General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Patrick Leonard MacDougall, (10 August 1819 – 28 November 1894) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who became Commander of the British Troops in Canada.

Military career

MacDougall was born the only son of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Duncan MacDougall (1787–1862) and Anne, daughter of Colonel

Cornelius Smelt Cornelius Smelt (August 1748 – 28 November 1832) was an administrator who served as Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man from 1805 until his death in 1832, the longest governorship in the history of the Island. An officer in the British Army, ...

(1748–1832),

Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man The lieutenant governor of the Isle of Man ( or ''lhiass-chiannoort vannin'') is the Lord of Mann's official personal representative in the Isle of Man. He has the power to grant royal assent and is styled "His Excellency". No Manx-born perso ...

. Educated at a military academy in Edinburgh, then the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 79th Regiment of Foot, (Cameronian Highlanders) in 1836. He then served in the

36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot The 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1701. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot to form the Worcestershire Regiment in 1881. It ...

and transferred to The Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment in 1844. He was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and became Superintendent of Studies at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in March 1854 and then served in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

later that year. At its formation, he was appointed commandant of the Staff College. He became adjutant general of the Canadian militia in May 1865 and head of reserve forces in England in 1871. He became Commander of the British Troops in Canada in 1878. Three times, in 1878, 1881 to 1882, and 1882 to 1883, he was the administrator of the government of Canada in the absence of the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

. He retired as a General in July 1885. From 1888 to 1891 he was Colonel of the

West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

. In 1891 he was made Colonel of The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians), a position he held until his death. He died in 1894 at Kingson Hill, London having lived with his second wife at 22

Elvaston Place Elvaston Place is a street in South Kensington, London. Elvaston Place runs west to east from Gloucester Road to Queen's Gate. The High Commission of Gabon, London, is at number 27. The High Commission of Mauritius, London, is at number 32/ ...

, London and Melbury Lodge, Kingston Hill, Surrey and was buried at East Putney Cemetery. He was the author of several military works: ''The Theory of War'' (1856), ''Campaigns of Hannibal'' (1858), ''Modern Warfare as influenced by Modern Artillery'' (1864), ''The army and its reserves'' (1869), and ''Modern infantry tactics'' (1873).

Family

MacDougall married, firstly, Louisa Augusta Napier (third daughter of Sir

William Francis Patrick Napier General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, KCB (7 December 178512 February 1860) was a British soldier in the British Army and a military historian. Early life Napier was born at Celbridge, County Kild ...

and Caroline Ameila Fox) on 15 July 1844 in Guernsey and following her death on 8 September 1856, he married Marianne Adelaide Miles (born 1834), eighth daughter of Philip John Miles and Clarissa Peach at St George's Hanover Square on 21 June 1860. Marianne was described as "a charming woman and a well-known amateur water-colour artist" by Lady Glover who stayed with them in Canada. There were no children by either marriage. His first wife's sister Pamela married Philip William Skinner Miles, a son of Philip John Miles.

Awards

He was awarded the medal and clasp for Sebastopol and the Turkish medal. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in 1877.

References

External links

*
The Colonial Office List By Great Britain Colonial Office"Memories of Four Continents" by Lady Glover, 1923
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdougall, Patrick Leonard British Army generals British military writers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 1819 births 1894 deaths 36th Regiment of Foot officers Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders officers British Army personnel of the Crimean War Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley