Montgomery and Montgomery

Here's an interesting bit of trivia for the Alabama readers: Montgomery, the state capitol of Alabama, was named for Richard Montgomery, an American general in the Revolutionary War who was killed in 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada. But Montgomery County, the county in which the city of Montgomery is located, was named for Lemuel P. Montgomery, a major who was killed in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814.

You can visit Major Montgomery's grave, like I did today, which is marked by a small white marble monument stone at the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in southeastern Alabama, just off Highway 280. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected the monument in 1933 to honor Montgomery, who led the charge of General Andrew Jackson's roughly 2,000 infantry directly into a man-high barricade built of large timbers behind which were hidden 1,000 angry Creek Indians. (General Jackson's victory was decisive.) Major Montgomery was apparently close to General Jackson and was a fellow Tennessean. He was also a lawyer, and 28 years old at the time of his death. You can see a picture of his gun at http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=524.

I wonder if schoolchildren in Montgomery learn about the difference between the two Montgomerys.