New York and New Jersey Campaign William Montgomery (August 3, 1736 – May 1, 1816) was a colonial-American patriot, pioneer, soldier, public servant, and abolitionist.
[8] His grandparents, Major John (aka "Boyne Water") and Margaret (née Dunbar) Montgomery, immigrated from County Armagh, Ireland to the Delaware Colony in 1722.
William's parents, Alexander and Mary (née McCullough) Montgomery, followed them to Mill Creek Hundred in 1730 and inherited a plantation and gristmill of 400 acres upon John's death.
William Montgomery was born in Mill Creek Hundred on August 3, 1736, the third of six children, and spent his childhood working the plantation and gristmill.
Montgomery is a father of six children, a prominent 38-year-old farmer in Londonderry Township [Province of Pennsylvania], and had been serving in the Associators (militia) for 17 years.
He is also a political activist whose correspondence with John Dickinson influenced Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, a precursor to Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
[2] William's oldest brother, Captain John Montgomery, was also a revolutionary patriot deeply involved in the grassroots effort for independence in the Province of North Carolina, which culminated in the War of the Regulation.
[9] On December 20, 1774, Montgomery is nominated to the Chester County Committee of Inspection to enforce the trade boycott established by the First Continental Congress.
The following month, he is nominated as a Chester County delegate to the Convention for the Province of Pennsylvania (January 23–28, 1775) where they pass 27 resolutions to "restore harmony with Great Britain" while logistically preparing for war.
As the last holdout of the Thirteen Colonies, they also enable the United States Declaration of Independence to proceed nine days later, which ensures Montgomery's execution if caught by the British.
[11] William was nominated as a Chester County delegate to the Pennsylvania Provincial Convention for establishing the Commonwealth constitution, but his battalion was deployed to New Jersey and he was unable to attend.
With an indefensible number of potential invasion sites around New York Harbor and depleted ranks, Washington divided Continental forces between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
They arrived at Perth Amboy in mid-July, establishing a command post at the Proprietary House, and conducted rotating patrols along the 35-mile strait to Fort Lee.
[citation needed] While repulsing British reconnaissance efforts into New Jersey, the 1st Regiment overheard the defeat of the Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island.
[citation needed] On the night of December 25–26, 1776—in the middle of a snowstorm—General Washington gathers the last of his men and launches operation "Victory or Death" across the Delaware River.
Rather than retreating back to safety (with his element of surprise now gone and two victories under his belt), Washington attacks Cornwallis' headquarters in the Battle of Princeton—defeating him and establishing his position to wage the Forage War for the next 3 months.
Montgomery's regiment, among others, provided the vital diversion, which deceived Cornwallis that Washington's forces were still encamped, and simultaneously removed their supplies to Burlington, New Jersey.
William's oldest brother, Captain John Montgomery, was also a revolutionary patriot deeply involved in the grassroots effort for independence in the Province of North Carolina, which culminated in the War of the Regulation.
William Montgomery Jr., who enlisted upon his 14th birthday and served as a company drummer in his father's regiment during the New York and New Jersey Campaign, achieved the rank of major in the War of 1812.
William's 4th great-grandson, Charles Montgomery Marriott, lost both of his hands, and was awarded the Silver Star, from a stielhandgranate while saving his platoon during the Rhineland Offensive of World War II.