Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Donald MacDonald (c. 1724–1760) was a military officer who fought for France, for

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

in Scotland, and later for Great Britain in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

Life

MacDonald (sometimes spelt MacDonell) was the second son of Ranald MacDonald, 18th Chief of Clanranald. When still young he was sent to France where he received a commission in the Royal-Ecossais Regiment of the French army. In 1745 he was sent by King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

to assist Charles Edward Stuart in the Jacobite rising. MacDonald was wounded at the siege of Stirling Castle and imprisoned after the surrender of the

Jacobite Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometimes ...

forces. As a French officer he was released from imprisonment and returned to France. MacDonald took advantage of the amnesty which was granted by Britain to Jacobite officers, and on 12 January 1757 was gazetted a captain in the regiment raised by Simon Fraser, the 78th Fraser Highlanders. In 1758 MacDonald sailed to

Louisbourg Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. History The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, ...

which was then under siege as part of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754– ...

. He was wounded there on the night of 21 July. MacDonald participated in the subsequent siege of

. On the night of 13 September 1759 he was part of the

forlorn hope A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the kill zone of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defend ...

, the twenty-four volunteers leading the British attempt to climb the cliffs rising above the St. Lawrence River. It was MacDonald who responded in French to the challenge of the French guards, buying time for enough men to gather and overpower the post. This in turn allowed almost 5,000 British troops to climb the cliffs and mass on the

Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham (french: Plaines d'Abraham) is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, anada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took pla ...

. During the subsequent winter, MacDonald was given several independent commands, constantly harassing the French outposts surrounding Quebec. At the Battle of Sainte-Foy, 28 April 1760, MacDonald commanded a company of volunteers on the left flank of the British army and was killed in the action. There is significant evidence that MacDonald was a harsh officer disliked by his own men as well as by his opponents. He received the nickname "Dòmhnaill Goran" (Donald the Sinister). There is some indication that his wounding at Louisbourg may have been an attempted " fragging" by his own men. When he was killed at Sillery, his body was hacked to pieces.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Donald Jacobite military personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745 78th Fraser Highlanders officers British military personnel killed in the Seven Years' War 18th-century Scottish people Garde Écossaise officers British Army personnel of the French and Indian War 1720s births 1760 deaths