James Montgomery (soldier): Difference between revisions
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{{short description|Union Army officer in the American Civil War}} |
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{{Infobox officeholder |
{{Infobox officeholder |
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|name= James Montgomery |
| name = James Montgomery |
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|birth_date= {{birth |
| birth_date = {{birth date text|December 22, 1814}} |
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|death_date= {{death-date and age|December 6, 1871|December 22, 1814}} |
| death_date = {{death-date and age|December 6, 1871|December 22, 1814}} |
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|birth_place=[[Austinburg, Ohio|Austinburg]], [[Ohio]] |
| birth_place = [[Austinburg, Ohio|Austinburg]], [[Ohio]] |
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|death_place=[[Linn County, Kansas|Linn County]], [[Kansas]] |
| death_place = [[Linn County, Kansas|Linn County]], [[Kansas]] |
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| resting_place = National Cemetery, [[Mound City, Kansas]] |
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|image=JasMontgomery.jpg |
| image = JasMontgomery.jpg |
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|caption=James Montgomery |
| caption = James Montgomery in 1862 |
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|party = Free State Party ( |
| party = Free State Party (until 1859)<br>[[GOP|Republican Party]] (1859–1871)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/montgomery-james|title = Montgomery, James | Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865}}</ref> |
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|allegiance= [[United States of America]] |
| allegiance = [[United States of America]] |
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|branch = [[United States Army]]<br/>[[Union Army]] |
| branch = [[United States Army]]<br/>[[Union Army]] |
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|serviceyears=1861–1865 |
| serviceyears = 1861–1865 |
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|rank=[[File:Union Army colonel rank insignia.png|35px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] |
| rank = [[File:Union Army colonel rank insignia.png|35px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] |
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|commands |
| commands = [[3rd Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry|3rd Kansas Infantry]]<br/>[[2nd Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (African Descent)|2nd South Carolina]]<br/>[[6th Regiment Kansas Militia Infantry|6th Kansas State Militia]] |
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|unit= |
| unit = |
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|battles= [[American Civil War]] |
| battles = [[American Civil War]] |
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*[[Sacking of Osceola]] |
*[[Sacking of Osceola]] |
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*[[Raid at Combahee Ferry]] |
*[[Raid at Combahee Ferry]] |
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*[[Battle of Olustee]] |
*[[Battle of Olustee]] |
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*[[Battle of Westport]] |
*[[Battle of Westport]] |
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|awards= |
| awards = |
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|laterwork= |
| laterwork = |
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}} |
}} |
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'''James Montgomery''' (December 22, 1814 – December 6, 1871) was a [[Jayhawker]] during the [[Bleeding Kansas]] era and a controversial [[Union Army|Union]] [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] during the [[American Civil War]]. |
'''James Montgomery''' (December 22, 1814 – December 6, 1871) was a [[Jayhawker]] during the [[Bleeding Kansas]] era and a controversial [[Union Army|Union]] [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] during the [[American Civil War]]. Montgomery was a staunch supporter of [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] principles and [[individual liberty]]. He liberated slaves during his raids. He also burned and looted [[slavery|pro-slavery]] populations. |
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==Early life and Bleeding Kansas== |
==Early life and Bleeding Kansas== |
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James Montgomery was born to James and Mary Baldwin Montgomery in [[Austinburg, Ohio|Austinburg]], [[Ashtabula County, Ohio]], on December 22, 1814.<ref>Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database</ref> He migrated to [[Kentucky]] in 1837 with his parents and eventually taught school there. |
James Montgomery was born to James and Mary Baldwin Montgomery in [[Austinburg, Ohio|Austinburg]], [[Ashtabula County, Ohio]], on December 22, 1814.<ref>Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database</ref> He migrated to [[Kentucky]] in 1837 with his parents and eventually taught school there. He married, but his first wife died shortly after the wedding, so he married again to Clarinda Evans.<ref>Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database</ref> They moved to [[Pike County, Missouri]], in 1852, and then to [[Jackson County, Missouri|Jackson County]] and finally [[Bates County, Missouri|Bates County]] while awaiting the organization of [[Kansas]] for settlement. |
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In 1854 Montgomery purchased land near present-day [[Mound City, Kansas]], where he became a leader of local [[Free-Stater (Kansas)|Free-state]] men and was a fervent abolitionist.<ref>Cutler, William G., ''History of the State of Kansas'', A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43</ref><ref>Castel, Albert, ''Civil War Kansas: Reaping the Whirlwind'', University Press of Kansas, 1997, page 42</ref> In 1857 he organized and commanded a "Self-Protective Company", using it to order pro-slavery settlers out of the region. |
