Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/145

 MACDONOUGH

MacDOUGALL

4:C^(::^!ff^'tai^£>/C'

on Tripoli in 1804 ; and was a member of the party that re-captured and burned the Philadel- phia, Feb. 16, 1804. He was promoted lieutenant in 1807 ; master commandant in 1813, and was appointed to the command of the naval forces in

Plattsburg bay. Lake Champlain. On Sun- day, Sept. 11, 1814, the British fleet, under Commodore Thomas Downie,

sailed up the lake and took position op- posite Commodore Macdonough's fleet, which at once opened fire, Macdonough, with his own hand, firing the first heavy shot from his flag- ship, the Saratoga, across the bow of the British flagship. The fire was not returned by Downie until the Confidence had anchored 300 yards from the Saratoga, when the broadside came from guns double shotted and aimed directly at the portholes of the Saratoga. It did fearful damage and half the men on deck fell. This led to a general engagement, and a shot from the Saratoga killed Commodore Downie. The entire exposed battery of the Saratoga was disabled, and the British brig Linnet gained a position that enabled her to rake the Saratoga. This position obliged Commodore Macdonough to wind his ship, an emergency that he had provided for by kedging, and to the astonishment of the British fleet the Saratoga swung around until her bow pointed to the south, which brought her port broadside into play. The Confidence, in her at- tempt to execute the same manoeuvre, was caught when half warped, and thus exposed to the Saratoga's fire was obliged to strike her colers. The action lasted for two hours and twenty minutes without intermission, the oppos- ing forces being equally matched in numbers of men and weight of metal. Commodore Mac- donough served his favorite gun throughout the engagement and was injured by the falling of a spar. The British loss was 200 officers and men and the American 112, killed and wounded. This victory saved New York from invasion and once more turned the fortunes of war in favor of the United States. For his services in this engage- ment Macdonough was promoted captain and re- ceived a gold medal from congress and civic honors from various towns and cities. The state of Vermont presented him with an estate at Cumberland Head overlooking th*^ scene of the engagement. He was subsequently in command

of the Mediterranean squadron, and he died on board a trading ship which had been sent by the U.S. government to bring him home. His wife, a Miss Shaler, died in the spring of 1825. The date of his death is Nov. 16, 1825.

MACDOUGALL, Alexander, soldier, was born on the island of Islay, Scotland ; son of Richard Macdougall, who immigrated to New York in 1755 and engaged in dairy farming on Manhattan island. Alexander worked on the farm for a short time, went to sea, and was engaged in the French and Indian war 1756-63 as commander of the privateers Barrington and Tiger. After the war he settled in New York city and engaged in mercantile business. In 1770 he issued an ad- dress entitled ' ' A Son of Liberty to the Betrayed Inhabitants of the Colony," for which he was ar- rested as "an infamous and seditious libeller" and imprisoned for twenty-three weeks, the first of the patriots so treated. He presided at a meet- ing of the revolutionists who assembled July 6, 1774, " in the fields" adjoining the city of New York preparatory to the election of delegates to the first Continental congress, and it was here that Alexander Hamilton made his first public oration. Macdougall was appointed colonel of the 1st New York regiment, June 30, 1776 ; brig- adier-general, Aug. 9, 1776, and major-general, Oct. 20, 1777. He com- manded in the battles of White Plains, N.Y., in 1776, and at Peekskill,, N.Y., in

1777, when® "^.^^g?^-

he retreated before a superior force of Brit- ish under General Howe. He also participated in the battles of White Marsh and German- town, Pa. He was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1780-82 and 1784-85; was elected minister of marine, but resigned from congress in 1785 to resume his duties in the army. He was a member of the state senate, 1782-86, and first president of the State Society of the Cincin- nati. He died in New York city, June 8, 1786.

MacDOUGALL, Charles, surgeon, was born in Ross county, Ohio, about 1807. He practised medicine in Indiana, and in 1832 was appointed assistant surgeon and served with the mounted rangers in the Black Hawk war in 1833. He was promoted major and surgeon, July 7, 1838 ; served in the Florida war with the Seminole Indians in 1841 ; was at the U.S. Military academy, 1846-48 ; and served on frontier duty in the west, 1848-61. At the breaking out of the civil war he was appointed medical director of the Army of the

CO/MCRESS HALU f HILAPELPHIA, PA

•774- '783