You’ve gotta see the General

I came to Woodland Cemetery on a fluke. I was noticed. First one woman, then by a second. And at both incidences, i was just about to hop into the flivver and go home. They were both enthusiastic volunteers, and ambassadors for Woodland Cemetery. They catalogue, and help maintain the once premier Cleveland necropolis.

The second lady, was extremely eager to talk. By happenstance, my current street of residence had been her old street of residence. She gave me a tour. We had a two vehicle caravan about the cemetery. She spoke of the denizens, and the ground hog [woodchuck] problem [they are digging up graves], former vandals and grave robbers, and other interesting things. We spoke about war, and the ravages it does to the combatants. But, most insistently, “You've gotta see the General”, or really his monument. I did, and was quite pleased.

It was a four sided pillar. Donald McLeod, could the name be any more Scottish? And right behind him, across one street had been Holy Trinity. Across the other street, a Catholic Cemetery. Donald was an Unitarian. Well, one face tells you Donald was born at Fort Augustus near Inverness [by Loch Ness] Scotland, on the 1st of January 1779. Now, that was its new name after the disaster of Culloden 1746. The old name, for the wee village, was Kiliwhimin [Cill Chuimein]. It was newly named after the Butcher, Duke of Cumberland, William Augustus, third son of William II.

McLeod lived 100 years, 6 months and 21 days. What did he do for a century? How did he get to die in Cleveland? Well, a part of the story is on another face:

A soldier in the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington. And a participant in the burial of Sir John Moore. A British officer at the Battle of Waterloo. And in the American War of 1812. Major General of the Patriots in the Canadian Rebellion of 1837.

France under Napoleon Bonaparte wanted the control of Europe. The Peninsular [Iberia = Spain, Portugal] War was fought from 1807-1814. The British were first lead by Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington). He was recalled, and the Scotsman, Lt. Gen. John Moore took command. He died after being struck by cannon shot at the Battle of Corruna, in Galicia, Spain on January 16, 1809.

McLeod had attended the University of Aberdeen. In 1803 he joined the British navy. He joined the 42nd Highlanders, infantry in 1808. His unit was active in Spain, and Portugal. They were sent to Canada. Sgt. McLeod participated in Battle of Lundy's Lane (Niagara Falls, Canada) July 25, 1814. He also participated at Queenston Heights, and Crysler’s Farm. The regiment came back to England, then Waterloo. June 18, 1815 Napoleon fought his last battle. The newly created, Duke of Wellington led the British. The British, the Dutch, and four German states ended Napoleon's return to power.

In 1816 McLeod settled in Prescott, on the St. Lawrence, across Ogdensburg New York. He became a teacher, publisher of a newspaper, and a militia major. In 1837 rebellions broke out in Lower Canada (Papineau's)[Quebec], and Upper Canada (Mackenzie's) [Ontario]. The Rebels (Patriotes, Patriots) wanted a responsible government, they were in opposition to the Tories (Conservatives) and the Crown. The Tories trashed his printing press. McLeod escaped to New York state.

He became a brigadier general overseeing 500 men. On the second day of the March, a US colonel, and his troops took all their weapons. February 24, 1838 he reached Windsor. Four hundred British troops wee waiting, they had been notified by the American General Hugh Brady. McLeod and his, now, 300 had six muskets, and one cannon. They retreated to the American side, and were arrested.

The Canadians in the US formed a Hunters Lodge in Cleveland, and one in Rochester. They were imitating masonic structure. McLeod was appointed Secretary War, and Major General, in Cleveland. In 1840, the US ended these lodges, and other Canadian organisations; also the government in Canada was improving. The rebellions were put down. Self-rule was still a generation away [July 1, 1867].

McLeod wrote a book: A Brief Review of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the N. E. Loyalists and Scotch Highlanders in 1783; and of the Grievances which Compelled the Canadas to have recourse to Arms in Defence of their Rights and Liberties in the Years 1837 and 1838. Together with a Brief Sketch of the Campaigns of 1812-'13-'14: With an account of the Military Executions, Burnings, and Sackings of Towns and Villages, by the British, in the Upper and Lower Provinces, during the Commotion of 1837 and '38. By D. McLeod, Major General, Patriot Army, Upper Canada. Cleveland: F. B. Penniman, 1841.

In 1846 the British pardoned the surviving rebels. Some had been hanged, more were sent to the prison colony of Australia. McLeod returned to Canada, later coming to Cleveland. Where he died.