who was Yankee doodle as is in the old song"Yankee doodle went to town"?

Question

the rest of the song is"for to catch a pony stuck a feather in his hat and called him macaronni"

Answer 1

The song's origins were in a pre-United States Revolutionary War song originally sung by British military officers to mock the dishevelled, unorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. At the time, the most common meaning of the word doodle had the meaning of "simpleton" or "fool". It is believed that the tune comes from the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket. One version of the Yankee Doodle lyrics is attributed to Doctor Richard Shuckburgh, a British Army surgeon.

The Boston Journal of the Times wrote about a British band declaring "that Yankee Doodle song was the Capital Piece of their band music."

[edit]
Early versions
The earliest known version of the lyrics comes from 1775:

Brother Ephraim sold his Cow
And bought him a Commission;
And then he went to Canada
To fight for the Nation;
But when Ephraim he came home
He proved an arrant Coward,
He wouldn't fight the Frenchmen there
For fear of being devour'd.
(Note that the sheet music which accompanies these lyrics reads, "The Words to be Sung through the Nose, & in the West Country drawl & dialect.")

The Ephraim referenced here was Ephraim Williams, a popularly known Colonel in the Massachusetts militia who was killed in the Battle of Lake George. He left his land and property to the founding of a school in Western Massachusetts, now known as Williams College.

During the Revolutionary War, the Americans embraced the song and made it their own, turning it back on those who had used it to mock them. A newspaper account after the Battle of Lexington and Concord, a Boston newspaper reported, "Upon their return to Boston [pursued by the Minutemen], one [Briton] asked his brother officer how he liked the tune now,-- 'Damn them,' returned he, 'they made us dance it till we were tired.' -- Since which Yankee Doodle sounds less sweet to their ears."

The British responded with another set of lyrics following the Battle of Bunker Hill:

The seventeen of June, at Break of Day,
The Rebels they supriz'd us,
With their strong Works, which they'd thrown up,
To burn the Town and drive us.

Answer 2

The Jockey Jonny Jones. "Yankee Doodle went to London just to ride the ponies. Stuck a feather in his (Jonny's) cap and called it macaroni." (The feathers worn in the hats of Italian soldiers are called macaroni because of their extreme curved shape.) Apparently while in England to race Jones saw some Italian soldiers, I'm not sure how was struck with the feathers and found one for his own hat. London society types found this very amusing.

Answer 3

Yankee Doodle" was a nickname given to the poorly dressed colonial soldiers during the French and Indian War by the British soldiers. Later, during the Revolutionary War, the colonists decided they enjoyed the song and they adopted it as their own
http://www.salem.k12.va.us/south/america/yankee.htm

Answer 4

I always thought it was about George Washington.