General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun (5 May 1705 – 27 April 1782) was a Scottish nobleman and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

army officer.

Early career

Born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

two years before the creation of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

, in which his father

Hugh Campbell, 3rd Earl of Loudoun Hugh Campbell, 3rd Earl of Loudoun, KT, PC ( – 20 November 1731) was a Scottish landowner, peer, and statesman. With the Earl of Mar, Loudoun was the last Secretary of State of the Kingdom of Scotland. He supported the Union with England of ...

was a significant figure, Campbell inherited his father's estates and peerages in 1731, becoming Lord Loudoun. He raised a regiment of infantry that took part in the

Jacobite Rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

on the side of the Hanoverian government. The regiment consisted of twelve companies, with Loudoun as colonel and John Campbell (later 5th Duke of Argyll) as lieutenant-colonel. The regiment served in several different parts of Scotland; three of the twelve companies, raised in the south, were captured at

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( gd, Baile an t-Sagairt, Scots language, Scots: ''The Pans'') is a small mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Council area of East Lothian. The population as of is. It is near the si ...

. Eight companies, under the personal command of Lord Loudoun, were stationed in Inverness. Loudoun set out in February 1746 with this portion of his regiment and several of the Independent Companies in an attempt to capture the Jacobite pretender, Charles Edward Stuart. The expedition was met by a ruse de guerre (by only four Jacobites) which suggested a large force protected Stuart, and they returned without engagement. This was later publicised as the Rout of Moy. After this, Loudoun fell back to join the Duke of Cumberland's army, giving up the town of Inverness to the rebels. Following the battle at Culloden, Loudoun led his mixed force of regulars, militia and highlanders in " mopping up" operations against the remaining rebels

Seven Years War

North America

In 1756, Loudoun was sent to North America as Commander-in-Chief and Governor General of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, where he was unpopular with many of the colonial leaders. When he learned that some merchants were still trading with the French, while he was trying to fight a war against them, he temporarily closed all American ports. Despite his unpopularity the county of

Loudoun Loudoun ( gd, Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the ...

, formed from Fairfax in 1757, was named in his honour. As Commander-in-Chief during the Seven Years' War (called the French and Indian War in the Thirteen Colonies), he planned an expedition to seize Louisbourg from the French in 1757 but called it off when intelligence (possibly including a French military deception) indicated that the French forces there were too strong for him to defeat. While Loudoun was thus engaged in Canada, French forces captured

Fort William Henry Fort William Henry was a British fort at the southern end of Lake George, in the province of New York. The fort's construction was ordered by Sir William Johnson in September 1755, during the French and Indian War, as a staging ground for ...

from the British, and Loudoun was replaced by James Abercrombie and returned to London.

Francis Parkman Francis Parkman Jr. (September 16, 1823 – November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of '' The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life'' and his monumental seven-volume '' France and England in North Am ...

, a 19th-century historian of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

, rates his martial conduct of the affair poorly. Many historians debate whether he played a fundamental part in the Seven Years' War. Arguably, he was an influential figure as he embarked on reforms for the army such as replacing the ordinary musket with the flintlock musket for greater accuracy. He made improvements by embarking on a road improvement programme, recognising the need to supply the army as he replaced the traditional supply line with army wagons. His focus was centralising the system of supplies and had built storehouses in Halifax and Albany, whilst recognising the importance of waterways as a means of transport. Most notably, he integrated regular troops with local militias-and the irregulars were to fight a different kind of war, than the linear, European style of warfare in which the British had previously been trained.

Benjamin Franklin's anecdotes of Lord Loudon

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

provides several first-hand anecdotes of Loudon's North American days in his '' Autobiography'', none complimentary. The following are excerpts:

Portugal

In 1762, he was sent to Portugal to counter the

Spanish invasion of Portugal The 1762 Spanish invasion of Portugal between 5 May and 24 November, was a military episode in the wider Fantastic War in which Spain and France were defeated by the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance with broad popular resistance. It involved at fir ...

as second-in-command, and he became overall commander in 1763. Despite being unable to prevent the loss of Almeida, the British forces soon launched a counter-attack that drove the invaders back across the border.

Later years

Back in Scotland, in 1763 Loudoun was made Governor of Edinburgh Castle, a post he held for the rest of his life. In 1770 he was promoted to full general.Haydn's ''Book of Dignities'' (1851
p. 318
Loudoun's interest in horticulture led to his estate being renown for its landscaping. He collected willow species in particular from around the globe. On 23 January 1773, the town of Loudon, New Hampshire was incorporated and named in Campbell's honor. Loudonville, New York was also named after him as well as the then unincorporated town of Loudon, Massachusetts which was renamed to Otis upon incorporation. Campbell remained a bachelor, and on his death in 1782 was succeeded as earl by his cousin, James Mure-Campbell.

References

External links

John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun
at wetpaint.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Loudoun, John Campbell, 4th Earl of 1705 births 1782 deaths Earls of Loudoun British Army personnel of the French and Indian War British Army generals Colonial governors of Virginia British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745 Loudoun County, Virginia British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War Fellows of the Royal Society Scottish representative peers Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Grand Masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England