Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Campbell, Archibald (1769-1843)
CAMPBELL, Sir ARCHIBALD (1769–1843), general, son of Captain Archibald Campbell, and grandson of Duncan Campbell of Milntown, in Glenlyon, county Perth, was born on 12 March 1769. He entered
the army on 28 Dec. 1787 as an ensign in the 77th regiment, having obtained his commission by raising twenty men, and sailed for India in the spring of 1788. He joined the army in the Bombay presidency under the command of Sir Robert Abercromby at Cannanore, and was perpetually engaged with that western division throughout the campaigns of 1790, 1791, and 1792, and was present at
the first siege of Seringapatam, by Lord Cornwallis, in 1792. In 1791, in the midst of the campaign, he was promoted lieutenant and made adjutant of his regiment, in which capacity he served at the reduction of Cochin in 1795 and of the Dutch factories in Ceylon in 1796. In 1799, on the breaking out of the second Mysore war, Campbell was appointed brigade-major to the European brigade of the Bombay division, which advanced
from the Malabar coast, and was present at the battle of Seedaseer and the fall of Seringatapam. For his services he was promoted captain into the 67th regiment, and at once exchanged into the 88th Connaught Rangers, in order to remain in India, but his health broke down and he had to return to England. Wellesley had, however, observed Campbell’s gallant conduct at Seringapatam and his usefulness as a staff officer, and he was in consequence made brigade-major in the southern district, and on 14 Sept. 1804 promoted major into the 6th battalion of reserve, then stationed in Guernsey. On its reduction in 1805 he was transferred to the 71st Highland light infantry, and generally commanded the second battalion in Scotland and Ireland for the next three years. In June 1808 he joined the first battalion of his regiment under Pack, and served at the battles of Rolica and Vimeiro, and throughout Sir John Moore’s advance into Spain and his retreat on Corunna.
In 1809 he was, on Wellesley's recommendation, one of the officers selected to accompany Marshal Beresford to Portugal to assist him in his task of reorganising the Portuguese army, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 16 Feb. 1809. He commanded the 6th Portuguese regiment with Beresford's high approval (Wellington Supplementary Despatches, vi. 346), and as colonel he was present at the battle of Busaco, and in 1811, as
brigadier-general commanding the 6th and
18th Portuguese regiments, was engaged at
Arroyo dos Molinos and in the battle of Albuera. In 1813 Campbell received the Portuguese order of the Tower and Sword, and his brigade was ordered to form part of an independent Portuguese division under the command of Major-general John Hamilton, attached to General Hill's corps, and under that general he was present at the battles of Vittoria, the Pyrenees, the Nivelle, when he was mentioned in despatches, and the Nive,
and was afterwards attached to Sir John Hope's corps before Bayonne, where he remained until the end of the war. On the
declaration of peace he received a gold cross and one dasp for the battles of Albuera, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, the Nivelle, and the Nive, was knighted, promoted colonel in the army on 4 June 1814, and made an aide-de-camp to the prince regent, and in January 1815 he was made a K.C.B. In 1816 he was made a Portuguese major-general, and commanded the division at Lisbon. In 1820, during the absence of Lord Beresford, he offered to put down the rising at Oporto, but his services were declined; he at once threw
up his Portuguese commission and returned
to England.
On arriving in England he was, in 1821,
appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 38th regiment, which he joined at the Cape and took to India, where he was stationed at Berhampore. He was soon after nominated to command the expedition against the Burmese. He arrived at Rangoon in May 1824 at the head of 11,500 men, including four British regiments, and at once took Rangoon. His first attack on the great Dagon Pagoda, at Kimendine, was repulsed with loss on 3 June, and he had to take the command in person; under his personal directions the Pagoda was stormed on 10 June 1824. In July he detached a force under Colonel H. F. Smith, C.B., to Pegu, which stormed the Pagoda at Syriam on 4 Aug., and the heavy rains then put an end to further operations, and caused much disease among the troops. He wrote earnestly for reinforcements during the winter months of 1824-5, for in November 1824 he was beseiged in Rangoon by the ablest Burmese chief, Maha Bundoola. He was joined by the 47th regiment and two brigades of sepoys and after storming the stockade of Kokein on 16 Dec., he left Rangoon on 11 Feb. 1825 and marched along the banks of the Irrawaddy towards Prome, accompanied by about forty gunboats under Commodore Chads and Captain Marryat. On 7 March the advanced brigades, under Brigadier-general Cotton, were utterly defeated in an attack on the stockades of Donabew, but Campbell at once moved to the front, and directed a fresh attack on 1 April, which was entirely successful, and Maha Bundoola was killed. He entered Prome on 5 May 1825 and established his headquarters there for the rainy season, and again lost no less than one-seventh of his forces between May and September. Towards the close of the rainy season Campbell, who had been promoted major-general on 27 May 1825 for his services, prepared to advance from Prome on Ava, the capital of Burma, when Burmese envoys came into Prome and asked for terms. Campbell, who had been specially entrusted by Lord Amherst with the political as well as the military conduct of the campaign, announced that peace would only be granted on terms which were rejected, and Campbell again advanced. An assault upon the stockades of Wattee-Goung failed, and Brigadier-general Macdowall was killed on 16 Nov., but Campbell was again able to make up for the failures of his subordinates by storming the stockades on 26 Nov. On his approach towards the capital the king of Burma sent envoys to his camp once more, and a truce was made on 26 Dec. But Campbell soon discovered that the negotiations were only intended to gain time, so he continued his advance on 2 Jan., and by storming Melloon, the last fortified place on the way to Ava, so frightened the king that he accepted the terms offered, and signed a treaty of peace at Yandaboo on 26 Feb. 1826. The successful termination of this war was received with enthusiasm in England and India. Campbell was made a G.C.B. on 26 Dec. 1826, voted a gold medal and an income of 1,000l. a year by the court of directors, and thanked by the governor-general, Lord Amherst. For three years after his success he governed the ceded provinces of Burma, and acted as civil commissioner to the courts of Burma and Siam, but in 1829 he had to return to England from ill-health.
He was received with great distinction on his arrival; was on 30 Sept. 1831 created a baronet, and on 14 Nov. 1831 was granted special arms, and the motto ‘Ava’ by royal license. From 1831 to 1837 he filled the office of lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, and was in the latter year nominated to command in chief in Canada if Sir John Colborne left the colony. In 1838 he was promoted lieutenant-general, and in 1840 became colonel of the 62nd regiment; in August 1839 he was appointed commander-in-chief at Bombay, but had to refuse the appointment from ill-health, and on 6 Oct. 1843 he died at the age of 74. He married Helen, daughter of Sir John Macdonald of Garth, by whom he had a son, General Sir John Campbell (1816-1855) [q. v.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.50
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 345 | i | 16 f.e. | Campbell, Sir Archibald (1769-1843): after lieutenant-general insert was colonel of the 95th regiment 1829-34 and of the 77th regiment 1834-40 |