After capturing the island, the British under the command of Colonel Robert McDouall of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment built Fort George, a stockade and blockhouse on the highest point of the island.
During the 1820s, he served at various posts on the frontier with the 6th Infantry including Fort Mackinac in Michigan, Fort Atkinson in Iowa, and Jefferson Barracks in Missouri.
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Late in 1813, he was appointed Adjutant to Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall, newly appointed commander of the post at Fort Mackinac.
Nor was it possible to land large numbers of troops on the southern side of the Niagara Peninsula and advance on Burlington to cut off the British on the Niagara River, because the American squadron on Lake Erie (and the regular troops at Detroit) had been diverted to attempt the recapture of Fort Mackinac on Lake Huron.
OUWBSM is named for OU which was named for Oakland County and William Beaumont Hospital (WBH) which was named for US Army surgeon William Beaumont who became known as the "Father of Gastric Physiology" following his research on human digestion started at Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan.
He is best remembered for overseeing the construction of Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island in what was to become the U.S. state of Michigan.
The news of the declaration of war he carried, along with orders from Major General Isaac Brock, the Commander in Upper Canada, allowed the British detachment to take the American detachment at Fort Mackinac by surprise.
Supported by the newly appointed Commander at Fort Mackinac, Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall, McKay (who now held the local rank of Lieutenant Colonel) mounted a scratch expedition of Fencibles, voyageurs and Indians which recaptured the post at the Siege of Prairie du Chien.