Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero, 2D Ed.

Incorporating new scholarship and archival discoveries, this biography profiles Richard Montgomery, a forgotten hero of the Revolutionary War. A former British officer born in Ireland, Montgomery served in North America during the Seven Years’ War and commanded the American invasion of Canada in 1775. That fall, his soldiers seized two British forts, occupied Montreal, and captured most of the British regulars in Canada before his death at Quebec City on December 31.

The first and highest-ranking American general killed in the Revolution, Montgomery was an important heroic symbol in the early republic. Those who favored independence, such as Thomas Paine, used his image to build support for their cause. Hugh Henry Brackenridge and other writers portrayed the slain general as an embodiment of virtue and self-sacrifice to nurture the war effort and a national identity. This public adoration peaked in 1818 when his remains were returned from Quebec City and reburied in New York City, and it persisted through the mid-nineteenth century.

Michael P. Gabriel is the chair of the department of history at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.