mentioned by Lossing, to the effect that Nesbit, the Englishman whose experiments were encouraged by Livingston in 1797, did build an un- successful steamboat in De Koven's Bay, just below Upper Red Hook landing. It was at De Koven's Bay that the British landed when they burned old Clermont. They made a demon- stration at the house of John Swift Livingston, another descendant of the original proprietor, but were met with such jovial hospitality that they were pleased to forego the burning. It was a case where the cellar Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 479 saved the house, for, we are told, the master pHed his guests with wine and other refreshment till they de- parted in high good humour. At Annandale, nearly midway between Tivoli and Barrytown, is another notable spot, once the residence of General Richard Montgomery. His birthplace was Dublin, Ireland; and at Dublin College he was edu- cated, afterwards entering the British army. When his regiment, the 17th, was ordered for service in en- forcing the Stamp Act in America, Montgomery, among others, resigned his commission. In 1772, or the early part of 1773, he came to New York, purchas- ing a farm near Kingsbridge, but that same year he married a daughter of Judge Livingston and removed to Rhinebeck. The letters which passed between Montgomery and his prospective father-in-law are in the stilted style of a bygone day. Among other delightful bits of rhetoric the suitor writes : I have ventured at last to request. Sir, that you will consent to a union which to me has the most promising appearance of happiness, from the lady's uncommon merit and amiable worth. Nor will it be an inconsiderable addition to be favoured by such respectable characters with the title of son, should I be so fort- unate as to deserve it. And if to contribute to the happiness of a beloved daughter can claim any share with tender parents, I hope hereafter to have some title to your esteem. The answer was propitio.us and, it may be said, equally elegant in diction, and the marriage between the future General and his beloved Janet took place in July, 1773. In 1775, he was chosen one of the Council Digitized by Microsoft® 480 The Hudson River of Fifty from Dutchess County, and afterwards, upon the appointment of Philip Schuyler as Major-General, he was tendered the rank of Brigadier-General. His young wife was nearly overcome with ertiotion when he brought her the news of this appointment, but, quickly recovering herself, she with her own hands placed a ribbon cockade upon his hat and gave him such encouragement as a brave wife, who loves her husband's honour more than her own happiness, may give. The, parting between these married lovers took place at Saratoga. It was marked by deep feeling and a no less strong self-control. Then the young soldier turned his face towards Canada, and his wife saw him no more. We know how General Schuyler's resignation, on account of ill-health, raised Montgomery to chief com- mand at Isle aux Noix. He had a difficult task in dealing with discontent and even insubordination among, his troops, but his progress through Canada was triumphant, and he went to the attack of Quebec with a feeling that he " had courted fortune and found her kind." With his half-starved and half -naked Kttle army, in the bitter cold of a Canadian winter morning, before the dawn, on the 31st December, 1775, Montgomery arranged his forces for the attack. Through the dark- ness and the falling snow he urged his benumbed sol- diers, till he received the wound that proved mortal. When his body was afterwards identified among a Digitized by Microsoft® 48 1 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Saugerties and its Neighbours 483 number of others, the British commander had it buried within the walls of the city with military honours. By his will, made at Crown Point during the preceding August, and found a few days after his death by Bene- dict Arnold and Donald Campbell, Montgomery's estate on the Hudson was given to his wife, Janet. After forty-three years the body of General Mont- gomery was delivered, through the courtesy of Sir John Sherbrooke, to Colonel Lewis Livingston, and, escorted by the Adjutant-General, with Colonel Van Rensselaer and a detachment of cavalry, it was brought to Albany and lay in state in the Capitol. The im- pressive ceremonies held there extended over the Fourth of July. Two days later commenced a funeral progress without parallel in the history of New York. Placed in a magnificent coffin and accompanied by a suitable military escort, the remains of the hero of Quebec were taken aboard the steamer Richmond, which had been temporarily converted into a funeral catafalque. The