Hay MacDowall

Lt.-Gen. Hay MacDowall (died March 1809) was a Scottish officer in the British Army who was the sixth General Officer Commanding, Ceylon. He was appointed on 19 July 1799. He was succeeded by David Douglas Wemyss. Fort MacDowall in Matale was named due to his involvement during Kandyan Wars. Only the remnants of gateway and portion of the ramparts are exist today.[1]

Lieutenant general

Hay MacDowall
6th General Officer Commanding, Ceylon
In office
19 July 1799 – 1804
Preceded byJosiah Champagne
Succeeded byDavid Douglas Wemyss
Personal details
BornDumfries and Galloway, Scotland
DiedMarch 1809
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
RankLieutenant general
CommandsGeneral Officer Commanding, Ceylon
Madras Army
Battles/warsNapoleonic Wars
Kandyan Wars

Biography

MacDowall hailed from Garthland Mains, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, where the family seat was Garthland Castle.[2] He was the fourth son of William MacDowell (c.1719-84), M.P. for Renfrewshire, and Elizabeth Graham, granddaughter of Alexander Livingstone, 3rd Earl of Callendar. His brothers William MacDowall (c.1749–1810) and Captain David McDowall-Grant (1761–1841) were Members of Parliament. His nephew was Lt. Gen. Day Hort MacDowall (1795–1870) and great-nephew was Canadian politician Day Hort MacDowall (1850–1927).[3]

In August 1782, he was the commanding officer of the fort of Trincomalee when the French lay siege to it in the run-up to the Battle of Trincomalee. He surrendered to Suffren on 30 August in exchange for safe passage to Madras for his 1,000-man garrison.[4] [5]

MacDowall was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 57th Regiment of Foot in 1791[6] and served in Flanders in 1793 and after serving as Commander-in-Chief in Ceylon from 1798 to 1804. In 1802, as a Major-General, he was appointed Colonel commandant of a Battalion of the 40th Regiment of Foot in place of Lord Hutchinson.[7] He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army in 1807.[8] He was made Colonel of the 41st Regiment of Foot in 1808.[9] Following a period of dispute with the civil government of Madras over his exclusion from its council, and the affair of the arrest of Quartermaster-General John Munro, he resigned his commission in January 1809 and took ship for England on the East Indiaman Lady Jane Dundas.[10] The ship was lost with all hands near the Cape of Good Hope in March 1809.[11]

Sources and references

Notes

    References

    1. "Fort MacDowall at Matale". AmazingLanka.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
    2. Keltie, Sir John Scott (1887). History of the Scottish Highlands: Highland Clans and Highland Regiments, with an Account of the Gaelic Language, Literature, and Music. T.C. Jack. p. 596. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
    3. Burke, Sir Bernard (1863). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. Harrison. p. 937. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
    4. Hennequin (1835), p. 312.
    5. Cunat (1852), p. 210.
    6. "No. 13297". The London Gazette. 5 April 1791. p. 213.
    7. "No. 15464". The London Gazette. 23 March 1802. p. 304.
    8. The India List and India Office List
    9. "No. 16145". The London Gazette. 14 May 1805. p. 682.
    10. Taylor, S. Storm and Conquest: The Battle for the Indian Ocean, 1808-10. Faber & Faber, London.
    11. Napoleonic Series

    Bibliography

    Military offices
    Preceded by
    Sir John Cradock    		 C-in-C, Madras Army
    1807–1810    		 Succeeded by
    Sir Samuel Auchmuty
    Preceded by
    Sir Thomas Stirling, 5th Baronet    		 Colonel of the 41st Regiment of Foot
    1808–1809    		 Succeeded by
    Sir Josiah Champagné
    Preceded by
    Josiah Champagne    		 General Officer Commanding, Ceylon
    1799–1804    		 Succeeded by
    David Douglas Wemyss


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