David Stockton McDougal was born on September 27, 1809 in Chillicothe, Ohio. His father, Dr. John McDougal, born in Dumbarton, Scotland, was a member of the Ohio legislature from 1813 to 1815; his mother, Margaret Stockton, was a descendant of Robert Stockton of Lancaster County, Pa. In later life David discarded his middle name.
McDougal entered the navy as a midshipman in 1828, was promoted through the various grades, and was made rear admiral, September 27, 1873. He served first on the Natchez in the West India Squadron (1829 - 31), and while at Pensacola he is said to have gained reputation for heroism by rescuing a sailor from waters infested with sharks. Various assignments to shore and sea duty followed, and the Mexican War found him a lieutenant on the Mississippi at the capture of Vera Cruz. Soon after the Civil War began, he was given command of the Wyoming, a wooden screw sloop, the former commander of which had been dismissed for disloyalty. Following a cruise to South America, the ship was sent to the Far East to seek Confederate privateers, especially the Alabama. On this duty McDougal cruised about the China Sea and the Straits of Sunda till 1864, but, although at one time the Alabama was only twenty-five miles away, she learned of his presence and escaped. The chief incident of the cruise occurred in Japan on July 16, 1863. McDougal had been informed in Yokohama that an American steamer, the Pembroke, had been fired on by Choshu clansmen in the Straits of Shimonoseki, in obedience to a decree of the Emperor that foreigners should be excluded from Japan a decree which the friendlier Shogun at Tokyo had refused to promulgate. In retaliation for this violation of treaty promises, the Wyoming, single-handed, attacked the entire Japanese force at Shimonoseki, consisting of land batteries and three armed vessels in all about forty guns and by clever maneuvering and rapid firing was able to destroy the ships and do much damage to the batteries. The engagement was at close range and lasted for an hour, after which the Wyoming withdrew with a loss of four killed and seven wounded. McDougal's action without orders was approved by Seward and Lincoln, and, with a later attack by an international fleet, secured better protection for foreigners. After bringing the Wyoming back to Philadelphia in 1864, McDougal was sent to Mare Island as commandant, but by 1868 he was at sea on the Pacific in the Powhatan. From 1870 to 1872 he commanded the South Pacific Squadron. His last days were spent in the vicinity of San Francisco, where he died.
McDougal's wife, whom he married in 1833, was Caroline Sterrett of New York City.
