Angus William McDonald  Angus William McDonald (February 14, 1799 – December 1, 1864) was a 19th-century American military officer and lawyer in the U.S. state of Virginia. He also served as a colonel in command of the Confederate States Army's 7th Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War. McDonald was appointed to serve in a number of prominent political positions including a superintendent overseeing the construction of the Northwestern Turnpike and a commissioner representing Virginia in its boundary dispute with Maryland. McDonald was the grandson of Virginia military officer and frontiersman, Angus McDonald (1727–1778) and the father of United States Fish Commissioner Marshall McDonald (1835–1895). Angus William McDonald was born on February 14, 1799, in Winchester, Virginia. He was the eldest child of prominent local planter Angus McDonald (1769–1814) and his wife, Mary McGuire McDonald (d. 1809) and the grandson of Virginia militiaman, frontiersman, and landowner Angus McDonald (1727–1778). McDonald was of Scottish and Dutch descent through his father, and of French and Irish descent through his mother. In 1809, following the death of his mother, McDonald and his younger brother and sister were sent by their father to "Glengarry" plantation near Winchester to live with their grandmother, Anna Thompson McDonald. By about the age of twelve, McDonald attended Winchester Academy where he was taught by Scotchman Mr. Hetterick. While attending the academy in Winchester, McDonald resided at the home of his uncle, Edward McGuire. On July 30, 1814, McDonald entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, following his appointment by United States President James Madison. In October 1814, McDonald's father, a United States Army major, died following a forced march near Batavia, New York, during operations related to the War of 1812. McDonald initially gained admission to the academy's fourth class, but after much progress, he was permitted to pass during the middle of his third year from the second class into the first class, thus completing his education there in three years. Among his close friends at the academy was Ethan Allen Hitchcock, whom McDonald would name his second eldest son after. McDonald graduated from the academy on July 17, 1817, and was subsequently promoted to the rank of third lieutenant in the 7th Infantry Regiment. On April 1, 1818, McDonald was further promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in the 7th Infantry Regiment.