Lieutenant-Colonel George Monro (1700 – 3 November 1757) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer best known for his unsuccessful defense of

Fort William Henry Fort William Henry was a British fort at the southern end of Lake George, in the province of New York. The fort's construction was ordered by Sir William Johnson in September 1755, during the French and Indian War, as a staging ground for a ...

in 1757 during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. After surrendering with full

honours of war The honours of war are a set of privileges that are granted to a defeated army during the surrender ceremony. The honours symbolise the valour of the defeated army, and grew into a custom during the age of early modern warfare. Typically a surre ...

to French General

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Lieutenant-General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (; 28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French Royal Army officer best known for his unsuccessful defence of New France during the French and Indian ...

, he and his troops were attacked by French-allied

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

, and Monro was killed. The events of the siege were made famous by

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

in his novel ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is an 1826 historical romance novel by James Fenimore Cooper. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder'', ...

''.

Early life and career

Monro was born in Clonfin,

County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, in about 1700. He was the younger son of

George Munro, 1st of Auchinbowie George Munro of Auchinbowie, originally of Bearcrofts was a Scottish born military officer of the late 17th century. He was the first Munro of Auchinbowie. Lineage George Munro was the eldest son of Alexander Munro of Bearcrofts who himself w ...

, who was famed for his victory at the

Battle of Dunkeld The Battle of Dunkeld () was fought between Jacobite clans supporting the deposed king James VII of Scotland and a regiment of covenanters supporting William of Orange,in the streets around Dunkeld Cathedral, Dunkeld, Scotland, on 21 August ...

in 1689 in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. However, when

John Alexander Inglis John Alexander Inglis of Auchendinny and Redhall FRSE KC LLB (1873–1941) was a Scottish landowner, advocate and historian. He specialised in family histories of Scotland’s gentry. Life He was born at Montpelier Lawn in Cheltenham in En ...

wrote his history of the Monro of Auchinbowie family in 1911, he had not then identified the younger George Monro as a member of the family. Monro joined Otway's Regiment, the

35th Regiment of Foot The 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised in 1701. Under the 1881 Childers Reforms, it was amalgamated with the 107th (Bengal Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Sussex Regiment. H ...

, as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1718. He appears to have had an unremarkable military career by rising in the ranks to lieutenant-colonel by 1750.

Seven Years' War

Hostilities between Britain and France were soon renewed with the outbreak of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

in 1756. The 35th Regiment was deployed to America, where Monro relieved Lieutenant-Colonel William Eyre as commander of

in the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

. That summer, the French General

led a force of 7,626 French and Native troops in a weeklong

Siege of Fort William Henry The siege of Fort William Henry (3–9 August 1757, ) was conducted by a French and Indian force led by Louis-Joseph de Montcalm against the British-held Fort William Henry. This fort, located at the southern end of Lake George, on the fronti ...

. Effectively cut off from the main British force, commanded by General Daniel Webb, the 2,327-man British garrison stood little chance of holding the fort once the French began formal siege operations on 3 August. Monro was forced to open negotiations with Montcalm on 9 August. Monro's tenacious defence of the fort won him generous terms of surrender from Montcalm. The British were accorded the full

by being allowed to keep their

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

, muskets and a single symbolic cannon. The garrison would be

paroled Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole of ...

and allowed to march to the British-held Fort Edward, about away. However, it was not to be. As Monro led his garrison from Fort William Henry the next day, the Native American warriors attacked the British soldiers and killed approximately 185 of them. Monro actually survived the massacre, but he died suddenly in Albany just three months later, on 3 November 1757.

In popular culture

Colonel Munro is portrayed in

's story ''

'', in which he is the father of two daughters, Alice and Cora. (In reality Munro never married or had children) In the story, he plays a similar role as he did in history, leading the defense of Fort William Henry. In the blockbuster 1992 film adaptation, in which he is portrayed (by Scottish actor

Maurice Roëves John Maurice Roëves (; 19 March 1937 – 14 July 2020) was a Scottish actor. He appeared in over 120 film and television roles, in both the United Kingdom and the United States. His breakthrough performance was as Stephen Dedalus in the 1967 ...

) as being killed in the massacre by Montcalm's Native allies, the leader of whom (

Magua Magua is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1826 novel ''The Last of the Mohicans'' by James Fenimore Cooper. This historical novel is set at the time of the French and Indian War. A Huron Indian chief, he is also known by the ...

) cuts his heart out as revenge for Monro killing his family. He is also portrayed in the 1920 silent film by James Gordon, in the 1932 version by Edward Hearn, in the 1936 version by

Hugh Buckler Hugh Chilman Buckler (9 September 1881 – 30 October 1936) was a British actor. He was married to stage actress Violet Paget, about whom little has been found, save that she was somehow related to the Marquess of Anglesey. The film actor Joh ...

and in the 1965 version by Paul Muller and in the 1968 version by Otto Ambros. Monro is also portrayed as a supporting character in the 2014 action-adventure video game ''

Assassin's Creed Rogue ''Assassin's Creed Rogue'' is a 2014 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Sofia and published by Ubisoft. It is the seventh major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and is set alongside 2012's '' Assassin's Creed III'' and af ...

''. He is shown to be a noble character, seeking to help the people of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

recover from the gang violence and the disrepair of the city. He is a member of the

Templar Order The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

and assists

Christopher Gist Christopher Gist (1706–1759) was an explorer, surveyor, and frontiersman active in Colonial America. He was one of the first white explorers of the Ohio Country (the present-day states of Ohio, eastern Indiana, western Pennsylvania, and nort ...

and the protagonist Shay Patrick Cormac until he is killed by

Assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

Liam O'Brien in Albany after the fall of Fort William Henry. He is voiced by Graham J. Cuthbertson.

References

External links

*
Biography of Colonel George Monro.

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monro, George 1757 deaths Military personnel from County Longford 35th Regiment of Foot officers British Army personnel of the French and Indian War 18th-century Irish people Irish officers in the British Army 1700 births