At some point in the past 250 years, someone wrote that Richard Conklin of Cold Spring Harbor was part of the invasion of Canada in late 1775 and was with General Richard Montgomery when he was killed during the attack on Quebec City.  Conklin so admired the General that he named his son Richard Montgomery Conklin.  That story has been repeated, including by me in the pages of this magazine.

However, there is no evidence that Richard Conklin had ever even been to Canada.  He was in the Naval Service, but his name does not appear in the lists of the New York regiments that were with Montgomery in Quebec.

There was a Huntington resident who was part of the invasion.  Ephraim Oakes was 22 years old when he traveled to Orange County.  While there, a call for soldiers was issued, and he enlisted for a five-month tour of duty in the Third New York Regiment around June 1, 1775.  At around the time George Washington assumed command of American troops surrounding Boston, the Continental Congress authorized an invasion of Canada to forestall a British invasion from the north and to try to convince the French settlers to join the fight against the British.  The invasion force was made up mostly of New York and Connecticut troops under the command of General Philip Schuyler.  Oakes and his fellow recruits marched to Albany and then to Lake Champlain.  General Richard Montgomery assumed command when Schuyler fell ill.  In October, they captured Fort St. John, about 22 miles from Montreal.  The Americans next captured Montreal in mid-November.  By this time, Oakes’ enlistment had expired, but he re-enlisted for another six months.

Meanwhile, Benedict Arnold led a smaller contingent from Boston through the forests of Maine to join Montgomery in an attack on Quebec City.  The Americans attacked the city during a severe snowstorm on December 31.  Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was wounded.  The attack was a failure.  The Americans besieged the city until May 1776, when Oakes’ second enlistment expired.  Again, he re-enlisted even though he hadn’t been paid.  The Americans gave up trying to capture Quebec and returned to New York.  Oakes then retraced his steps back to Goshen and then to New York City, arriving in the city the same day the British fleet was spotted off Sandy Hook.  He then returned to Huntington.  Shortly after he arrived home, the British took possession of Long Island.  Someone reported to the British that Oakes was a Continental soldier and he was taken prisoner.  It is not known how long he was held as a prisoner, but he was back in Huntington by September 1778, where he worked as a blacksmith. 

Oakes lived the rest of his life in the Elwood section of Huntington.  He died in 1846, a month shy of his 93rd birthday, and is buried in the Oakes Cemetery near his home.  He does not appear to have had a son named Richard Montgomery Oakes.