 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Archibald Campbell | |
|---|---|
 Archibald Campbell byGeorge Romney, c.1792, wearing the uniform of a major-general and the star of theOrder of the Bath, and withMadras'sFort St. George in the background | |
| Member of Parliament forStirling Burghs | |
| In office 1789–1791 | |
| Preceded by | James Campbell |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone |
| In office 1774–1780 | |
| Preceded by | James Masterton |
| Succeeded by | James Campbell |
| Governor of Madras | |
| In office 1786–1789 | |
| Preceded by | George Macartney |
| Succeeded by | William Medows |
| Governor of Jamaica | |
| In office 1781–1784 | |
| Preceded by | John Dalling |
| Succeeded by | Alured Clarke |
| Governor of Georgia | |
| In office 1778–1779 | |
| Preceded by | James Wright |
| Succeeded by | Jacques Marcus Prevost |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1739-08-21)21 August 1739 Inveraray, Scotland |
| Died | 31 March 1791(1791-03-31) (aged 51) Upper Grosvenor Street,London, England |
| Resting place | Westminster Abbey |
| Relatives | General George Campbell of Inverneill, C.B., K.A Colonel Alexander Campbell of Possil, General George Carter-Campbell, Willoughby Harcourt Carter, General Sir James Campbell of Inverneill, Colonel Duncan Carter-Campbell of Possil |
| Occupation | Colonial governor |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1758–1789 |
| Rank | Major-general |
| Battles/wars | Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War |
SirArchibald CampbellKB (21 August 1739 – 31 March 1791) was aBritish Army officer, colonial administrator and politician who served as governor ofGeorgia,Jamaica, andMadras. He was also a major landowner in Scotland and aWhite Rod who sat in theHouse of Commons of Great Britain between 1774 and 1791.
Archibald was baptized 24 August 1739 atInveraray, Scotland. He was the second son of James Campbell (1706–1760) 3rd of Tuerechan (8th Chief of Tearlach, descended from ClanCampbell of Craignish), Commissary of the Western Isles of Scotland, and Elizabeth (died 1790), daughter of James Fisher, Provost ofInveraray. He grew up with his family atDunderave Castle, and enjoyed thepatronage of bothArchibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll andHenry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville.
Educated atGlasgow University, and afterwards at theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1758, he was commissioned into theRoyal Engineers. He served with them in theSeven Years' War and was wounded at theSiege of Quebec. He participated in a number of raids along the coast ofFrance, as well as in expeditions in theWest Indies. A decade later, in 1768,Colonel Campbell, was made chief engineer of theBritish East India Company atBengal, and was successfully employed by the company to head the works onFort William in Calcutta.
InCalcutta, Campbell laid the foundation of his wealth. With Captain Henry Watson, he privately invested in a dockyard atKidderpore, and the two men acted as contractors for building and repairing ships until the government bought their concern. He also made a fortune trading insilk. Campbell used his wealth to become a majorlandowner in his nativeArgyll. He spent over £30,000 purchasing the estates of theIsland of Danna,Inverneill, Knap, Taynish, andUlva. He also purchased the houses ofInverkeithing andQueensferry.
In 1774, after an unusually bitter electoral battle with Colonel James Masterton (1715–1777), of Newton, Colonel Archibald Campbell (now styled 'ofInverneill') became theMember of Parliament for theStirling Burghs, aided by his guardian,Viscount Melville.James Boswell acted as Campbell's legal advisor.[1]
Following his exciting electoral victory, Colonel Campbell left his elder brother, Sir James Campbell (1737–1805) of Killean, to keep his parliamentary seat warm and sailed for America in command of the71st Regiment of Foot, Fraser's Highlanders, where theAmerican Revolutionary War was in progress. In 1776, after a battle aboard a vessel inBoston Harbor, Campbell was captured by the Americans and held prisoner until 1778.
Campbell's capture coincided with the British capture of the American military officersEthan Allen and GeneralCharles Lee. Rumours spread among the Americans that Allen and Lee were being mistreated in British captivity, which led Campbell's American captors to torment him. In February 1777, fromConcord Jail, an outraged Campbell complained toViscount Howe of his situation. There then ensued complaints and correspondence between Howe andGeorge Washington on Campbell's behalf.
By the following month Washington intervened andCongress protested that it had not intended to cause undue suffering to Campbell. By May, Campbell was living at the jailer's tavern, a marked improvement to his previous solitary confinement. Soon afterwards he was granted total freedom within the confine of the town of Concord, and during these years as aprisoner of war he was able to purchase the Knap estate back inArgyll. On 6 May 1778, he was finallyreleased in exchange for Ethan Allen.
