John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun

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John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun (born May 5, 1705 at Loudoun Castle , Ayrshire , † April 27, 1782 ibid) was a British peer, politician and general.

John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun. Oil painting by Allan Ramsay , around 1750

Life

John Campbell was the only son of the Scottish nobleman Hugh Campbell, 3rd Earl of Loudon . His mother was Lady Margaret Dalrymple, daughter of John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair . He was thus a member of Clan Campbell , a clan that was loyal to the British government during the Jacobite uprisings .

He inherited the title of Earl of Loudoun from his father in 1731 and was Scottish Representative Peer in the British House of Lords from 1734 to 1782 .

In 1727 he joined the British Army . In April 1741 he was in command of Stirling Castle , in 1743 then aide-de-camp of King George II. When the Jacobite Rebellion broke out in 1745, he raised a regiment of Highlanders , to whose colonel he was appointed; however, it was almost completely wiped out in the Battle of Prestonpans . After the battle he took the sloop Saltash across to Inverness , where he recruited around 2,000 men within six weeks. With these new troops he liberated Fort Augustus, which was besieged by the Fraser clan . He then moved via Inverness to Dounie Castle , where he arrested Lord Lovat , one of the ringleaders of the uprising, and took him hostage to Inverness; However, Lovat was soon able to escape. In the spring of 1746 he fled the advance of the Jacobite forces from Inverness to Sutherlandshire and eventually settled on the Isle of Skye with around 800 followers .

In the course of the Seven Years' War he was appointed captain-general and governor of the colony of Virginia on February 17, 1756 , and in March of that year he was appointed commanding general of all British land forces in North America. He reached New York in July of that year and immediately went to Albany , where the largest British armed force was based. Loudoun faced a difficult situation: the French had defeated his predecessor Edward Braddock in the Battle of Monongahela and took control of the Ohio Valley ; in further offensives they had taken Oswego in northern New York. Loudoun's time as commanding officer of North America was characterized above all by inactivity; he did not launch a single offensive. For months he planned an attack on the French fortress Louisbourg , but delayed it again and again so that the French had enough time to reinforce Louisbourg and the plan of attack was abandoned. Loudoun was recalled in February of that year.

He was called up for the last time in 1762, this time as Vice Commander of the British Expeditionary Force in Portugal. After the end of his military career, he devoted himself to landscaping at his seat in Loudoun Castle. He had anointed trees that are not found in Scottish regions removed, and instead mainly had willows planted.

He died a bachelor in 1782, his title being passed on to his cousin James Mure-Campbell .

Honors

The following geographical locations are named after him:

literature

predecessor Office successor
Hugh Campbell Earl of Loudoun
1731-1782 		James Mure-Campbell
personal data
SURNAME Campbell, John, 4th Earl of Loudoun
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British peer, politician and general
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1705
PLACE OF BIRTH at Loudoun Castle , Ayrshire
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1782
Place of death at Loudoun Castle , Ayrshire