Brave, humane, and generous . . . still he was only a brave, humane, and generous rebel; curse on his virtues, they've undone this country.âBritish MP Lord North, upon hearing of General Richard Montgomeryâs death in battle against the British
At 3 a.m. on December 31, 1775, a band of desperate men stumbled through a raging Canadian blizzard toward Quebec. The doggedness of this ragtag militiaâconsisting largely of men whose short-term enlistments were to expire within the next twenty-four hoursâwas due to the exhortations of their leader. Arriving at Quebec before dawn, the troop stormed two unmanned barriers, only to be met by a British ambush at the third. Amid a withering hail of cannon grapeshot, the patriot leader, at the forefront of the assault, crumpled to the ground. General Richard Montgomery was dead at the age of thirty-seven.
Montgomeryâwho captured St. John and Montreal in the same fortnight in 1775; who, upon his death, was eulogized in British Parliament by Burke, Chatham, and Barr; and after whom sixteen American counties have been namedâhas, to date, been a neglected hero. Written in engaging, accessible prose, General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution chronicles Montgomeryâs life and military career, definitively correcting this historical oversight once and for all.
âShelton's well-written book will be of interest to any student of the American Revolution.ââThe Houston Chronicle