Alexander McDougall was the son of Ronald and Elizabeth MacDougal. He was born in 1732 in the parish of Kildalton, Islay, Inner Hebrides, the second of five children. He accompanied his parents to America when, in 1738, they came over with the first party of Lachlan Campbell's colonists to establish a settlement near Fort Edward, New York. The project failed to materialize and Ronald MacDougal settled in New York City as a milkman.
Alexander early evinced a fondness for the sea, and during the years 1756-63 commanded the privateers Tyger and Barrington. Having accumulated a competence, he returned to New York, where he became a merchant and "gave himself to hard Study & made very singular Advancemts in the Cultivation of his Mind". He came into prominence in 1769 as the author of a broadside addressed "to the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York, " issued December 16, which violently attacked the General Assembly. The broadside was declared libelous, and he was arrested February 8, 1770, on the testimony of the printer. He remained in jail until after his indictment in April, refusing to give bail. "The Arm of Power could not perhaps, have fallen on a Subject more fearless of its Menaces" was the self-confident conclusion to his defense, issued from prison. So numerous were the visits of his partisans that he was obliged to appoint visiting hours. Because of the death of the principal witness, the case was never tried, but in December McDougall was summoned by the General Assembly for questioning concerning the authorship of the broadside. On his refusal to answer, he was committed for contempt and was kept in confinement until March 1771.
On the discovery of Arnold's treason, Washington placed McDougall in command of West Point. In 1781 he declined appointment as minister of marine. In 1782 a quarrel with General Heath led to his arrest and court-martialing for insubordination. In the winter of 1782-83 he headed the delegation sent by the officers of the army to confer with the Continental Congress upon questions of pay. He represented New York in the Continental Congress, 1781-82 and 1784-85, and served as state senator, 1783-86.
McDougall was one of the most prominent of the radical leaders as an accelerator of public opinion during 1774-75 in the New York Committee of Fifty-one and in the first and second Provincial congresses. He presided over the famous mass meeting in the "Fields, " July 6, 1774. In 1775 he was appointed colonel of the first New York regiment and was later made a Continental brigadier-general (1776) and major-general (1777). He participated in the battles of White Plains and Germantown, but rendered his most important military service in the Highlands of the Hudson, where he was stationed the greater part of the war, much of the time as commanding officer. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the Bank of New York. Another indication of the increasingly conservative attitude of his later years was his service as president of the New York State Society of the Cincinnati from its organization.
McDougall was looked upon by supporters and opponents as the "Wilkes of America. " He 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, 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.
Quotes from others about the person
"He possesses great presence of mind, is methodical & connected in the Arrangement of his Ideas, writes well speaks (tho' with some small Impediment) yet with tolerable Ease Has great Fire & Vehemence without Hurry and Precipitation". - William Smith, historian of New York
By his first wife McDougall had two sons and one daughter. Both sons died without issue; the daughter, Elizabeth, became the wife of John Laurance. In 1767 he was married to Hannah Bostwick, who survived him.
