Colonel John Montgomery (c. 1750–1794) was an early American soldier, settler, and explorer. He is credited with founding the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, and the county of Montgomery County, Tennessee is named for him.
He was born into a Scottish family which immigrated to Virginia in the 17th century.
In 1771, Montgomery first entered the area of the Cumberland River. Much was learned in the expedition, but Indians forced the explorers back to Virginia.
In 1775, Montgomery was one of the signers of the Fincastle Resolutions, the earliest statement of armed resistance to the British Crown in the American Colonies. During the American Revolutionary War, Montgomery served under George Rogers Clark during his Illinois campaign. Under Clark's orders, Montgomery led an expedition against several Indian tribes to prevent the British from gathering them to attack Kentucky. For the remainder of war, he ran supplies between New Orleans and Clark's army in the north.
Montgomery explored the area of the county that bears his name in 1775 while on a hunting expedition with Kasper Mansker. In 1784, Montgomery purchased the land at the confluence of the Cumberland and Red Rivers from the North Carolina for 100 British pounds and founded Clarksville. In 1789, he and surveyor Martin Armstrong persuaded lawmakers to establish Clarksville as a tobacco inspection point. Montgomery became the first sheriff of the district.
In the 1780s, he signed the Cumberland Compact and in 1793, commanded territorial troops in the Nickajack Expedition against Creek Indians.
Montgomery was killed near Eddy Creek, Kentucky on November 27, 1794, by an Indian ambush while hunting.
He is memorialized as a statue near Clarksville's Public Square.