Lieutenant-Colonel Allan MacLean (1725-83) was born at Torloish in Scotland, and began his military service as a 17-year-old lieutenant in the Scots Brigade of the Dutch Army. Accounts differ as to which side he fought on in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, but he later transferred to the British Army, was commissioned in the 60th Foot (serving briefly as adjutant), and was badly wounded at the sieges of Ticonderoga and Fort Niagara. He served as a captain under Wolfe at the capture of Quebec (possibly in Montgomery's Highlanders), and later took command of a New York Independent Company. On the death of his wife in 1760, he returned to Scotland to care for his three daughters, and to raise the short-lived MacLean's Highlanders (114th Foot).
By 1775, MacLean was back in North America and was authorized by Gage to raise a regiment from Scottish communities in Canada, New York and the Carolinas. During Montgomery's invasion, he made two attempts to relieve St Johns, but was forced to return to Quebec, where he helped to stiffen the resolve of the civil population until Carleton's return from Montreal.
After 1776, MacLean held several administrative posts and in June 1777, he was made a brigadier-general and governor of Montreal. He also spent some time at Fort Niagara. MacLean served Carleton well in 1775 and had other subordinates been as industrious and aggressive, Montgomery may well have been stopped at St Johns.
