Archibald Douglas (d. 1667), army officer, whose origins are obscure although he was probably Scottish by birth, was commissioned captain on 5 July 1666 in Colonel Lord George Douglas's regiment of foot (the Royal Scots). In 1667 the regiment was brought back from four years' garrison duty in France to confront the Dutch threat during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. As the Dutch fleet under De Ruyter advanced on the Medway estuary, Colonel Douglas's regiment was reinforced and assigned to the defence of Chatham. Captain Douglas, who had previously been stationed at Queensferry to deter the Dutch crossing the Medway, was sent with a detachment of soldiers to defend HMS Royal Oak.

On 12 June the Dutch got their fireships over the chain across the mouth of the Medway and entered the river. They missed the Royal Oak on the first attempt but on the following day John Clapham reported to Pepys that he saw the Royal Oak and other vessels ‘fired and aflame’ (CSP dom., 1667, 185). Douglas defended the vessel with great courage and when advised to retire, refused, allegedly saying, ‘it shall never be told that a Douglas quitted his post without orders’ (Lediard, 589). Douglas perished in the flames on 13 June; it is not known whether his body was recovered for burial but on 18 October of the same year his widow, Anne-Marie Herry, was given the sum of £100 by royal warrant.