Private Donald Campbell 92nd Foot 1803-1822
Malcolm Campbell
Donald Campbell was born in 1784 in Teangue, Parish of Sleat, Isle of Skye, and signed-on for ‘unlimited service’ in the 92nd Regiment of Foot (the Gordon Highlanders) in 1803 when war was declared on Napoleonic France.
In January 1809, after most of the British army had been evacuated from Corunna, Donald was left behind and was placed in the 1st Battalion of Detachments. In 1809 he fought at the Battle of Talavera where he was shot in the left arm. Donald was shot in the bridge of the nose during the Battle of Nivelle in 1813, and in 1814 he was shot in the forehead at the Battle of Garris, the ball rolling around the inside of his skull and exiting the back of his head. This information is recorded on his discharge document and in ‘The Brave Sons of Skye’ by Lt. Col. John MacInnes.
Donald survived all his injuries and carried on fighting. He was awarded five clasps with his General Service Medal, and received the Waterloo medal. He was discharged in Port Royal, Jamaica in 1822 where many had died of yellow fever during the preceding 3 years.
In 1822, at the age of 38 years, Donald returned to Teangue, Isle of Skye as a Chelsea out-pensioner, receiving an army pension of one shilling per day, and continued his life as a crofter.
This book describes the dramatic events and experiences during Donald’s lifetime in historical context, and is projected through eye-witness diaries, military records and contemporary accounts. Donald experienced the extreme trauma of campaigning, witnessed the horrors of war, survived wounds and diseases, and became one of ‘The Brave Sons of Skye’.
There are contemporary descriptions of life on Skye as well as day-by-day accounts of military campaigning which I hope you will find of particular interest.
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