McDougall, Alexander [key], 1731–86, American Revolutionary political leader and general, b. Islay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. He was taken (1738) as a child to New York. He became a fiery opponent of British restrictions on trade and helped to form the Sons of Liberty in New York City. In 1770 he was arrested on the charge of having written a seditious broadside. In 1774 he presided over the meeting that decided to send New York delegates to the Continental Congress. He served in the army throughout the Revolution and was notable in the battles of White Plains and Germantown and in the fighting in New Jersey. In 1780, after Benedict Arnold's treason, McDougall succeeded to the charge of West Point. After the war he was (1781–82, 1784–85) a member of Congress from New York.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies
