General Richard Montgomery and the Battle of Quebec - 1775 - Quebec, Quebec
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Weathervane
N 46° 48.543 W 071° 12.660
19T E 331312 N 5186318
For more than 200 years, this has been a commemorative site for Quebeckers, Canadians and Americans. It was here, near the walls of the Saint-Louis Bastion, that General Richard Montgomery and 13 of his soldiers were buried on January 4, 1776.
Waymark Code: WM1677Y
Location: Québec, Canada
Date Posted: 05/24/2022
Views: 6
Inscription on the plaque:
The American Invasion of 1775-1776
In 1775 many citizens of the British colonies in North America wanted to gain their independence from Great Britain. The American's Continental Congress, which had appealed in vain to the Canadians to join them, decided to attack the Province of Quebec, which had remained loyal to Britain.
In December 1775, armies commanded by Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery advanced on Quebec City. Early in the morning of December 31, a blizzard raged, they tried to take the city by attacking Governor Guy Carleton troops on two fronts.
General Montgomery led his troops to the blockhouse at the foot of Cap Diamant. Thirty Canadian militiamen commanded by Captain Joseph Chabot and Lieutenant Alexandrre Picard, and 15 seamen from the British Merchant Navy, commanded by Captain Barnfare, opened fire when they spotted the enemy. General Montgomery was killed, as were his aide-de-camp, Captain McPherson; Captain Cheeseman; Sergeant Nelson and a dozen of his men.
The assault on the Sault-au-Matelot barricade by Colonel Arnold and his army was also repulsed by the British soldiers, led by Colonel Caldwell, and by the Canadian Militia commanded by Colonel Voyer. The battle ended with the surrender of the Americans.
Burial Site
A few days after the battle, Governor Carleton ordered that the dead be dug out from under the snow. He recognized General's Montgomery's body and had it transported to the house of a carpenter named Gaubert on Saint-Louis Street so that a casket could be build. Montgomery was buried in the Protestant cemetery at the Saint-Louis Gate, where the Connaught Barracks stand today.
In 1891, labourers working on the site of the Connaught Barracks discovered the remains of Montgomery's soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave without caskets.
A plaque was installed, thanks to a fund raising campaign organized by the daughters of George Fairchild Jr., a man of letters with a keen interest in Quebec history.
In 1957, the first plaque was replaced by another at the request of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, to commemorate the 13 soldiers who died at the Battle of Quebec in 1775.
Reburial of General Montgomery
In 1818, at the request of Gerenal Montgomery's widow Janet Livingstone, his remains were transported to New York City and interred in St. Paul's Chapel, beneath the monument erected with the approval of Congress in 1776.
Plaque of the thirteen soldiers who died during the siege of Quebec in 1775:
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Plaque of General Richard Montgomery: (
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