Samuel Montgomery was born in 1847. He received special permission after appealing to his distant relative, Secretary of War Cameron, to join the Battery B, 2d U.S. regular artillery as a bugler at age 14. He was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg.

After recovering from head and leg wounds, he renlisted in the the 188th Pennsylvania infantry and was present at Lee's surrender in 1865.

Following the war, he joined the regular army as a private with the 4th cavalry and served for 12 years, taking part in a number of Indian campaigns. He ended his military service the rank of sergeant major.

In his final years, he served as the last adjutant of Reno post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Roseburg, OR, where he passed away in 1936 at the age of 88.