The King’s Engineer

The struggle for North America during the 18th century involved an array of gallant and industrious individuals, including frontier woodsmen, hearty yeoman farmers, professional soldiers, and wily politicians, as well as the merchants, tradesmen, and farmers whose efforts financed and supplied them. There is another category that was critical to building an empire, especially one carved from the wilderness – the engineer. Skilled in planning, surveying, and map-making, engineers connected people to the land. Warfare in North America revolved around land and was shaped by it. Geography drives history.

Montresor would spend most of his
military career in North America

Servant of Empire

James Montresor

One such engineer was John Montresor. Montresor was the son of a British officer of French Huguenot descent, James Gabriel Montresor. John was born in 1736 at the key British base in Gibraltar. The senior Montresor served as chief engineer at that time. John attended Westminster School in England for four years (1746-1750). When he returned to Gibraltar, his father taught him the principles of engineering and took him to North America when he was appointed chief engineer for General John Braddock. 

Fighting the French and Indians

General Braddock

John Montresor was commissioned as an ensign in the 48th Regiment of Foot in March 1755 and appointed as an engineer in June. The Braddock campaign against Fort Duquesne is legendary (see Yankee Doodle Spies Blog Post: Road of Destruction). The defeat of Braddock’s column by native warriors and French soldiers at the Battle of the Monongahela, along with Braddock's death, had a chilling effect on the British effort. It also turned young George Washington into a hero. During that battle, young ensign Montresor saw action and was wounded himself during the massacre. 

Montresor was wounded at
The Battle of the Monongahela

Promoted to lieutenant, Montresor was sent to New York, the main theater against the French. He honed his engineering skills by overseeing the construction of Fort Edward. In 1757, he served Lord Loudoun (British commander in N.A.) in a failed campaign against the mighty French bastion at Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. The failure did not dent his career. He would be back!

Montresor's engineering skills helped
secure the fall of Louisbourg

The following year, John received his commission as a practitioner-engineer and resigned his commission in the infantry. From a career perspective, he chose the road less traveled. Engineers were critical in modern warfare, but rising above major was rare and certainly not a pathway to general. However, as was the case then and remains today, engineers prioritized the work over advancement. That summer, he joined General Jeffery Amherst’s army in another attempt to take Louisbourg. As an engineer, he played a key role in the siege of the fortress, which this time was successful. Montresor remained in Nova Scotia following the fort's fall, and in March 1759 performed a reconnaissance around the Bras d’Or Lakes. 

British infantry scaling cliffs to
reach the Plain of Abraham during the
Battle for Quebec

Montresor’s skills were noted, and he was soon sent to join the army forming under General Wolfe in what would turn out to be a successful but tragic campaign (commanders on both sides were mortally wounded) against the capital of French North America, Quebec.

British General Wolfe died in the battle for Quebec,
his opponent General Montcalm  was also mortally wounded

Carving out a New Land

Montresor remained in North America after the Treaty of Paris ended the war in 1763. A rugged new world needed mapping, and infrastructure of all types needed planning and construction—especially forts to protect the newly acquired empire. What better place for an engineer? He stayed with the occupying army, serving the newly appointed governor, General James Murray, in a series of surveying expeditions in the newly conquered territory. Probably the most important of these was supporting Murray's mapping of the St. Lawrence River. Montresor was also involved in constructing forts in the new dominion. His French language skills allowed him to serve in a pacification role, disarming local militias and ensuring the loyalty of the king’s new subjects. He also found time to explore the wilderness between Quebec and the Kennebec River (Maine). Ironically, his written record would be used by Colonel Benedict Arnold in his campaign against Canada in 1775.

John Murray commissioned a seminal
map of the Saint Lawrence River 

Pontiac's War

In 1763, Montresor was stationed in New York, but the eruption of Pontiac’s Indian rebellion brought him back to Canada. There, General Jeffery Amherst assigned him a dangerous covert mission: to cross hundreds of miles of hostile wilderness and deliver dispatches to the commander of the besieged garrison at Detroit. His knowledge of the land made him the ideal choice to serve as chief engineer for the relief column sent to Detroit the following year. However, before heading west, Montresor took the time to construct forts along the Niagara River. 

Montresor braved hostile Indian territory
to complete his mission to beleaguered Detroit

On his return from the Detroit expedition, Montresor was shipwrecked on Lake Erie. After switching to another boat, the engineer Montresor took some time on his way back to practice a little hydrography, exploring the depth and width of several tributaries of the lake along the way. 

Montresor made lemonade from lemons
using even a shipwreck to explore Lake Erie

Pause and a Promotion

The arrow of Eros struck him while he was in New York. Montresor married an American woman, Frances Tucker, in New York City on March 1, 1764. It must have been a good match because they wound up raising six children. 

Frances (nee Tucker) Montressor decked out
as a British officer. 

Stationed at Fort George (formerly Fort William Henry) in 1765, he witnessed the rise of the political movement that would eventually lead to insurgency and open rebellion, exemplified by the rioting in Albany and New York City in protest of the Stamp Act. Montresor made a voyage to England in 1766. Upon returning to America, Montresor held the rank of captain-lieutenant and served as the master of the Ordnance for America. In this role, he spent considerable time in the mid-Atlantic region, building forts primarily along waterways like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. One significant fort guarding Philadelphia on Mud Island would bear his name and be the venue of bloody combat a few years later. 

