Background
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.
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.
He is best known for serving as the commandant of Fort Mackinac from 1814 until the end of the War of 1812. 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).
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.
Number doubt due to Prevost"s influence, McDouall was appointed Commandant of the post on The island was an important American trading post on Lake Huron.
lieutenant had been captured by the British and Indians by surprise early in the war, thereby inducing many more Indians to ally themselves with Britain. 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) 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, 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, 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 to America.
He remained commandant of the post on nearby Drummond Island, and of the remaining British forces in the area, until leaving for home in June 1816.
He spent the remainder of his life on half pay retirement in Stranraer.
