Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Sir William Pitcairn Campbell, (20 June 1856 – 22 September 1933) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

general during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early life

Pitcairn Campbell was the son of James Pitcairn Campbell and his wife, Eleanor (née Eyre), of Burton Hall,

Neston Neston is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is within the part of the Wirral Peninsula that belongs to the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The built up area (as defined by the Office for National Statistic ...

. He had two elder sisters, Eliza and Georgina. He was educated at

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory sc ...

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

Military career

Pitcairn Campbell was commissioned into the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...

in 1875. He served with the Mounted Infantry Camel Corps in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

between 1884 and 1885. His battalion served in South Africa from 1899 to 1901 during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. At the Battle of Talana Hill he was wounded and his commanding officer was killed. As second in command, he took command of his battalion and was part of the garrison besieged at Ladysmith. He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant colonel in command of the 1st Battalion on 25 January 1900. Pitcairn Campbell was aide-de-camp to King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

from 1900 to 1907 and was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in the King's Birthday Honours of June 1906. He was placed on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

upon relinquishing command of the battalion in January 1904. Upon returning to normal pay, he succeeded Major General Bruce Hamilton as commander of the 3rd Brigade, part of the 3rd Division of the 1st Army Corps, in May, for which he became a substantive colonel and temporary brigadier general while employed in this role. After being promoted to major general in October 1907, he became

general officer commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

5th Division in 1909. Promoted to lieutenant general in October 1913, he moved on to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Command from 1914 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command from 1916; he retired in 1918. Pitcairn Campbell was knighted in 1915 on promotion to

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

. In 1916, he was appointed colonel of the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First World War, First and World War II, Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 t ...

, succeeding General Sir Henry Hildyard.

Family

In 1888 a fellow infantry officer, Major Gilbert, who had been serving in India, named Pitcairn Campbell as

co-respondent In English law, a co-respondent is, in general, a respondent to a petition, or other legal proceeding, along with another or others, or a person called upon to answer in some other way. 7.4.19 Divorce More particularly, since the Matrimonial Cau ...

in the divorce case against his wife. The following year, he and Edith Gilbert (née Prothero) married and went on to have one daughter.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, William 1856 births 1933 deaths British Army lieutenant generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British Army generals of World War I King's Royal Rifle Corps officers British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War People educated at Windlesham House School Military personnel from Cheshire