Archibald Campbell
BIRTH
Aug 21, 1739
Inveraray, Scotland
DEATH
March 31, 1791
London, England
FAMILY
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Campbell, Archibald
(1739-1791)
Sir Archibald Campbell served as governor of Georgia, Jamaica, and Madras. He was a major Scottish landowner, Heritable Usher of the White Rod for Scotland and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1791.
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Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Capture of Savannah Marker | 691 East Liberty Street, Savannah, Georgia, 31401, USA | MARKER |
DIED:
London, England
Mar 31, 1791
Educated at Glasgow University, and afterwards at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1758, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. He served with them in the Seven Years' War and was wounded at the Siege of Quebec. He participated in a number of raids along the coast of France, as well as in expeditions in the West Indies. A decade later, in 1768, Colonel Campbell, was made chief engineer of the British East India Company at Bengal, and was successfully employed by the company to head the works on Fort William in Calcutta.
In 1776, after a battle aboard a vessel in Boston Harbor, Campbell was captured by the Americans and held prisoner until 1778.
Campbell's capture coincided with the British capture of the American Patriot hero Ethan Allen and the American General Charles Lee. Rumours spread that they were being mistreated by the British, which had a direct effect on Campbell. In February 1777, from Concord Jail, an outraged Campbell complained to Viscount Howe of his situation. There then ensued complaints and correspondence between Howe and George Washington on Campbell's behalf.
By the following month Washington intervened and Congress protested that it had not intended to cause undue suffering to Campbell. By May, Campbell was living at the jailer's tavern, a marked improvement to his previous solitary confinement. Soon afterwards he was granted total freedom within the confine of the town of Concord, and during these years as a prisoner of war he was able to purchase the Knap estate back in Argyll. On 6 May 1778, he was finally released in exchange for Ethan Allen.