — a depot for supplies, artillery, and reinforcements that sustained the entire northern campaign. Montgomery's forces captured Fort St. Johns in November 1775, then took Montreal later that month, advancing against British positions with a speed and coordination that demonstrated genuine operational talent. He then moved to join Benedict Arnold's exhausted column before Quebec, combining their forces for an assault on the heavily fortified city in the hope of completing the conquest of Canada before winter tightened its grip. On the last night of December 1775, Montgomery led his column through a blizzard toward the lower town of Quebec. He was killed instantly in the first minutes of the assault when a British cannon fired grapeshot into his column.
Montgomery's death at Quebec transformed him immediately into one of the Revolution's first martyrs, his name invoked by Congress and the press as proof of the cause's cost and worth. He was the most senior American officer killed during the Revolution's first year, and his loss deprived the northern theater of one of its most capable commanders at a critical moment. His memory was honored with monuments on both sides of the Atlantic, and he remained a symbol of the sacrifices the Revolution demanded of those who served it.
In Crown Point
Aug
1775
American Canada Invasion Stages Through Crown PointRole: Continental Army Brigadier General
# The American Invasion of Canada Stages Through Crown Point, 1775 In the early months of the American Revolution, the conflict was still taking shape, and the boundaries of rebellion remained uncertain. The thirteen colonies that had taken up arms against British rule were not content to simply defend their own territory — they looked northward, toward Canada, with a mixture of strategic ambition and revolutionary idealism. The hope was that Quebec, then a British province, might be persuaded or compelled to join the cause as a fourteenth colony, strengthening the fledgling resistance and denying Britain a critical base from which to launch counterattacks. Crown Point, a fortification perched along the narrow corridor of Lake Champlain in northern New York, became the essential staging ground for this bold and ultimately ill-fated campaign. Crown Point had already figured prominently in the opening moves of the war. In May 1775, just weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, American forces under Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen had seized both Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point from small British garrisons, capturing valuable artillery and gaining control of the Lake Champlain waterway. These victories gave the Continental forces command of the traditional invasion route between the American colonies and Canada — the same corridor that had seen armies march back and forth during the French and Indian War just fifteen years earlier. With these positions secured, the Continental Congress began to consider a more aggressive move: a full-scale invasion of Canada before the British could reinforce their northern holdings. Through the summer and fall of 1775, Crown Point buzzed with the activity of an army preparing for a major campaign. Richard Montgomery, an Irish-born former British officer who had settled in New York and embraced the patriot cause, was appointed brigadier general and given command of the northern invasion force. Montgomery was widely respected for his military experience and personal courage, and he set about organizing his troops — a mix of Continental soldiers and militia — for the difficult march north. The plan called for Montgomery to advance along the Lake Champlain route through Crown Point and Ticonderoga, pushing into Canada to capture Montreal before joining a second force for an assault on Quebec City. Montgomery's campaign began promisingly. Moving his army northward from Crown Point, he laid siege to Fort St. Johns on the Richelieu River, which fell in early November after a prolonged resistance. With this obstacle removed, Montgomery pressed on to Montreal, which he captured on November 13, 1775, as the British governor, Guy Carleton, narrowly escaped downriver to Quebec City. It was a significant achievement, but the hardest test still lay ahead. Meanwhile, Benedict Arnold had led a separate and harrowing expedition through the wilderness of Maine, arriving outside Quebec City with a drastically reduced force after weeks of grueling marches through dense forests, swamps, and freezing rivers. Montgomery moved east to join Arnold, and together they prepared for an assault on the fortified city. On the night of December 31, 1775, in the midst of a blinding snowstorm, the two commanders launched their attack. The results were devastating for the Americans. Montgomery was killed early in the fighting, struck down by cannon fire as he led his column toward the city's defenses. Arnold was seriously wounded in the leg during his own assault on another part of the city, and his force was thrown back with heavy casualties, including many soldiers taken prisoner. The failed assault on Quebec City marked the effective end of the Canadian invasion, though a demoralized American force lingered outside the walls into the spring of 1776 before retreating south. The campaign's collapse dashed hopes of adding Canada to the Revolution and left the northern frontier vulnerable to British counteroffensives, which would materialize dramatically in the years that followed. Crown Point's role as the staging ground for this ambitious endeavor underscores its strategic importance during the Revolution. The invasion of Canada revealed both the daring vision and the painful limitations of the early American war effort, and the deaths and sacrifices of the campaign — particularly the loss of the talented Richard Montgomery — reminded the young nation of the steep cost of its fight for independence.