Biographical Sketches of the Generals of the Continental Army of the RevolutionLeiter, Mary Theresa
History
Biographical Sketches of the Generals of the Continental Army of the Revolution
Leiter, Mary Theresa
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Biography
discharge of grape-shot ended his life, and also killed several of his
staff. Dismayed by the death of their leader, and discouraged by the
tremendous odds against them, the Americans were at length driven back,
and compelled to leave the gallant Montgomery on the field of battle.
The victors, appreciating the courage and nobility of the fallen hero,
generously offered a resting-place for his remains within the walls of
the beleaguered city.
In 1818, by an “Act of honor” passed by the New York Legislature in
behalf of Mrs. Montgomery, Sir John Sherbrooke, Governor-General of
Canada, was requested to allow her husband’s remains to be disinterred
and brought to New York. This was granted, and “her soldier,” as
she always called him, now sleeps in St. Paul’s churchyard near the
monument that was ordered in France by Benjamin Franklin, in pursuance
of a resolution of the Continental Congress.
JOHN THOMAS.
John Thomas, born in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in 1725, was a
successful medical practitioner, entering the British army first
as a surgeon, in 1746. He took a prominent part in the French and
Indian War, but at its close devoted himself to his profession.
He was, however, among the first to counsel resistance to British
oppression, and having raised a regiment of volunteers, was appointed
brigadier-general by the Provincial Congress on the 9th of February,
1775, and afterward received the same appointment from the Continental
Congress on the 22d of June of the same year. On the night of the 4th
of March, 1776, with three thousand picked men, he took possession
of Dorchester Heights, commanding Boston, where the British were
intrenched, and before morning had thrown up a formidable line of
earth-works,--an advantage which finally led to the evacuation of the
town by the enemy on the 17th of March. The death of Montgomery at
the storming of Quebec necessitating the appointment of an experienced
officer to command the troops in Canada, this duty was assigned to
Thomas,--Congress having advanced him to the rank of major-general on
the 6th of March, 1776. He promptly repaired to his new post, but while
waiting for promised reinforcements, was attacked by small-pox, from
which he died on the 2d of June, 1776, universally respected and deeply
deplored.
HORATIO GATES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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