During the Revolutionary War, Aaron Burr took part in Colonel Benedict Arnold’s expedition to Quebec, an arduous trek of more than 300 miles (480 km) through the frontier of what is now Maine. Arnold was deeply impressed by Burr’s “great spirit and resolution” during the long march. When their forces reached the city of Quebec, he sent Burr up the Saint Lawrence River to contact General Richard Montgomery, who had taken Montreal, and escort him to Quebec. Montgomery then promoted Burr to captain and made him an aide-de-camp. Burr distinguished himself during the Battle of Quebec, where he was rumored to have attempted to recover Montgomery’s corpse after the General had been shot.
My fifth great grandfather, Edward Antill, was in Quebec when it was surrounded. His Society of the Cincinnati entry reads: "When General Montgomery appeared before Quebec in December, 1775, he left that city, and joining him, influenced him to change his plan of attack. He became his Chief-Engineer, constructing field works of ice, where earth was inaccessible, and was present with him when he fell. When leaving the camp at Lachine on the 5th of January, five days afterwards, he wrote to Colonel Burr:
'Dear Burr: ...The General - Wooster - has thought proper to send me to the Congress, where I shall have an opportunity of speaking of you as you deserve Yours, Edward Antill'"
Antill later became 2nd in command of Colonel Hazen's 2nd Canadian Regiment, known as "Congress' Own."
Another fifth great grandfather, Major Henry Livingston, was with Montgomery up until Montreal, leaving before Quebec was surrounded when his term of service was up.
His diary describes the day by day progress of the American forces under Montgomery that met up with the other force. The experience was intense enough that Livingston named a son Sidney Montgomery, after his cousin's husband and his general.
He also wrote a "parody" of a poem about the death of General Wolfe, substituting Montgomery's name for Wolfe's. The melody for the poem appears in Livingston's
music manuscript book, p.167. If you can play midi, this is
the transcribed music. It's one of my favorite pieces from the book.
Janet Livingston, Montgomery's wife, never remarried and one of the color stories of the period describes her asking to be left alone on her veranda overlooking the Hudson River when her husband's remains were to be finally brought home. When she didn't reappear the family came looking for her and found her in a faint on the ground.