Montresor drew up one of the earliest
professional maps of  The Big Apple

During the interwar period, he found time to survey the boundary between New York and New Jersey and built or upgraded forts and military bases. While in New York, he purchased an island in the East River, which was named Montresor’s Island after him, though New Yorkers know it as Randall’s Island. Montresor oversaw the development of a map of New York City during his time there.

Chief Engineer

In April 1775, he was in Boston when the outbreak of open war in North America once again altered the course of his career. He was now appointed the de facto chief engineer for the British forces in America, which led to his promotion to captain in January 1776. 

Captain John Montresor

For a time, he appeared to be the Forrest Gump of the British effort – seemingly everywhere and meeting everyone. He secured river crossings for the march on Lexington and Concord and helped relieve the British column sneaking back to Boston after being stung by an agitated populace. His engineering skills were put to work in the defense of Boston, and he was one of the last officers to leave the besieged city.

Boston

As chief engineer during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, he likely planned the siege works to drive Washington’s beleaguered forces out of Brooklyn. Montresor witnessed the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City the following month. He allegedly provided succor to Hale, allowing him to use his office to write final letters to his family. The British chose him to cross rebel lines to inform the Continental Army of the execution, which reportedly affected him deeply. 

Montresor witnessed Nathan Hale's Execution

He gave up his post as chief engineer and served as General William Howe’s aide de camp for a time, but Montresor was later reinstated as chief engineer. When the campaign for Philadelphia was launched in 1777, he was in the thick of the operations. He fought during the forage war in New Jersey and served at the Battle of Brandywine later that year. He also accompanied the army to Philadelphia, where he rebuilt the garrison's fortifications and later launched a brutal series of attacks that destroyed his former Mud Island defenses, which ironically included Fort Mifflin, the fort that once bore his name. 

Plans for Fort Mifflin, once known as Fort Montresor

With the British occupation of Philadelphia, he directed the construction of new defenses for the American capital. Montresor also planned the construction of pontoon bridge at Gray's Ferry on the Schuylkill River. 

Fort Montressor was renamed Fort Mifflin,
giving the King's Engineer the honor of attacking
his own creation

Major Andre

A Rapid Closure

As the British occupation dragged on, the commander in chief, Sir William Howe, was recalled to England. Montresor, Howe’s former aide, helped Major John Andre (a future spymaster) plan a massive and extravagant farewell celebration called the Meschianza.  

The Meschianza included parades

This was a series of lavish events featuring shows, parades, musical concerts, displays, banquets, and a ball, culminating in a firework show worthy of Broadway or Hollywood impresario.

Major Andre arranging a Meschianza display
with an exotic oriental theme

The spring of 1778 ushered in a new commander in chief, General Henry Clinton, and at some point that year, Montresor was succeeded as chief engineer. He returned to England in October, where he retired from the army, concluding more than twenty years of service to king and country, albeit a country he spent little time in. However, the king’s engineer struggled in post-army life. Montresor was unhappy with the army’s treatment of him, feeling resentment for not receiving a promotion. He blamed the Ordnance office for this and felt that his talents and record went unappreciated and unrewarded.

Sir Henry Clinton replaced Howe

It is unclear exactly why he left so abruptly. Perhaps he did not get along with Clinton due to his close association with Howe. However, it might have had to do with something more fundamental – money. There were suspicions that he misused his broad discretion in performing his responsibilities as an engineer. In that role, he controlled significant funds for procuring equipment, materials, and manpower for construction projects. The lack of effective accounting practices and financial controls may have allowed him to accumulate a substantial sum of money for himself.

Montresor was a highly exacting and demanding engineer, frequently requisitioning the best materials for his projects. During the construction of the forts around Philadelphia, he submitted invoices for extensive materials ultimately denied by the colonial government. His high standards may have also put him at odds with General Murray in Quebec, and possibly Henry Clinton.

A Desperate End

In 1782, his accounts underwent a meticulous audit, which resulted in him being held financially liable for £50,000 out of approximately £250,000 in expenses he claimed as chief engineer in America. Despite vigorous appeals by Montresor, he lost. The Exchequer pursued his estate, seizing his London residence and property in Kent, ultimately recouping £48,000. Despite his service, Montresor eventually found himself in Maidstone prison, a debtors’ prison, where he tragically died on June 26, 1799. 

Debtor's Prisons were the final destination
of the bankrupt in the 18th century

Legacy

Two of Montresor’s sons received commissions in the British Army despite their father’s challenges, allowing the family tradition of service to king and country to continue. One is struck by the tremendous contribution Montresor made to British success in North America during three wars and a period of consolidation between them, yet he receives little recognition. 

This was likely partly due to the relatively low regard for the more technical branches within an army steeped in arcane tradition and social stratification. Had he been a man of birth rather than merit, or a member of a prestigious regiment, his transgressions might have been overlooked. And of course, as a descendant of French Huguenots, he was not English. Just saying. This is not to rationalize sloppy accounting or ignore the facts of embezzlement, merely a period of social observation.  

Cypher later adopted by
the Royal Engineers

Montresor, in an engineering style, kept a scrupulous journal that pointed out minutiae in day-to-day operations and conditions. Exact distances and measurements were noted, along with daily temperatures. Those parts of his journal that survive show a man with great attention to detail, but his journal also reveals a bit of hubris. Perhaps that hubris led to friction with peers and superiors, and something worse. We will never know.

Surviving Montresor journals
provide an insight into the man and his times