Angus McDonald ( United States Army major ) Angus McDonald ( December 30 , 1769 – October 14 , 1814 ) was an American military officer , landowner , and planter in the U . S . state of Virginia . McDonald served as a military officer during the War of 1812 following his appointment by United States President James Madison . McDonald was the son of Virginia military officer and frontiersman Colonel Angus McDonald and the father of Colonel Angus William McDonald , a commander in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life . Angus McDonald was born on December 30 , 1769 at " Glengarry " near Winchester , Frederick County in the Colony of Virginia . He was the third child and second - eldest son of prominent Virginia militia man , frontiersman , and landowner Angus McDonald and his wife , Anna Thompson McDonald . McDonald was of Scottish descent through his father , and of Dutch descent through his mother . McDonald was raised on his father ' s plantation , " Glengarry , " and upon reaching adulthood , he resided on his own farm which was in close proximity to " Glengarry . " Even though McDonald was primarily a farmer , he engaged in a number of other business and leisure pursuits . Following his father ' s sudden death in 1778 , McDonald received " Glengarry " which consisted of in addition to two houses and lots in Winchester . McDonald and his brother John also received in Kentucky to be divided between them . Marriage and children . McDonald married Mary McGuire ( died 1809 ) , daughter of Edward McGuire and his wife Millicent D ' Obee , on January 11 , 1798 . Mary McGuire ' s maternal grandfather was French architect Samuel D ' Obee , charged by Thomas Jefferson with supervising the construction of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond . McDonald and his wife had three children , two sons and one daughter : McDonald named his eldest son , Angus William , in honor of his father Angus McDonald and his brother - in - law William McGuire . His daughter Millicent was named for McDonald ' s mother - in - law Millicent D ' Obee McGuire , and his youngest son Edward Charles was named for Charles Edward Stuart , leader of the Jacobite rising of 1745 in which McDonald ' s father had served under Stuart ' s command . In March 1809 , McDonald ' s wife Mary died and she was interred beside her father , Edward McGuire , in the Old Catholic Churchyard in Winchester . Following her death , McDonald ' s children were sent to " Glengarry " to be raised by his mother , Anna Thompson McDonald . Military career . During the onset of the War of 1812 , McDonald was commissioned as a first lieutenant on March 12 , 1812 in the 12th Infantry Regiment of the Regular Army . On June 24 , 1814 , McDonald received a commission to the rank of captain in the 12th Infantry Regiment following a nomination and appointment by United States President James Madison on February 1 of that year . McDonald was subsequently promoted to the rank of major in 1814 . On October 14 , 1814 , McDonald died in a military hospital in Batavia , New York from health complications caused by a " very long and trying " forced march . McDonald ' s final messages along with his belongings , which included his sword and sash , were delivered to his mother and children at " Glengarry " by his colleague and friend , Colonel John Strother , who had been present at McDonald ' s death . The McDonald family was very grateful to Strother for his actions and the two families remained close . Fifty years later , during the American Civil War , McDonald ' s son Colonel Angus William McDonald interceded on Strother ' s behalf when he was arrested by McDonald ' s Confederate squad for treason in August 1861 . McDonald said of Strother , " he had been kind to my father , was his fellow soldier , tended him on his death - bed and was kind to me as his son . I never forgot it and I was never ungrateful . " McDonald ' s mother continued to raise McDonald ' s three children at " Glengarry " following his death .