John Campbell of Strachur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Campbell of Strachur, (1727-1806) often known as General John Campbell (17th of Strachur), was a British military leader and minor nobleman who succeeded Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester as commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America in 1783.[1]
He inherited the title (17th of Strachur) upon the death of his father Admiral John Campbell (16th of Strachur) and was a direct descendant of a branch of Clan Campbell, (see Campbells of Strachur).
Contents |
[edit] Early military career
John Campbell (17th of Strachur) was appointed lieutenant in John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun's Highlanders in June 1745.
The young John Campbell showed his military prowess during the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and served in the British Army throughout the rising of 1745-1746 including the Battle of Culloden. He made the campaign in Flanders in 1747, in which year he became a Captain and at the peace of 1748 went on half pay.
[edit] French and Indian War
In 1756, he was called into active service and joined the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot (also known as the Black Watch Regiment) and served under James Wolfe.
He was wounded at Fort Ticonderoga, New York, during the Battle of Carillon in the French and Indian War and, on his recovery, was appointed Major of the King's 17th Regiment of Foot, later the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, and now the Royal Anglian Regiment. In February 1762, he became a Lieutenant Colonel and commanded the King's 17th Regiment of Foot in the expedition against Martinique and Havana. He became Lieutenant Colonel of the King's 57th Regiment of Foot on May 1, 1773, and returned to North America on the eve of the outbreak of the American Revolution. Campbell was based in Boston under the command of General Gage.
[edit] American Revolutionary War
Although not directly involved in the infamous march in April 1775 to Lexington and Concord to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock, Campbell was part of Lord Percy's (Duke of Northumberland) brigade sent to help reinforce the British troops, whose presence had been made known by Paul Revere, in the American hinterland. After the defeat at Bunker Hill in June 1775 he was sent on the New York expedition with Sir William Howe.
After Sir William Howe's successful Battle of Long Island and capture of New York City, John Campbell was based in New York City until autumn of 1778. While living there he was stationed at Fort Clinton and recorded as attending St. Paul's Chapel.
In October 1778 John Campbell, recently appointed Brigadier General, received a communication from Lord George Germain to proceed from the colony of New York to Pensacola on the frontier of British North America in the Province of West Florida and take command of His Majesty's troops.
The state of affairs that awaited General John Campbell in West Florida were severely deficient. The conditions General John Campbell said upon arrival at Pensacola were the most disagreeable, the most irksome, the most distressing of all situations anyone in the British Army had ever encountered. In January 1779 General John Campbell sent a report back to London stating that he found himself, "without money or credit for Contingent Expenses, without Vessels proper for Navigation or even Batteaux . . . without artificers wherewith to carry on Works . . . without any Provisions or Materials to Work upon, without any Prospect of their being procured . . . but by the labour of the Troops, without Tools for accommodating the few Artificers that could be found among the army, without Engineers Stores, without even adequate Provisions." General John Campbell immediately set out to improve the situation and began to construct a fort on the Mississippi by September 1779.
General John Campbell brought a detachment of Royal Artillery, the 3rd Regiment of Waldeck and two Provincial North American Loyalist Corps (the Pennsylvania and the Maryland Loyalists) from New York to reinforce the garrison at Pensacola. In addition to the 16th and the 60th regiments, Governor Peter Chester of West Florida had organised three independent companies of troops. Additional troops had been raised by Colonel John Stuart, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Southern District, who before the arrival of General John Campbell, was acting under instructions from General Sir William Howe. Campbell also requested of General Sir Henry Clinton a company of Negroes which was under Clinton's command, and later urged his commander-in-chief to send English troops to West Florida. With the increasing number of troops came added difficulties: the problems of adequate quarters and sufficient provisions. Meeting these demands gave General John Campbell much concern. Payment of the troops was in arrears since October 1778 and only small paper notes had been issued for money.
On February 19, 1779, General John Campbell was appointed Major General.
On March 22, 1779, General John Campbell was given complete authority over all troops in the Province of West Florida.