Six months after his release, Campbell was ordered to lead 3,000 men fromNew York toGeorgia, and in late December his army won theBattle of Savannah, followed by another victory atAugusta. Contemporaries on both sides paid tribute to the humanity and restraint shown by Campbell. The American patriot Alexander Green, one ofLee's Legion andaide-de-camp to Major-GeneralNathanael Greene referred to Campbell's concern for the civil population and lack of bitterness towards his former captors. He also revealed how the Patriots feared Campbell as a commander of great ability. Greene related of Campbell:[citation needed]
As conqueror of Savannah, his immediate care was to soften the asperities of war, and to reconcile to his equitable government, those who had submitted, in the first instance, to the superiority of his arms. Though but lately released from close and rigorous confinement, which he had suffered in consequence of indignities offered to General Charles Lee, a prisoner at New York, he harboured no resentments, and considered his sufferings rather the effect of necessity, than wilful persecution. Oppression was foreign to his nature, and incompatible with his practice. He made proper allowance for an attachment to cherished principles nor with-held his applause from those who bravely supported them. He used no threats to gain proselytes, no artifice to ensnare them. Such of the inhabitants as voluntarily made a tender of service, were favourably received; but he was ever disinclined to invite them to take up arms in the British cause, lest in the fluctuating councils of his governments, he should lead them to destruction. He had too frequently seen them lavished of professions of permanent support, leaving their deluded adherents to the mercy of the government, which, in an evil hour, they had abandoned. The friends of our independence had everything to dread from his wisdom and humanity, but their alarm was short of duration. Lieutenant Colonel Campbell had too nice a sense of honour to be made instrument of injustice and oppression, and he was speedily called upon to relinquish his command, to a superior, less scrupulous and better disposed to second the harsh measures of the Commander in Chief.
He became provisionalgovernor of Georgia then and namedJacques Marcus Prevost his lieutenant and successor before returning toEngland.
Returning to Britain, in July 1779,[2] he married Amelia (1755–1813), daughter ofAllan Ramsay of Kinkell,Principal Painter in Ordinary toGeorge III. Amelia Campbell's mother, Margaret (1726–1782), was the eldest daughter of SirAlexander Lindsay of Evelick and Hon. Amelia Murray, the sister of Amelia Campbell's influential great uncle and guardian,William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. Mrs Campbell was the niece of AdmiralSir John Lindsay, and by him a first cousin ofDido Elizabeth Belle.
He ended the American Revolution as lieutenant governor and major general in Jamaica (1779–81). At a time of great importance, Campbell (now a major-general in the army) was appointedGovernor of Jamaica in 1781. The British forces in America were faring ill: the French had joined the insurgents and threatened theBritish West India Islands (capturingTobago,St. Eustatius,St. Kitts,Nevis andMontserrat). Campbell was successful in raising native troops and was vigilant enough that the French did not dare attackJamaica without re-inforcements.
At the same time, Campbell assisted the British troops inAmerica by sending information, re-inforcements and supplies. By lending some of his troops to serve as marines, he materially aidedAdmiral Rodney in his great victory overFrançois Joseph Paul de Grasse at theBattle of the Saintes, savingJamaica from a French invasion.
Campbell's wife, Amelia, and her sister, joined him in Jamaica. Their convoy from England came under fire from a joint French and Spanish fleet, and their ship was the only one to get through.
On returning from Jamaica, Campbell was awarded as Knight of theOrder of the Bath.
InIndia,Madras was exhausted after the war againstMysore, and no serious military operations were undertaken until renewed hostilities against that state became inevitable at the end of 1789. In 1786, Campbell, who was now a well known and highly respected figure, was appointedcommander-in-chief and governor of Madras. Throughout his term of office, the country had a rest from the devastating wars, and so he devoted himself to the development of peaceful institutions.
He founded a military board which absorbed the duties of the Committee of Works; a hospital board, a board of revenue and aboard of trade. He reorganized thepolice, established astock exchange and abank. He built anastronomical observatory and constituted an orphanage. In fact, there was hardly a department of the civil administration in which he did not labour to secure improvement and order. Madras sustained a serious loss when, overcome by illness, he was forced to leave India in February 1789, retiring from the post of governor in 1790.
On returning home, Campbell acquired the office ofUsher of the White Rod. The Institution ofRoyal Engineers described Campbell as "the most brilliant of the engineers who served in India during the eighteenth century".[citation needed] Following a cold caught coming up from Scotland, he died the following year, 31 March 1791, at his newly purchased London home on Upper Grosvenor Street, bought from theDuke of Montrose. He was only fifty-one. His fortune, land and political titles passed to his two brothers, and his wife was given £25,000.
Campbell and his wife died without children, and they were both buried atWestminster Abbey next toHandel's Monument inPoets' Corner.[3] A memorial by the sculptorJoseph Wilton was erected in the Abbey in 1795.[3] Also buried in the Abbey are his nephew, Lt.-GeneralSir James Campbell of Inverneill and his wife's kinsmen, theEarl of Mansfield andAdmiral Lindsay.[2]
He sat for thirteen sittings from January to May 1790 for a portrait by artistGeorge Romney. Romney produced several versions of the final portrait; the principal one was bought for 70 guineas by Lady Campbell from Romney via a forwarding agent in 1791, which is now owned by theNational Army Museum in London (FDA-1970-12-13) – it was until December 2008 on display as part of its permanent display on theAmerican Revolutionary War. Three other copies are attested, one of which is now displayed in theNational Gallery of Art, Washington.[4][5][6]
Media related toArchibald Campbell (British Army officer) at Wikimedia Commons
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forStirling Burghs 1774–1780 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forStirling Burghs 1789–1791 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Jamaica 1781–1784 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Madras 1786–1789 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| New regiment | Colonel of the74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1787–1791 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |