Alexander McDougall (1732 9 June 1786) was a Scottish-born American seaman, merchant, a

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...

leader from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

before and during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, and a military leader during the Revolutionary War. He served as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in the Continental Army, and as a delegate to the Continental Congress. After the war, he was the president of the first bank in the state of New York and served a term in the New York State Senate.

Early life

McDougall was born on the

Isle of Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's capital i ...

, in the Inner Hebrides of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the summer of 1732. He was one of the five children of Ranald and Elizabeth McDougall. In 1738 the family emigrated to New York as part of a party led by a British Army veteran, Captain Lachlan Campbell. Campbell had described fertile land available near Fort Edward, but when they arrived in New York City, they discovered that Lachlan had been awarded a patent for about and expected them to become tenants to his estate. Ranald withdrew and found work on a dairy farm on the island of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The family prospered and young Alexander began his commercial career as a delivery boy for milk in New York. In around 1745, when he was fourteen, Alexander signed on as a merchant seaman. He worked on a number of vessels, and then in 1751 he returned to Great Britain for 4 months.

Privateer to merchant

After the onset of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

in 1756, McDougall became commissioned by the crown as a merchant

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

. During the war, McDougall commanded two ships; the ''Tyger'', an 8 gun sloop, and the ''Barrington'', a 12 gun sloop. An able captain as well as a knowledgeable merchant, he made a modest fortune in captured ships and the sale of their cargo. In 1763 McDougall gave up the seafaring life. The war had ended, his wife Nancy died, as did his father. He was left with responsibility for his three children and his mother. So he converted his seagoing assets and with the small fortune he had accumulated during the war, invested in land and became a merchant and importer. During this period, McDougall also worked as a slave trader, and owned an enslaved man named Colerain. By 1767 he had his affairs in good order. He owned land in Albany County and as far away as

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. He remarried, this time to Hannah Bostwick, the daughter of his landlady. Though their increasing wealth earned them recognition, it did not earn them acceptance into the traditional society in New York City. Longstanding members of high society such as the Livingstons and the De Lancey's looked down on him as crude and unpolished.

Prelude to revolution

When revolutionary fervor grew with resistance to the Stamp Act, McDougall became active in the

, and later was a leader in the movement in the colony of New York. Difficulties in the city and colony were increased by the

Quartering Act The Quartering Acts were two or more Acts of British Parliament requiring local governments of Britain's North American colonies to provide the British soldiers with housing and food. Each of the Quartering Acts was an amendment to the Mutiny A ...

, which required the colonists to provide housing and support to the British troops. The

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

assembly had refused to pass appropriations for their housing in 1767 and 1768, and had been prorogued. Then, the new assembly of 1769 approved money for the quartering of British troops. On 16 December 1769 McDougall wrote and printed an anonymous broadside, ''To the Betrayed Inhabitants'', which criticized the assembly's vote and sparked the Battle of Golden Hill. He was accused of libel and arrested on 7 February 1770, but refused to post bail, so he was jailed. He spent two periods in jail, for a total of about five months, but wasn't convicted and was released in 1771. His imprisonment became another cause for protest. In an effort to paint him as a political martyr, the

called him, "the Wilkes of America," after

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he f ...

, a British politician who was imprisoned for defying the authority of the government. This was symbolized by the group and was incorporated into the protests. McDougall became the street leader of the

, and organized continued protests until the city became under

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

control of the Patriots in 1775. He organized the city's reaction to the Tea Tax in 1773 and led their action, similar to the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...

. He became a member of the

Committees of Correspondence The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

and Safety, the New York City

Committee of Sixty The Committee of Sixty or Committee of Observation was a committee of inspection formed in the City and County of New York (Manhattan, New York City), in 1775, by rebels to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by ...

and when New York established their revolutionary government in 1775, he was elected to the

New York Provincial Congress The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...

. It was during this prelude to the Revolution that McDougall became close friends with Alexander Hamilton.

Continental Army

On 30 June 1775, McDougall became a commissioned colonel of the

1st New York Regiment The 1st New York Regiment was authorized on 25 May 1775 and organized at New York City from 28 June to 4 August, for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel Alexander McDougall. The enlistments of the first establishment e ...

by an act of the

. Eventually, McDougall would rise the rank of Major General in the Continental Army. Soon after his commission, McDougall's troops were sent north to take part in the

invasion of Quebec (1775) The Invasion of Quebec (June 1775 – October 1776, french: Invasion du Québec) was the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to seize the ...

, among them were two of McDougall's sons. The Colonel stayed behind to raise funds and troops. The campaign ultimately failed. One of McDougall's sons was captured and the other died of a fever near Montreal. During the early period of the war, McDougall played a role, in collaboration with Peter T. Curtenius, in preparing for the siege of New York by the Regulars. The city was unprepared for an extended fight and the defense of the city was a primary focus for George Washington and his staff. When the Regulars won the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

, it quickly became apparent that the Continental Army would be unable to hold the city. The Continental Army needed to make a quick retreat from the city in order to avoid heavy losses. Colonel McDougall helped oversee the evacuation effort by boat. After the Continental Army left New York City, they traveled north and made an initial stand against the British near the village of White Plains. Here, McDougall helped to hold off the British and allow for the main body of the army to avoid conflict. For much of the remainder of the war, McDougall was stationed in the Highlands of the Hudson as the commander of American forces at

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

(Fort Clinton) after Benedict Arnold's defection in 1780. Throughout the war, McDougall was an outspoken advocate for the Continental Army and for better conditions for its soldiers. In the winter of 1783 he was at the head of the committee of army officers who the bore complaints about pay from Newburgh to Congress. McDougall was also involved in the establishment of an American navy in 1776.

Public service

In 1780, he was elected as delegate to the Continental Congress. He spent only 37 days in Congress, however, he was soon nominated to serve as the Secretary of Marine. He served in that role from 7 February 1781 – 29 August 1781. In 1784, he was elected to the State Senate pg=205 where he served until his death. In his role as State Senator, McDougall was involved in the successful movement to separate church and state in the New York State government and the unsuccessful movement to not issue paper money. McDougall was the first president of the

Bank of New York The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Fina ...

as well as the New York Society of the Cincinnati. He died 9 June 1786, at the age of fifty-three and was interred in the family vault in the First Presbyterian Church, New York City. Today, his memorial stone is situated prominently on the wall of the First Presbyterian Church of New York in Greenwich Village.

Legacy

MacDougal Street MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Betw ...

in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

is named for him.

Personal life

McDougall married his cousin, Nancy McDougall, during a trip to Great Britain in 1751. After the Revolution, she died and McDougall remarried his landlady's daughter, Hannah Bostwick. During the war, one of his sons died and another was captured by the British. McDougall was well liked and respected by the soldiers he commanded. He continuously advocated for better wages and conditions for soldiers. He was also close friends with Alexander Hamilton and was deeply respected by

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, who called him a "pillar of the revolution." McDougall may have been born in Scotland, but he was rebellious and stubborn by nature and deeply loyal to his adopted home of America. McDougall's great-grandson John McDougall Atherton was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, as was Atherton's own son, Peter Lee Atherton.

References

External links

McDougall's congressional biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDougall, Alexander 1732 births 1786 deaths People from Islay American slave traders American slave owners Scottish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies People of the Province of New York Continental Congressmen from New York (state) 18th-century American politicians Members of the New York Provincial Congress Continental Army generals Continental Army officers from New York (state) British privateers Scottish soldiers New York (state) state senators