Archibald Campbell

General Sir Archibald Campbell, KB
August 21, 1739(1739-08-21) – March 31, 1791 (aged 51)
Archibald Campbell by George Romney, c.1792, wearing the uniform of a major-general and the star of the Order of the Bath, and with Madras's Fort St. George in the background
Place of birth	Inveraray, Scotland
Place of death	Upper Grosvenor Street, London
Resting place	Westminster Abbey
Allegiance	Great Britain
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1758-1789
Rank	lieutenant governor
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War, American Revolutionary War
Relations	Colonel Alexander Campbell of Possil, General George Carter-Campbell
Other work	Colonial governor

General Sir Archibald Campbell, KB (21 August 1739 – 31 March 1791) was a British Army officer who fought in the Seven Years War, the American Revolutionary War and later served as a colonial governor in Jamaica and Madras.

Early life and career

Archibald was born to James and Elizabeth (Fisher) Campbell and baptized August 24, 1739 in Inveraray, Scotland. He began his military career in the British Army as an engineer and participated in number of raids along the coast of France and expeditions in the Caribbean during the Seven Years War. He served in the siege of Quebec where he was wounded. After the war's end he served in the British East India Company's Bengal Engineers.

American Revolutionary War

At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Campbell was commissioned a lieutenant-colonel of the 71st Foot. He was captured as a prisoner of war during the siege of Boston and was later exchanged for Ethan Allen.

On November 8, 1778, Campbell was ordered to lead 3,000 men in an expedition from New York to Georgia. In late December, the army took Savannah. His army then turned into the backcountry and captured Augusta on January 31, 1779. Campbell withdrew from Augusta on February 14. He became provisional governor of Georgia then and named Jacques Marcus Prevost his lieutenant and successor. He returned to England in March 1779.^[1]. There he married the eldest daughter of painter Allan Ramsay, Amelia that July.^[2]

Later career and death

He was lieutenant governor of Jamaica in 1781, then in July of the next year the governor. He was appointed KB in 1785. From April 6, 1786 to February 6, 1789 he was Governor of Madras and later in 1789 acquired the office of Usher of the White Rod. He was buried April 5, 1791 in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey next to the monument of Handel.^[2]

Images

He sat for thirteen sittings from January to May 1790 for a portrait by artist George 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 the National Army Museum in London (FDA-1970-12-13) - it was until December 2008 on display as part of its permanent display on the American Revolutionary War. Three other copies are attested, one of which is now displayed in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.^[3][4][5]

Notes

See also

• Carter-Campbell of Possil

References

• Davis, Robert S., Jr, '"Portrait of a Governor", Atlanta Historical Journal, Vol XXVI, No.1, Spring 1982
• Archibald Campbell on the website of the Dictionary of National Biography (subscription required)
• Archibald Campbell in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography
• thePeerage.com
• New Georgia Encyclopedia

External links

• Archival material relating to Archibald Campbell (British Army officer) listed at the UK National Register of Archives