General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudon

John Campbell entered the army as a cornet in 1727. He was appointed ADC to George II in July 1743. He was commissioned to raise a regiment of Highlanders in 1745 to fight the Jacobites. The regiment had 1,250 men, assembled at Inverness and Perth, and was called Loudon's Highlanders. Three companies from the regiment were at Prestonpans and were taken prisoner. Campbell was Adjutant-General of Sir John Cope's army and stayed up north to command the anti-Jacobite forces. He managed to persuade many highlanders against joining the rebels but was not in favour of Cumberland's brutal treatment of the enemy following Culloden. One officer wrote of Campbell that he and Duncan Forbes were 'more useful to the Government than any two men in that Island and behaved all along like men of honour. Their attachment to their cause never made them forget their duty to humanity.'
His regiment then went abroad in 1747 to fight with distinction at Bergen-op-Zoom. But at the peace of 1748 they were disbanded. The picture is a mezzotint taken from a painting by Ramsay that was in the family of the Marquess of Bute until a few years ago. Campbell's uniform is that of the Loudon Highlanders and the coat is red with silver-grey facings. The tartan is red and black. He has a waistcoat that is tartan but heavily laced with gold.
He was appointed Colonel of the 30th Foot in 1749, until 1770. During that time he was also appointed the first Colonel of the 60th Foot in 1755, until 1757. In April 1770 he was Colonel of the Scots Guards until his death in May 1782.

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