Robert McDouall Major - General Robert McDouall , CB ( March , 1774 – 15 November 1848 ) was a Scottish - born officer in the British Army , who saw much action during the Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo - American War of 1812 . He is best known for serving as the commandant of Fort Mackinac from 1814 until the end of the War of 1812 . Early life and career . Robert was born in Stranraer in Scotland , where his father was a magistrate . He was educated at Felsted School , and his father and uncle placed him in a business in London , hoping he would become a merchant . Instead , in 1797 , he purchased a commission in the 8th ( The King ' s ) Regiment of Foot . He saw much service with the regiment , in the Egyptian campaign in 1801 , and as a Captain at the Battle of Copenhagen ( 1807 ) and in the Invasion of Martinique ( 1809 ) . Service in Canada . The 1st Battalion of the 8th Foot were posted to Canada in 1810 . Two years later , war broke out between Britain and the United States . McDouall was appointed aide de camp to the Governor General of Canada , Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost . On 24 June 1813 , he was appointed Major in the Glengarry Light Infantry , a Scottish unit raised in Canada . He was sent to Britain with despatches , was made a brevet Lieutenant Colonel in the Army on 29 July , and returned to Canada . Mackinac Island . No doubt due to Prevost ' s influence , McDouall was appointed Commandant of the post on Mackinac Island . The island was an important American trading post on Lake Huron . It had been captured by the British and Indians by surprise early in the war , thereby inducing many more Indians to ally themselves with Britain . In 1813 , the Americans had won the Battle of Lake Erie , which had isolated the island from supply via Lake Erie . McDouall and a party of soldiers from the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles , voyageurs and craftsmen journeyed north from York , the provincial capital of Upper Canada , to the Nottawasaga River in the depths of winter . They constructed batteau x and when the river unfroze in the spring , they sailed and paddled the length of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron to reach Mackinac with vital supplies . McDouall took up his post as commandant and began improving the defences of the island . McDouall ' s responsibilities covered a very large geographical area . Shortly after his arrival , he learned that the Americans had captured the post of Prairie du Chien , threatening the allegiance of some of the Indians . He dispatched an expedition under William McKay which succeeded in recapturing Prairie du Chien , although it reduced his own strength . An American expedition for the recapture of Mackinac Island , consisting of five warships with 700 troops , appeared off the island on 26 July 1814 . McDouall ' s defences withstood an American bombardment and in the Battle of Mackinac Island , Indians with some of McDouall ' s troops defeated an American landing and inflicted heavy loss . The Americans then attempted to starve out the garrison with a blockade , but in the Engagement on Lake Huron , the blockading vessels were captured , securing the British hold on the entire region for the remainder of the war . The War ended in 1815 . McDouall publicly regretted that the Treaty of Ghent restored Mackinac Island to America . He remained commandant of the post on nearby Drummond Island , and of the remaining British forces in the area , until leaving for home in June 1816 . Glengarry Landing on the Nottawasaga River , where McDouall had overseen the construction of the flotilla in 1814 , was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923 . Later career . In spite of his record , McDouall never again saw active service , although he was appointed Companion of the Bath in February 1817 and was promoted Colonel in July 1830 and Major General in November , 1841 . He spent the remainder of his life on half pay retirement in Stranraer . He never married and devoted much time and money to the Free Church of Scotland .