In 1854 Montgomery purchased land near present-day [[Mound City, Kansas]], where he became a leader of local [[Free-Stater (Kansas)|Free-state]] men and was a fervent abolitionist.<ref>Cutler, William G., ''History of the State of Kansas'', A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43</ref><ref>Castel, Albert, ''Civil War Kansas: Reaping the Whirlwind'', University Press of Kansas, 1997, page 42</ref> In 1857 he organized and commanded a "Self-Protective Company", using it to order pro-slavery settlers out of the region. Conflict with other pro-slavery elements led territorial governor [[James W. Denver]] to dispatch [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] soldiers in to restore order. Montgomery at times cooperated with the abolitionist [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] and considered a raid to rescue Brown after his capture in [[Virginia]], but snow in [[Pennsylvania]] upset his plan.<ref>Cutler, William G., ''History of the State of Kansas'', A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43</ref> |
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==Civil War== |
==Civil War== |
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On July 24, 1861, Montgomery was commissioned as colonel of the [[3rd Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry|3rd Kansas Infantry]] of [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] [[James H. Lane (Senator)|James H. Lane]]'s Kansas [[brigade]], with Montgomery as second-in-command of the brigade.<ref>Cutler, William G., ''History of the State of Kansas'', A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43</ref> |
On July 24, 1861, Montgomery was commissioned as colonel of the [[3rd Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry|3rd Kansas Infantry]] of [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] [[James H. Lane (Senator)|James H. Lane]]'s Kansas [[brigade]], with Montgomery as second-in-command of the brigade.<ref>Cutler, William G., ''History of the State of Kansas'', A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43</ref> Discipline was lacking under Montgomery, and both the 3rd, [[4th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry|4th]], and [[5th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry|5th Kansas]] would be consolidated into the [[10th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry|10th Kansas Infantry]] in April 1862.<ref>Dyer, Frederick H., ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3'', Dyer Publching, 1908, page 1187</ref> Lane's Kansas brigade was notorious for its Jayhawker-style raids into [[Missouri]] at the start of the war, particularly the [[Sacking of Osceola]]. Noted historian [[Albert Castel]] describes Montgomery as "a sincere, if unscrupulous, antislavery zealot."<ref>"Kansas Jayhawking Raids into Western Missouri in 1861", ''Missouri Historical Review'', Vol. 54 No. 1, October 1959</ref> |
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Montgomery was authorized to raise a [[regiment]] of African-American [[infantry]] in January 1863 that would become the [[2nd Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (African Descent)|2nd South Carolina (African Descent)]].<ref>''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume III, page 14''</ref> |
Montgomery was authorized to raise a [[regiment]] of African-American [[infantry]] in January 1863 that would become the [[2nd Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (African Descent)|2nd South Carolina (African Descent)]].<ref>''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume III, page 14''</ref> Throughout 1863 and part of 1864, Montgomery practiced his brand of warfare in [[South Carolina]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and Florida. |
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In June 1863, Montgomery commanded a brigade, including his own 2nd South Carolina and the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, in operations along the coast resembling his earlier Jayhawk raids. The most famous of his operations was the [[Raid at Combahee Ferry]] in which 800 slaves were freed with the help of [[Harriet Tubman]]. Montgomery led a raid on the coastal town of [[Darien, Georgia]], which he ordered looted and burned even though it was not defended and had not offered any resistance. Colonel [[Robert Gould Shaw]], commander of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Volunteers condemned the action, and in a private letter gave Montgomery's reason for burning the town as "that the Southerners must be made to feel that this was a real war, and that they were to be swept away by the hand of God, like the Jews of old." |
In June 1863, Montgomery commanded a brigade, including his own 2nd South Carolina and the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, in operations along the coast resembling his earlier Jayhawk raids. The most famous of his operations was the [[Raid at Combahee Ferry]] in which 800 slaves were freed with the help of [[Harriet Tubman]]. Montgomery led a raid on the coastal town of [[Darien, Georgia]], which he ordered looted and burned even though it was not defended and had not offered any resistance. Colonel [[Robert Gould Shaw]], commander of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Volunteers condemned the action, and in a private letter gave Montgomery's reason for burning the town as "that the Southerners must be made to feel that this was a real war, and that they were to be swept away by the hand of God, like the Jews of old." Montgomery stated to Shaw, "We are outlawed, and therefore not bound by the rules of regular warfare."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/1stdragoon/files/rgs_darien.html |title=Shaw's June 12 description in a letter to his wife, Annie |access-date=2008-03-03 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080728173706/http://www.geocities.com/1stdragoon/files/rgs_darien.html |archive-date=July 28, 2008 }}.