Royal governor; younger brother of the fifth
Duke of
Argyll; became a captain in the
British navy in August, 1762; was in Parliament in 1764; governor of
Nova Scotia 1766-73; and was appointed governor of
South Carolina, where he had acquired large possessions by his marriage to an American lady, in 1774.
He arrived at
Charleston in July, 1775; was received with courtesy; and soon summoned a meeting of the Assembly.
They came, declined to do business, and adjourned on their own authority.
The Committee of Safety proceeded in their preparations for resistance without regard to the presence of the governor.
Lord Campbell professed great love for the people.
His sincerity was suspected, and the hollowness of his professions was soon proved.
Early in September
Colonel Moultrie, by order of the Committee of Safety, proceeded to take possession of a small post on
Sullivan's Island, in
Charleston Harbor.
The small garrison fled to the British sloops-of-war
Tamar and
Cherokee, lying near.
Lord Campbell, seeing the storm of popular indignation against him daily increasing, particularly after it was discovered that he had attempted to incite the Indians to make war for the
King, and had tampered with the Tories of the interior of the province, also fled to one of these vessels for shelter, and never returned.
He died Sept. 5, 1778.
