Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

Sir Alexander Campbell, 1st Baronet, (20 August 176011 December 1824) was a senior officer of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

during the early nineteenth century. His long and varied career saw extensive action, including engagements in Europe during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and subsequently in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

as one of the Duke of Wellington's generals. Badly wounded during the Peninsular campaign, Campbell was rewarded with a knighthood and a baronetcy, later holding a number of prestigious military commands.

Life

Alexander Campbell was born in 1760, the son of John Campbell of Achalader, Perthshire (of a branch of the Breadalbane Campbells) and Isabella, daughter of John Campbell of Barcaldine. In 1776 at the outbreak of the

, 16-year-old Campbell purchased a commission in the Royal Regiment and by 1780 had become a captain, moving to the

97th Regiment of Foot The 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1824 and amalgamated into the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) in 1881. History Raising In 1823 and 1824 the size of the British Army ...

. In 1781 the 97th was ordered aboard ships of the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

for service as temporary

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

and Campbell served at the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had e ...

and the Battle of Dogger Bank against the Dutch in the same year. He returned to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

the following year and remained there until the end of the siege in 1783, when the regiment was disbanded at Hillsea and Campbell was placed on half pay. In 1787, Campbell secured a commission in a new regiment being raised for service in

, named the 74th Regiment of Foot, sailing in 1793. In India Campbell rose rapidly through the ranks and by 1795 was a lieutenant colonel, serving in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 under General

Sir Arthur Wellesley Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

and participating in the

Battle of Seringapatam A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

that concluded the campaign. In the aftermath of the victory, Campbell was detached from his regiment and served in a number of military administration posts in Southern India, including governor of

Seringapatam Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...

in 1805. In 1804 his eldest son, John Morshead Campbell, had been killed at the

Battle of Assaye The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British f ...

and some months later Campbell had been stationed at the port city of Vizagapatam when it was attacked by a French squadron under Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois: Campbell directed the harbour's defences in the Battle of Vizagapatam, in which the French were driven off despite the loss of two

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

merchant ships. In 1807, Campbell returned to Europe. Campbell was appointed brigadier general and was stationed in Ireland, before joining Wellesley's army in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

during the

in January 1809. Several months later he was wounded in the thigh at the

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish a ...

, returning to Britain to recuperate. By January 1810 he was back with the army in Portugal as a major-general, commanding the British 6th Division at the

Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), the British–Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida. A bloody stalema ...

. Shortly afterwards however his health deteriorated and he returned to Britain. His second son, Allan William Campbell was killed in action in the Peninsular War, at the

Battle of Sorauren The Battle of Sorauren was part of a series of engagements in late July 1813 called the Battle of the Pyrenees in which a combined British and Portuguese force under Sir Arthur Wellesley held off Marshal Soult's French forces attempting ...

in 1813. In 1812 Campbell acted as Wellington's stand in at his investiture,

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

. Campbell would be inducted into the order later in the year. He was also made governor of the military forces on

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and Île Bourbon remaining there as a lieutenant-general until they were returned to the French in 1816. In 1815, Campbell was transferred at the reformation of the Order of the Bath as

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

and was also given a

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. In 1820 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the

Madras Army The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government ...

. He died on 11 December 1824 at Madras and was interred there, the baronetcy passing to his grandson Alexander Thomas Cockburn. He was granted an augmentation of honour to his coat of arms: above his inherited arms (Campbell quartering Lorn and Stewart) was added "a chief argent charged with a rock proper subscribed Gibraltar, between two medals for Seringapatam and Talavera" commemorating his part in the

Family

In 1783 Campbell married Olympia Elizabeth (died 1794), eldest daughter of William Morshead of Cartuther, Cornwall. They had three daughters (Olympia, Isabella, and Amelia), and two sons. The elder son, Lieutenant John Morshead Campbell was killed at the

in 1803 during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War ...

, and the younger Major Allan William Campbell died of his wounds at Pamplona on 9 October 1813 having been wounded at the

battle of Sorauren The Battle of Sorauren was part of a series of engagements in late July 1813 called the Battle of the Pyrenees in which a combined British and Portuguese force under Sir Arthur Wellesley held off Marshal Soult's French forces attempting ...

whilst attached to the Portuguese army during the

. On 3 November 1808, Campbell married Elizabeth Anne (died 1870), daughter of the Revd Thomas Pemberton. The couple had a son who died in infancy and a daughter called Flora Elizabeth (born 1824). On 3 July 1821—after the death of his three sons—Campbell obtained a renewed patent to the baronetcy, extending the limitation to his grandson Alexander Thomas Cockburn (the son of Campbell's eldest daughter Olympia), and if Alexander Thomas were to die without a male heir, to the male issue of his second daughter Isabella Charlotte, Lady Malcolm. Alexander Thomas Cockburn took an additional surname in 1825 becoming Cockburn-Campbell. His descendant, Sir Alexander Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, 7th Baronet, lives in Australia, as did his father and grandfather. cites

Notes

References

* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Alexander 1760 births 1824 deaths British Army lieutenant generals Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 74th Highlanders officers Royal Scots officers British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War