Neil Campbell (officer)

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Portrait of Sir Neil Campbell from 1818

Sir Neil Campbell CB ( May 1, 1776 , † August 14, 1827 ) was a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars , administered several British colonies and escorted Napoleon Bonaparte into exile .

Career

He came from a branch of the Scottish Campbell family . His father, Neil Campbell (1736–1791) and his two brothers, James Campbell (1773–1799) and Patrick Campbell (1779–1857) were also officers in the British Army.

In September 1797 Campbell bought his first officer's license and entered the British Army with the rank of Ensign of the 44th Regiment of Foot . In January 1799 he was transferred as Ensign to the 6th East India Regiment . At that time he was stationed on the Turks and Caicos Islands . In Campbell then bought the rank of lieutenant in the 57th Regiment of Foot , which was then stationed in Trinidad . In October 1800 he moved to the 60th Regiment of Foot as a lieutenant and returned to England. From February 1802 to September 1803 he trained at the Royal Military Academy in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire .

In 1805 Campbell bought a promotion to Major in the 54th Regiment of Foot and was stationed in Jamaica for two years . During the Third Coalition War took part in the battles for Martinique , the Îles des Saintes and Guadeloupe .

War in europe

Campbell returned to England in 1810. In the following year he was assigned as Colonel of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the Portuguese Army, with whom he took part in the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo and the Battle of Salamanca as part of the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula . In 1813 he was sent to Russia as a British military attaché . During the wars of liberation he was involved in the Russian invasion of France. He was actively involved in combat in which he was seriously wounded in March 1814. In the battle of Fère-Champenoise a Russian Cossack mistook him for a Frenchman and severely wounded him with a lance in the back. After returning to England, he bought himself a promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel of the 54th Regiment of Foot in June 1814 .

In recognition of his services, he was ennobled on October 7, 1814 by Prince Regent George as a Knight Bachelor ("Sir"). In June 1814, Emperor Alexander I had already awarded him the Order of Saint Anne (second class) and the Order of Saint George (fourth class).

Exile of Napoleon and Waterloo

After Napoleon's abdication in April 1814, Campbell was commissioned to escort Napoleon into exile in Elba . He was then also the commander of the department that was stationed on Elba. Lord Castlereagh , England's foreign minister, insisted that Napoleon be given absolute freedom on the island. On February 26, 1815, when Campbell was in Italy, Napoleon fled the island. In England Campbell was suspected of being bribed to let Napoleon flee. The Secretary of State, however, did not blame Campbell for Napoleon's flight.

Campbell took part in the summer campaign of 1815 and the Battle of Waterloo . On June 4, 1815, the Prince Regent named him Companion of the Order of the Bath . On December 19, 1816, he moved from the 54th Regiment of Foot as a Brevet Lieutenant Colonel to the 4th West India Regiment . Until 1818 he was in command of the occupying power in France.

Sierra Leone

Campbell was promoted to major-general in 1825 and placed on half pay. He then applied for a staff position. The next vacant position was that of the governor of Sierra Leone . Due to the health risks in the colony, his family asked him to decline the post, but he decided to leave anyway. He arrived in Sierra Leone in May 1826 and was also appointed Colonel of the Royal African Colonial Corps stationed there.

On August 14, 1827, Campbell died of an unknown disease in Sierra Leone and was buried there.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 14048, HMSO, London, 23 September 1797, p. 924 ( PDF , English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 15097, HMSO, London, January 9, 1799, p. 34 ( PDF , English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 15303, HMSO, London, October 18, 1800, p. 1198 ( PDF , English).
  4. ↑ a b c London Gazette . No. 16946, HMSO, London, October 15, 1814, p. 2054 ( PDF , English).
  5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 16879, HMSO, London, April 5, 1814, p. 751 ( PDF , English).
  6. ↑ London Gazette . No. 16880, HMSO, London, April 9, 1814, p. 758 ( PDF , English).
  7. ↑ London Gazette . No. 16906, HMSO, London, June 7, 1814, p. 1181 ( PDF , English).
  8. ↑ London Gazette . No. 16908, HMSO, London, June 14, 1814, p. 1233 ( PDF , English).
  9. ↑ London Gazette . No. 17061, HMSO, London, September 16, 1815, p. 1878 ( PDF , English).
  10. ↑ London Gazette . No. 17206, HMSO, London, January 4, 1817, pp. 2-3 ( PDF , English).
  11. ↑ London Gazette . No. 18141, HMSO, London, May 28, 1825, p. 925 ( PDF , English).
  12. ↑ London Gazette . No. 18256, HMSO, London, June 10, 1826, p. 1400 ( PDF , English).
  13. ↑ London Gazette . No. 18480, HMSO, London, June 20, 1828, p. 1197 ( PDF , English).
  14. ↑ Christopher Fyfe: Circular Road Burial Ground . In: Journal of Sierra Leone Studies . No. March 2016, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2017.

Literature and web links

personal data
SURNAME Campbell, Neil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Army officer
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1776
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1827