Saturday, January 3, 2025
Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of Battle of Quebec and death of General Richard Montgomery, Hero & Patriot.
Period flags with a portrait of General Montgomery
This event commemorates the 250th anniversary of the tragic death of General Richard Montgomery during the unsuccessful assault on Quebec City on Dec. 31, 1775, a fascinating and hugely consequential, but little-known chapter of the American Revolution.
Revolutionary War artifacts on display
The city of Montgomery, Ohio was named after the Revolutionary War General.
The event was held at Terwilliger Lodge in Dulle Park, 10530 Deerfield Rd., Montgomery OH 45242. CCSAR President Scott Freeman Emceed the Event.
CCSAR President Scott Freeman speaks to the large crowd
Michael Gunn was Event Commander of the combined Color Guards who Posted the Colors and later after Presenting Arms, Mourned at the playing of Taps played by Douglas Carver. Zachary Haines portrayed General George Washington.
Zachary Haines as General George Washington makes an impassioned speech to those in the audience
General Washington displays his sword
Exhibits of the CCSAR Cannon (presented by Brad Jarard), thirty historic flags from the Howard Miller Historical Flag Collection (presented by CCSAR President Scott Freeman and 18th Century Artifacts from the Revolutionary War Era (presented by Michael Gunn).
Part of the Howard Miller flag collection on display
Kathy Freeman (assisted by sons Will & David) hosted the attendees with drinks, snacks & pizza.
There were over sixty participants who signed up in advance as well as a dozen other attendees.
Combined SAR Color Guard
Attached is a YouTube video from another Montgomery, OH event in 2021 at the Hopewell Cemetery where 8 Patriots were honored.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4orlmguBM
The Patriot Grave Marking event had over seventy people in attendance and they endured a light rain.
A lot of research was done in preparation for this, and we had docents at the individual graves to tell people about each respective.
Philip Carver plays taps to conclude the event
Two of the Patriots – Weller & Felter are listed “In Memoriam”, due to the fact that exact Grave locations are unknown/unmarked.
Records and information about these 8 patriots can be found at:
https://sarpatriots.sar.org/cemetery/display/372944
We had at least twenty CCSAR chapter members attend. In addition, there were eight members of the Richard Montgomery Chapter SAR, Stuart Martin & Patrick Berry of the KYSSAR. And twenty-four DAR Members from various chapters.
Ladies of the DAR and SAR in attendance
The current and immediate Past President of the Simon Kenton chapter in KY were in attendance.
Six local DAR chapters were represented, most with multiple members from every chapter.
There was a long a long list of current and past SAR chapter Presidents and DAR Regents.
SAR / DAR representatives were dressed in a combination of period attire and civilian dress.
The lodge was a wonderful venue, and the room was filled. All the seats and tables we had were occupied. The exhibits, food and room for the speakers and Color Guard made it a full house.
The City of Montgomery provided a proclamation, which CCSAR President Scott Freeman read during the program. A copy of it is with the photos and video. The city also gave us complete access to the lodge for two full days free of charge. For that we are grateful!
The City of Montgomery posted the following on their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EymtFfhSi/
The Mayor of Montgomery, Lee Ann Bissmeyer, stopped by late. It was getting close to 5:00 pm, most people were gone, and a lot of the stuff was packed up, but she stayed for well over an hour talking to Mike Gunn and Scott Freeman. She was very interested in our activities, and a lot of potential opportunities were identified and discussed.
President Freeman was able to present a Certificate of Appreciation and a framed Portrait of General Richard Montgomery to the Mayor immediately afterwards, just unfortunately not during the ceremony.
A Certificate of Appreciation was also presented to member Gerald Hounchell who donated the cannon to the chapter. He had the opportunity to see the restored cannon for the first time. He is very pleased with what we have done with it.
The Cincinnati Chapter had four different exhibits on display. It was a special indoor event, and we had space, so we pulled out everything, which is unusual. Having access to the building the day before helped make this possible. We can make an impressive display including:
- 30 Revolutionary War era flags from the Captain Howard Miller Flag Collection (thanks to Stephen McClanahan and Scott Freeman)
Thirty flags on display, part of the CCSAR collection
- Revolutionary War era Cannon Display (thanks to Brad Jarard)
Recently restored functional cannon on display
- 18th Century Artifacts (thanks to Michael Gunn)
More Revolutionary War artifacts on display and questions were asked
- America 250th Poster Display (thanks to Doug Bates who designed these and had them made)
Poster board with the timeline of the American Revolutionary War
We also had a SAR information table where visitors could pick up information and learn more about the SAR, our mission and activities in the community.
Alan See of Richard Montgomery Chapter produced the video below. As usual, he did an excellent job capturing the essence of the event.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14Ye3cFRS7n/
It is a great way to kick off 2026, the year of America’s 250th birthday, something we all should celebrate and commemorate at every opportunity.
The city of Montgomery provided Terwilliger Lodge in Dulle Park free of charge for the day, their largest and nicest indoor facility.
Color Guard members:
- Michael Blum
- Doug Carver (Bugler)
- Nathan Chester
- Michael Gunn (Event Commander)
- Scott Freeman (Master of Ceremonies, Speaker on Life of General Richard Montgomery and the Quebec Campaign)
- Zachary Haines (as General Washington, Speaker, Washington’s Personal Reflections on the Battle of Quebec and Death of General Richard Montgomery)
- Brad Jarad
- Stephen McClanahan
- George Stewart
Civilian Attire
- Larry Collins
- Carl Cooper
- Michael Cooper
- Gerald Hounchel
- Robert Jackson
- Keith McVay
- Joe Mohlenkamp
- Maddox Moon
- Gordon Stokely
- Robert Sturm
- John Tiffany
This was a terrific event, which was organized and championed by CCSAR President Scott Freeman. Special thanks to the City of Montgomery who provided the meeting venue.
Hoping to make this a repeat event!
