Campbell, John

views updated May 23 2018

Campbell, John

CAMPBELL, JOHN. (c. 1725–1806). British general. Born in Strachur, Scotland, Campbell entered the army in June 1745 as a lieutenant in Loudoun's Highlanders, then commanded by John Campbell, earl of Loudoun (the two men were not related). He served through the Second Jacobite Rebellion and took part in the Flanders campaign in 1747, after which he was promoted to captain. Appointed to the Forty-second Highlanders on 9 April 1756, Campbell was wounded at Ticonderoga in 1758. On 11 July 1759 he became a major of the Seventeenth Foot, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 February 1762.; He commanded that regiment in the operations against Martinico and Havana in 1762. On 1 May 1773 he became lieutenant colonel of the Thiry-seventh Foot, and in 1776 he went to America with this regiment. During the Philadelphia campaign he was part of Sir Henry Clinton's force left in New York, and served as commander on Staten Island from 1777 to 1778. On 11 September 1777 he led a force that landed at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, with a dual mission. First, he hoped to create a diversion in favor of General William Howe's main army, which that day fought the Battle of Brandywine. He also planned to conduct a large-scale foraging operation through Newark. The raid netted some horses and livestock, which, according to General Clinton, "afforded a seasonable refreshment to the squadron and the army," but accomplished little more.

Around the end of November 1778, Clinton detached Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell to take Savannah, Georgia, and General John Campbell to take command in West Florida. The latter was sent, at the suggestion of George Sackville (Lord Germain, then the British colonial secretary), with orders to capture New Orleans if Spain entered the war. On 19 February 1779 he was given the local rank of major general. Far from being able to execute the ambitious strategy proposed by Germain, who neglected the detail of sending him adequate means, Campbell was forced to surrender Pensacola to Spanish General Bernado de Galvez on 9 May 1781. Exchanged almost immediately, Campbell was promoted to lieutenant general, and the rank was made permanent on 28 September 1787. Ten years later he was made a full general. He died in 1806.

SEE ALSO Colonial Wars; Culloden Moor, Scotland; Loudoun, John Campbell; Pensacola, Florida; Staten Island, New York.

                                        revised by Michael Bellesiles

Campbell, John

views updated May 17 2018

CAMPBELL, JOHN

John Campbell, also known as First Baron Campbell, was born September 15, 1779, in Scotland. He was admitted to the bar in 1806 and pursued a career in British law and politics.

In 1830, Campbell entered Parliament and advocated legal reforms in real property and local government. Two years later he served as solicitor general, and from 1834 to 1841, he was attorney general. In 1850 he performed the duties of Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench and in 1859 became Lord Chancellor.

Campbell is credited with the passage of three important pieces of legislation: the libel Act, in 1843; the Copyright Act, in 1846; and the Obscene Publications Act, in 1857.

As an author, Campbell is famous for Lives of the Lord Chancellors, published from 1845 to 1847, and for Lives of the Chief Justices, published from 1849 to 1857.

Campbell died June 23, 1861, in London, England.

"The Supreme Court IS A VENERABLE TRIBUNAL THAT DESERVES WELL OF THE COUNTRY. It ought not … be affected by revolutionary politics and I shall take care that through me this shall not be done."
John Campbell

Campbell, John

views updated May 29 2018

Campbell, John

CAMPBELL, JOHN. (1753–1784). British officer. Born on 7 December 1753 near Dumbarton, Scotland, Campbell was the son of Lord Stonefield and lady Grace Stuart, the daughter of John Stuart, the third earl of Bute. In 1771 he entered the army as an ensign in the Thirty-seventh Regiment. In 1774 he became a lieutenant in the Seventh Foot (also known as the Fusiliers). At the start of the Revolution, this regiment and the Twenty-sixth Foot, both of them under strength, were the only British regulars at the disposal of General Guy Carleton for the defense of Canada. Campbell was captured at St. Jean early in the war. Soon exchanged, he was promoted to captain in the Seventy-first Highlanders on 2 December 1775, and on 30 December 1777 he became a major in the Seventy-first Highlanders. In 1780 he returned to England, and on 7 February 1781 was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He distinguished himself in India, where he commanded the famous defense of Mangalore from 23 May 1783 to 23 January 1784. At the conclusion of the battle, he surrendered his 856 survivors with the Honors of War. He died 23 March 1784 in Bombay.

SEE ALSO Honors of War.

                                        revised by Michael Bellesiles

Campbell, John

views updated May 29 2018

CAMPBELL, John

CAMPBELL, John. Scottish, b. 1956. Genres: Philosophy, Adult nonfiction. Career: Oxford University. Publications: Past, Space, and Self, 1994. Address: New College, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3BN, England.

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