Ranald MacKinnon (sometimes spelled McKinnon) was a soldier and a civil servant of the British Empire from 1758 until his death in 1805. As a junior officer he served with Montgomerie's Highlanders (77th Regiment of Foot) in the French and Indian War in North America, primarily in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. During the American Revolutionary War he served as a junior officer of the Royal Highland Emigrants (84th Regiment of Foot), and also as colonel of the militia of Queens County, Nova Scotia. He was, in large part, responsible for ensuring that southwestern Nova Scotia remained loyal to the King during the Revolution.