</ref> Montgomery's raids were part of a Union strategy to damage the Confederate states' ability to supply food and materials for their war effort. Some held that this strategy would in the result in the loss of fewer lives, and a shorter and less protracted struggle, by driving the Confederacy to quickly surrender.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unf.edu/floridahistoryonline/montgomery/ |title="Montgomery's Raids in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina", by William Lee Apthorp, Lt. Colonel, 34th United States Colored Infantry, June 1864. |access-date=2017-08-06 |archive-date=2009-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925184618/http://www.unf.edu/floridahistoryonline/montgomery/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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Montgomery commanded a brigade in the [[Battle of Olustee]] |
Montgomery commanded a brigade in Florida in 1864 at the [[Battle of Olustee]]. His last brigade combat command was in July 1864 on Johns Island, South Carolina. Then he took sick leave, returned to Kansas and resigned his commission. He ended his military career as colonel of the [[6th Regiment Kansas Militia Infantry|6th Kansas State Militia]], active in October of that year during Confederate General [[Sterling Price]]'s [[Price's Raid|raid]],<ref>''The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'', Series I, Vol 81, page 520</ref> and played a significant role at the Battle of Westport.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conner |first=Robert C. |title=James Montgomery: Abolitionist Warrior |publisher=Casemate |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-63624-142-5 |location=Philadelphia & Oxford |pages=107–169 |language=en}}</ref> |
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==Postbellum== |
==Postbellum== |
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==In popular culture== |
==In popular culture== |
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In the 1989 film ''[[Glory (1989 film)|Glory]]'', Montgomery is portrayed by [[Cliff DeYoung]]. |
In the 1989 film ''[[Glory (1989 film)|Glory]]'', Montgomery is portrayed by [[Cliff DeYoung]]. |
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In the episode “The General” of the TV show [[Timeless (TV series)|Timeless]] he was portrayed by actor Ben Bowen. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027132146/http://geocities.com/1stdragoon/files/rgs_darien.html |date=October 27, 2009 |title=Shaw's letter about the burning of Darien }} |
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027132146/http://geocities.com/1stdragoon/files/rgs_darien.html |date=October 27, 2009 |title=Shaw's letter about the burning of Darien }} |
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*[http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/casteljayhawking.htm Civil War St. Louis website, article about Jayhawking by Castel] |
*[http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/casteljayhawking.htm Civil War St. Louis website, article about Jayhawking by Castel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314004005/http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/casteljayhawking.htm |date=2014-03-14 }} |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030514170246/http://kancoll.org/books/cutler/eraop/era-of-peace-p43.html Col. James Montgomery from Cutler's ''History of the State of Kansas''] |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030514170246/http://kancoll.org/books/cutler/eraop/era-of-peace-p43.html Col. James Montgomery from Cutler's ''History of the State of Kansas''] |
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*[https://archive.today/20130414124514/http://www.clanmontgomery.org/database/fam02200.html Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database] |
*[https://archive.today/20130414124514/http://www.clanmontgomery.org/database/fam02200.html Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database] |
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[[Category:Activists from Ohio]] |
[[Category:Activists from Ohio]] |
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[[Category:People from Mound City, Kansas]] |
[[Category:People from Mound City, Kansas]] |
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[[Category:Bleeding Kansas]] |
Revision as of 09:40, 2 June 2024
James Montgomery | |
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Personal details | |
Born | December 22, 1814 Austinburg, Ohio |
Died | December 6, 1871 Linn County, Kansas | (aged 56)
Resting place | National Cemetery, Mound City, Kansas |
Political party | Free State Party (until 1859) Republican Party (1859–1871)[1] |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Branch/service | United States Army Union Army |
Years of service | 1861–1865 |
Rank | Colonel |
Commands | 3rd Kansas Infantry 2nd South Carolina 6th Kansas State Militia |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
James Montgomery (December 22, 1814 – December 6, 1871) was a Jayhawker during the Bleeding Kansas era and a controversial Union colonel during the American Civil War. Montgomery was a staunch supporter of abolitionist principles and individual liberty. He liberated slaves during his raids. He also burned and looted pro-slavery populations.
Early life and Bleeding Kansas
James Montgomery was born to James and Mary Baldwin Montgomery in Austinburg, Ashtabula County, Ohio, on December 22, 1814.[2] He migrated to Kentucky in 1837 with his parents and eventually taught school there. He married, but his first wife died shortly after the wedding, so he married again to Clarinda Evans.[3] They moved to Pike County, Missouri, in 1852, and then to Jackson County and finally Bates County while awaiting the organization of Kansas for settlement.