The proper defense of the West Florida province was the sine qua non of General John Campbell's mission. No adequate defence of the province could be realised until the neglected harbours of Pensacola and Mobile were strengthened. Pensacola did not have the protection of even one frigate and there was not a single gun mounted to prevent any enemy forces from entering the harbour. The harbour of Mobile was totally unprotected and a scene of ruin and desolation. General John Campbell estimated 50,000 pounds sterling would not restore the fort alone to its original state.
The acuteness of conditions in West Florida prodded Lord Germain to action - supplies and provisions had left England in January 1779 in a convoy for Pensacola via Jamaica. Alexander Cameron had been appointed Superintendent of Indian affairs in the Southwest and was to be under the commander-in-chief, General Clinton. Cameron was to follow General John Campbell's orders. In April 1779 General John Campbell reported to Germain the progress of the numerous activities under his supervision.
On June 21, 1779, Spain declared war on England. On June 25, 1779, a letter from London marked secret and confidential, went to General John Campbell at Pensacola from King George III and Lord George Germain. General John Campbell was instructed that it was the object of greatest importance to organise an attack upon New Orleans. If General John Campbell thought it was possible to reduce the Spanish fort at New Orleans, he was ordered to proceed immediately to make preparations. These preparations included: (1) secure from Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker as many armed vessels as could be spared from Jamaica, (2) collect all forces which could be drawn together in the province, (3) take as many faithful Indians as the Superintendent could supply, (4) draw on the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury for all expenses.
As an unfortunate twist of fate for General John Campbell, upon which his whole career was decided, this secret communication fell into the hands of Governor Galvez at New Orleans although ultimately reached General John Campbell afterwards.
After reading the communication from King George III and Germain, Bernardo de Gálvez, Governor of Louisiana swiftly and secretly organised Louisiana and New Orleans for war. The independence of the United States of America was publicly recognised in New Orleans on 19 August 1779.
On September 11, 1779, the Spanish and their Indian allies marched against the English forts on the lower Mississippi. So successful were they that they nearly destroyed the western part of West Florida before General John Campbell at Pensacola had the slightest communication of Galvez having commenced hostilities.
On September 14, 1779 General John Campbell was ready to embark with five vessels and two flatboats and with five hundred men, ample provisions, and a large supply of gifts for the Indians. He was proceeding to the attack of New Orleans when news arrived of Galvez's attack on the Mississippi. Personally, Governor Chester was indifferent in his conduct to General John Campbell for the defence of the Province of West Florida and would not proceed beyond the strict and most limited Construction of the Law to save West Florida. With the loss of the Mississippi area, General Campbell and Lord Germain, quite naturally, centred their attention on the defense of the eastern part of the province. The proper management of the Indians was of greater significance than ever. Efforts were made by General John Campbell to negotiate with the Chickasaws with the Cherokees and Creeks to act jointly on behalf of the English.
The very day in which Campbell informed Clinton of the latest developments in West Florida, the Spanish were approaching Fort Charlotte and Mobile. On March 14, 1780, Fort Charlotte and Mobile capitulated to Spanish forces. In immediate command of the English forces at Fort Charlotte was Captain Elias Durnford. General John Campbell had left Pensacola with reinforcements on March 5, 1780, but heavy rains, swollen streams and muddy roads had retarded his progress. When his scouts reported the display of Spanish colours over the fort, General John Campbell began his homeward trek. The troops returned to Pensacola on March 18, 1780. With the surrender of Mobile, West Florida was reduced to the District of Pensacola alone. Unless Pensacola was relieved by a naval reinforcement from Jamaica, Pensacola would be lost. One single Frigate, lamented Campbell to Germain, would have prevented our disaster at Mobile.
While Governor Galvez was preparing for his advance against the English at Pensacola, the rivalry between Governor Chester and General John Campbell flared up again because the governor sought to restrict General John Campbell's authority over the troops. General John Campbell predicted a Spanish attack in early fall 1780 but it didn't come. Tired of waiting for the Spanish to assume the initiative, General John Campbell, in January 1781, sent Colonel Von Hanx Leden with more than 500 men to seize Mobile. The attack was unsuccessful and failure was attributed to the early death in battle of Colonel Von Hanx Leden.
