Angus McDonald (1727 – August 19, 1778) was a prominent Scottish American military officer, frontiersman, sheriff and landowner in Virginia.
During the Jacobite rising of 1745, McDonald fought as a lieutenant under the command of Charles Edward Stuart in the Battle of Culloden, after which he was "attainted of treason". He fled Scotland, departing from Inverness for the Colony of Virginia in 1746 at the age of 18. Following his arrival in Virginia, McDonald worked as a merchant in Falmouth for two or three years.
McDonald moved west into Virginia's interior and entered the military service of the colonial government under Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie, receiving the rank of captain. McDonald served in the French and Indian War under General John Forbes, in which he was in command of a company of Scottish Highlanders. Following the war, McDonald retired with the rank of captain in 1763.
In 1765, McDonald returned to military service when he was commissioned by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron as a major in command of the Frederick County militia. Lord Fairfax also appointed McDonald as an attorney and land agent for his Northern Neck Proprietary.
Governor John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore commissioned McDonald in 1774 as a ranking military officer of an expedition (known as "McDonald's Expedition") to promptly organize and recruit settlers west of the Allegheny Mountains to defend settlements from Native American attacks. McDonald completed the expedition, which met its goal of temporarily relieving western Virginia frontier settlements from attack.
McDonald received a personal letter from General George Washington in 1777 appointing him a lieutenant colonel in a battalion of Thruston's Additional Continental Regiment under the command of Colonel Charles Mynn Thruston. Despite his loyalty to the American Revolutionary cause, McDonald refused Washington's appointment. McDonald was later appointed by Washington to serve as a lieutenant colonel in command of Virginia revolutionary militia forces during the American Revolutionary War. He also served on various revolutionary committees throughout the war.
Early life
Angus McDonald was born in 1727 in the Scottish Highlands. He was an immediate family member of a chief of the Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, whose clan seat was Invergarry Castle. He was probably the son of Angus McDonald, who was a younger son of Alastair Dubh MacDonell, the commander of the Glengarry clan in the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689 during the early Jacobite risings. McDonald was a lineal descendant of a long line of military heroes of the Clan MacDonell of Glengarry and of Somerled, Lord of the Isles. McDonald was raised and educated in Glasgow. During the Jacobite rising of 1745, McDonald fought as a lieutenant under the command of Charles Edward Stuart in the Battle of Culloden, after which he was "attainted of treason". He fled Scotland, departing from Inverness for the Colony of Virginia in 1746 at the age of 18.
Colonial military service
Early colonial military career
McDonald arrived in Virginia at the port of Falmouth on the Rappahannock River. Among the belongings he brought with him were the short sword, sash and gorget bearing the Glengarry coat of arms that he had worn at the Battle of Culloden. Following his arrival, McDonald remained in Falmouth for two or three years where he worked as a merchant. McDonald moved west into Virginia's interior and entered the military service of the colonial government under Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie, receiving the rank of captain. In return for his "meritorious service" in conflicts against Native Americans, McDonald received of land from the colonial government of Virginia in 1754. Around that same year, McDonald moved further west to the settlement of Winchester where he established the first Masonic Lodge in 1760. While in Winchester, McDonald served as a member of the Committee of Safety.
McDonald served in the French and Indian War under General John Forbes in which he was in command of a company of Scottish Highlanders. McDonald and his company marched against Fort Duquesne in the autumn of 1758. Following the war, McDonald retired with the rank of captain in 1763. Upon his retirement, Governor John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore granted McDonald an additional of land, which were surveyed by Hancock Taylor. On October 29, 1762, prior to his land grant from Lord Dunmore, McDonald purchased from Brian Bruin east of Winchester on which he built the original McDonald family residence in the region, which he named Glengarry after his ancestral homeland.