In 1854 Montgomery purchased land near present-day Mound City, Kansas, where he became a leader of local Free-state men and was a fervent abolitionist.[4][5] In 1857 he organized and commanded a "Self-Protective Company", using it to order pro-slavery settlers out of the region. Conflict with other pro-slavery elements led territorial governor James W. Denver to dispatch U.S. Army soldiers in to restore order. Montgomery at times cooperated with the abolitionist John Brown and considered a raid to rescue Brown after his capture in Virginia, but snow in Pennsylvania upset his plan.[6]
Civil War
On July 24, 1861, Montgomery was commissioned as colonel of the 3rd Kansas Infantry of U.S. Senator James H. Lane's Kansas brigade, with Montgomery as second-in-command of the brigade.[7] Discipline was lacking under Montgomery, and both the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Kansas would be consolidated into the 10th Kansas Infantry in April 1862.[8] Lane's Kansas brigade was notorious for its Jayhawker-style raids into Missouri at the start of the war, particularly the Sacking of Osceola. Noted historian Albert Castel describes Montgomery as "a sincere, if unscrupulous, antislavery zealot."[9]
Montgomery was authorized to raise a regiment of African-American infantry in January 1863 that would become the 2nd South Carolina (African Descent).[10] Throughout 1863 and part of 1864, Montgomery practiced his brand of warfare in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
In June 1863, Montgomery commanded a brigade, including his own 2nd South Carolina and the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, in operations along the coast resembling his earlier Jayhawk raids. The most famous of his operations was the Raid at Combahee Ferry in which 800 slaves were freed with the help of Harriet Tubman. Montgomery led a raid on the coastal town of Darien, Georgia, which he ordered looted and burned even though it was not defended and had not offered any resistance. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Volunteers condemned the action, and in a private letter gave Montgomery's reason for burning the town as "that the Southerners must be made to feel that this was a real war, and that they were to be swept away by the hand of God, like the Jews of old." Montgomery stated to Shaw, "We are outlawed, and therefore not bound by the rules of regular warfare."[11] Montgomery's raids were part of a Union strategy to damage the Confederate states' ability to supply food and materials for their war effort. Some held that this strategy would in the result in the loss of fewer lives, and a shorter and less protracted struggle, by driving the Confederacy to quickly surrender.[12]
Montgomery commanded a brigade in Florida in 1864 at the Battle of Olustee. His last brigade combat command was in July 1864 on Johns Island, South Carolina. Then he took sick leave, returned to Kansas and resigned his commission. He ended his military career as colonel of the 6th Kansas State Militia, active in October of that year during Confederate General Sterling Price's raid,[13] and played a significant role at the Battle of Westport.[14]
Postbellum
After the war, Montgomery returned to his Linn County, Kansas, farm, where he died on December 6, 1871.[15]
In popular culture
In the 1989 film Glory, Montgomery is portrayed by Cliff DeYoung.
In the episode “The General” of the TV show Timeless he was portrayed by actor Ben Bowen.
References
- ^ "Montgomery, James | Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865".
- ^ Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database
- ^ Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database
- ^ Cutler, William G., History of the State of Kansas, A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43
- ^ Castel, Albert, Civil War Kansas: Reaping the Whirlwind, University Press of Kansas, 1997, page 42
- ^ Cutler, William G., History of the State of Kansas, A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43
- ^ Cutler, William G., History of the State of Kansas, A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43
- ^ Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, Dyer Publching, 1908, page 1187
- ^ "Kansas Jayhawking Raids into Western Missouri in 1861", Missouri Historical Review, Vol. 54 No. 1, October 1959
- ^ The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume III, page 14
- ^ "Shaw's June 12 description in a letter to his wife, Annie". Archived from the original on July 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). - ^ ""Montgomery's Raids in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina", by William Lee Apthorp, Lt. Colonel, 34th United States Colored Infantry, June 1864". Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
- ^ The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol 81, page 520
- ^ Conner, Robert C. (2022). James Montgomery: Abolitionist Warrior. Philadelphia & Oxford: Casemate. pp. 107–169. ISBN 978-1-63624-142-5.
- ^ Cutler, William G., History of the State of Kansas, A. T. Andreas, 1883, "The Era of Peace", Part 43
External links
- Shaw's letter about the burning of Darien at the Wayback Machine (archived October 27, 2009)
- Civil War St. Louis website, article about Jayhawking by Castel Archived 2014-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Col. James Montgomery from Cutler's History of the State of Kansas
- Clan Montgomery Society International Genealogical Database
- James Montgomery at the Battle of Olustee