Robert McDouall

Last updated

Major-General Robert McDouall, CB (March 1774 15 November 1848) was a Scottish-born officer in the British Army, who saw much action during the Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-American War of 1812. He is best known for serving as the commandant of Fort Mackinac from 1814 until the end of the War of 1812.

Contents

Early life and career

Robert was born in Stranraer in Scotland, where his father was a magistrate. He was educated at Felsted School, and his father and uncle placed him in a business in London, hoping he would become a merchant. Instead, in 1797, he purchased a commission in the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot. He saw much service with the regiment, in the Egyptian campaign in 1801, and as a Captain at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) and in the Invasion of Martinique (1809).

Service in Canada

The 1st Battalion of the 8th Foot were posted to Canada in 1810. Two years later, war broke out between Britain and the United States. McDouall was appointed aide de camp to the Governor General of Canada, Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost.

On 24 June 1813, he was appointed major in the Glengarry Light Infantry, a Scottish unit raised in Canada. He was sent to Britain with despatches, was made a brevet lieutenant colonel in the Army on 29 July, and returned to Canada.

Mackinac Island

No doubt due to Prevost's influence, McDouall was appointed Commandant of the post on Mackinac Island. The island was an important American trading post on Lake Huron. It had been captured by the British and Indians by surprise early in the war, thereby inducing many more Indians to ally themselves with Britain. In 1813, the Americans had won the Battle of Lake Erie, which had isolated the island from supply via Lake Erie.

McDouall and a party of soldiers from the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles, voyageurs and craftsmen journeyed north in the depths of winter from York, the provincial capital of Upper Canada, to the Nottawasaga River, where they constructed batteaux. (Glengarry Landing on the Nottawasaga River, where McDouall oversaw the construction of the flotilla, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923. [1] [2] ) When the river unfroze in the spring, they sailed and paddled the length of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron to reach Mackinac with vital supplies. McDouall took up his post as commandant and began improving the defences of the island.

McDouall's responsibilities covered a very large geographical area. Shortly after his arrival, he learned that the Americans had captured the post of Prairie du Chien, threatening the allegiance of some of the Indians. He dispatched an expedition under William McKay which succeeded in recapturing Prairie du Chien, although it reduced his own strength.

An American expedition for the recapture of Mackinac Island, consisting of five warships with 700 troops, appeared off the island on 26 July 1814. McDouall's defences withstood an American bombardment and in the Battle of Mackinac Island, Indians with some of McDouall's troops defeated an American landing and inflicted heavy loss. The Americans then attempted to starve out the garrison with a blockade, but in the Engagement on Lake Huron, the blockading vessels were captured, securing the British hold on the entire region for the remainder of the war.

The War ended in 1815. McDouall publicly regretted that the Treaty of Ghent restored Mackinac Island to America. He moved his post to the newly-built Fort Drummond on Drummond Island, retaining command of the remaining British forces in the area, until leaving for home in June 1816.

Later career

In spite of his record, McDouall never again saw active service, although he was appointed Companion of the Bath in February 1817 and was promoted colonel in July 1830 and major general in November 1841. He spent the remainder of his life on half pay retirement in Stranraer. He never married and devoted much time and money to the Free Church of Scotland.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Mackinac</span> United States historic place

Fort Mackinac is a former British and American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, on Mackinac Island. The British built the fort during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes. The British did not relinquish the fort until thirteen years after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Fort Mackinac later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. During most of the 19th century, it served as an outpost of the United States Army. Closed in 1895, the fort has been adapted as a museum on the grounds of Mackinac Island State Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Michilimackinac</span> Archaeological site in Michigan, United States

Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac; it was built on the northern tip of the lower peninsula of the present-day state of Michigan in the United States. Built around 1715, and abandoned in 1783, it was located along the Straits, which connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan of the Great Lakes of North America. Present-day Mackinaw City developed around the site of the fort, which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. It is preserved as an open-air historical museum, with several reconstructed wooden buildings and palisade.

Michilimackinac is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Today it is considered to be mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States. Michilimackinac was the original name for present day Mackinac Island and Mackinac County.

St. Joseph Island is in the northwestern part of Lake Huron. It is part of the Canadian province of Ontario. At 365 km2 (141 sq mi) in area, it is the sixth largest lake island in the world; the second largest island on Lake Huron, following Manitoulin Island; and the third largest of all the islands on the Great Lakes, trailing Manitoulin and Lake Superior's Isle Royale.