Early in March 1781 the long awaited Spanish attack on Pensacola was begun. On the afternoon of March 11 Galvez' ships were at the entrance of Penzacola Bay already having taken control of Santa Rosa island. On 21 March 1781, General John Campbell made a humane proposal to Governor Galvez that the town and Garrison of Pensacola shall be preserved. Unfortunately, in the night, before the Spanish Commander replied officially, one of the British officers in charge of a fort burned several houses. Whether or not this act was committed with the knowledge of General John Campbell is not known but it gave Galvez grounds for accusing the British commander of insincerity.
Detachments from Mobile and New Orleans arrived March 28, 1781, and on April 19 reinforcements, naval and army, Spanish and French, from Cuba lead by General Jose Solano Y Bote arrived. For his actions general Jose Solano y Bote was later recognized by King Carlos III of Spain by naming him the first Marques del Socorro. Galvez began actual operations against Pensacola.
As commander of the British forces in West Florida, he surrendered Pensacola to the Spaniards in the Battle of Pensacola, May 10, 1781.
During the Battle of Pensacola, which marked the culmination of Spain's reconquest of Florida from Britain during the American Revolutionary War, Major General John Campbell of Strachur inspired his troops to cling to the sturdy defences of Fort George. However, without naval protection nor adequate artillery to engage a counter assault, the Spanish artillery fire breached the ramparts on May 8, 1781, and struck a powder magazine. Commanded by Field Marshal Bernardo de Gálvez, Governor of Louisiana and architect of the successful Spanish campaign, a powerful flotilla of warships neutralised outer British defences and began an amphibious siege of the town on May 9, 1781. John Campbell surrendered Fort George to the Spaniards on May 10, 1781. Under generous terms Field Marshal Galvez allowed the British troops, including General John Campbell to return to New York. With the loss of West Florida, the Americans swiftly put pressure on the remaining British troops in North America at the Siege of Yorktown.
After returning from West Florida General John Campbell remained in British New York City until the British left under the Treaty of Paris on Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783. Campbell lived just off Wall Street on the corner of Trinity Place and Thames Street.
[edit] After war years
In 1783, he superseded Sir Guy Carleton as Commander-in-Chief, North America. General John Campbell served as Commander in Chief for British North American forces in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec in Canada until 1787.
He returned to Scotland, in 1787, where as Clan Chief of the Campbells of Strachur (see Campbells of Strachur) he established Strachur House.
Later in life John Campbell lamented his posting to West Florida with much feeling: "It has been my Misfortune . . . to be employed in an ill fated Corner of his Majesty's Dominions . . . My Endeavours have unremittingly been exerted for West Florida's preservation to the British Empire since I took upon me the military command, and if my Labours and Exertions to that End shall but find favour with my sovereign. I shall forget the Frowns of Fortune and be happy in the Royal Approbation."
John Campbell (17th of Strachur) died at Strachur House, Argyll, Scotland, on August 28, 1806.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WAR: The Battle of Pensacola. March 9 to May 8, 1781. Spain's Final Triumph over Great Britan in the Gulf of Mexico.
[edit] References
- Sketches of the Character, Manners and Present State of the Highlanders of Scotland; with details of The Military Service of The Highland Regiments by Major-General David Stewart, Vol I & II, (1825), Edinburgh
- Don Jose Solano y Bote, Primer Marques del Socorro, Capitan General de la Armada, Instituto Hiostorico de Marina, Madrid, 1973 I.S.B.N.: 84-00-03891-6
- Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth: http://www.regiments.org/biography/defchiefs/caCinC.htm
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Guy Carleton |
Commander-in-Chief, North America 1783–1787 |
Succeeded by The Duke of Kent and Strathearn |
[edit] External links
- The Patriot Resource: West Florida Campaign
- Revolutionary War: Pensacola, Florida
- http://www.regiments.org/biography/defchiefs/caCinC.htm
- http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=35842
- [2]