Daniel Turner was an officer in the United States Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Fort Oswego (1814)</span>

The Battle of Fort Oswego was a partially successful British raid on Fort Ontario and the village of Oswego, New York on May 6, 1814 during the War of 1812.

Lt.-Colonel William McKay is remembered for leading the Canadian Forces to victory at the Siege of Prairie du Chien during the War of 1812. After the war, he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Drummond Island in what was then Upper Canada. Previous to the war, McKay was a noted fur trader who had travelled widely in Canada. He was a partner of the North West Company and a member of the Beaver Club at Montreal, Quebec. He was a brother of Alexander McKay, who accompanied Sir Alexander Mackenzie to the Pacific Ocean in 1793.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mackinac Island (1814)</span>

The Battle of Mackinac Island was a British victory in the War of 1812. Before the war, Fort Mackinac had been an important American trading post in the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It was important for its influence and control over the Native American tribes in the area, which was sometimes referred to in historical documents as "Michilimackinac".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian units of the War of 1812</span>

When the United States and the United Kingdom went to war against each other in 1812, the major land theatres of war were Upper Canada, Michigan Territory, Lower Canada and the Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton . Each of the separate British administrations formed regular and fencible units, and both full-time and part-time militia units, many of which played a major part in the fighting over the two and a half years of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort de Buade</span>

Fort de Buade was a French fort in the present U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula across the Straits of Mackinac from the northern tip of lower Michigan's "mitten". It was garrisoned between 1683 and 1701. The city of St. Ignace developed at the site, which also had the historic St. Ignace Mission founded by Jesuits. The fort was named after New France's governor at the time, Louis de Buade de Frontenac.

The series of Engagements on Lake Huron left the British in control of the lake and their Native American allies in control of the Old Northwest for the latter stages of the War of 1812.

Miller Worsley was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for playing a major part in the Engagements on Lake Huron in the Anglo-American War of 1812.

Nancy was a schooner, built in Detroit, Michigan and launched in 1789. She served for several years in the fur trade on the Great Lakes, but is best known for playing a part in the Anglo-American War of 1812. She served for several years as a vital supply ship for the Provincial Marine. The Royal Navy took over the Provincial Marine in 1814 and so acquired Nancy. After HMS Nancy was blocked in by an American fleet near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, her crew set her on fire on 14 August 1814 to prevent the capture of the ship and the cargo she carried. Forgotten for many years, the wreck was re-discovered in July 1927 and raised to form the centrepiece of the Nancy Island Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Fort Mackinac</span>

The siege of Fort of Mackinac was one of the first engagements of the War of 1812. A British and Native American force captured the island soon after the outbreak of war between Britain and the United States. Encouraged by the easy British victory, more Native Americans rallied to their support. Their cooperation was an important factor in several British victories during the remainder of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Bulger</span>

Andrew H. Bulger (1789–1858) was a soldier and colonial administrator, born at St John's in the Crown Colony of Newfoundland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Dickson (fur trader)</span>

Robert Dickson was a fur trader, and later an officer in the British Indian Department in Upper Canada, who played a prominent part in the War of 1812.

The Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles were a light infantry unit, raised chiefly in the Glengarry District of Upper Canada shortly before the outbreak of the Anglo-American War of 1812. The unit fought throughout the war, and was disbanded shortly afterwards.

USS Tigress was a schooner of the United States Navy which took part in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. In September 1814, the schooner was captured by the British and subsequently served in the Royal Navy as HMS Surprise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Robertson (British Army officer)</span> British military officer in Canada

Colonel Daniel Robertson was an officer in the British Army in North America, commandant of the British post at Michilimackinac, and a landowner in Chatham Township, Canada. Born in Scotland, he first joined the 42nd Regiment of Foot, also known as the "Black Watch," and was present at the British capture of Montreal in 1760, as well as the invasion of Martinique in 1762. During the American Revolutionary War, he was an officer in the 84th Regiment of Foot, another regiment of Scots known as the Royal Highland Emigrants. In 1779, he was appointed commandant of Fort Osgewatchie and oversaw Native American raids on American settlements on the Mohawk River.

The Western Theater of the War of 1812 was an area of interest during the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Far from the Atlantic Coast and large cities, logistics and communication were more challenging in the western territories and the United States frontier. For many Native American nations involved, this war was a continuation of the defense of their lands against encroaching settlers.

References

  1. Glengarry Landing [ permanent dead link ], Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada
  2. Glengarry Landing, National Register of Historic Places