John Cameron of Fassiefern
Encyclopedia
John Cameron of Fassiefern, was the colonel of the Gordon Highlanders killed at the Battle of Quatre Bras
.
, was one of the six children of Ewen Cameron
of Inverscadale, on Linnha Loch, and afterwards of Fassiefern, in the parish of Kilmallie, both in Argyleshire, by his first wife Lucy Campbell of Balwardine, and was born at Inverscadale on 16 August 1771. Nursed by the wife of a family retainer, whose son, Ewen McMillan, was his foster-brother and faithful attendant through life, young Cameron grew up in close sympathy with the traditions and associations of his home and people, who looked to his father as the representative head of the clan in the enforced absence of the chief of Lochiel. He received his schooling in part at the grammar school at Fort William, but chiefly by private tuition. Later he entered the university of King's College, Aberdeen.
, at his special request, a commission was procured for him, and he entered the army in May 1793 as ensign, 26th Cameronians, from which he was promoted to a lieutenancy in an independent highland company, which was embodied with the old 93rd Foot (Shirley's, afterwards broken up in Demerara).
In the year following, George Gordon
Marquis of Huntly, afterwards 5th Duke of Gordon
, then a captain, 3rd Foot Guards, raised a corps of highlanders at Aberdeen, which originally was numbered as the 100th foot, but a few years later was re-numbered, and has since become famous as the 92nd Gordon Highlanders. Cameron was appointed to a company in this regiment on 24 June 1794. He served with it in Corsica and at Gibraltar from 1795 to 1797, and in the south of Ireland in 1798. There he is said to have lost his heart to a young Irish lady at Kilkenny, but the match was broken off in submission to his father's commands.
The next year, 1799 Cameron was in North Holland, where he was wounded in the stubborn fight among the sandhills between Bergen and Egmont op Zee on 2 October, one of the few occasions on which bayonets have been fairly crossed by contending lines. He was with the regiment at the occupation of Isle Houat, on the coast of Brittany, and off Cadiz in 1800, and went with it to Egypt, where he was wounded at the Battle of Alexandria
, and received the gold medal given by the Ottoman Porte for the Egyptian Campaign.
, 5 May 1811; at the battle of Arroyo dos Molinos
, 28 October 1811; at battle of Almaraz
, 19 May 1812; and at battle of Vittoria, 21 June 1813, where his services appear to have been strangely overlooked in the distribution of rewards; at the passage of Maya
, 13 July 1813; at the battles on the Nive
between 9 and 13 December 1813; at the passage of the Gave at Arriverette, 17 February 1814; and at the capture of the town of Aire (misprinted ‘Acre’ in some accounts), 2 March 1814. Some particulars of the armorial and other distinctions granted to Cameron in recognition of his services on several of these occasions will be found in Cannon's Historical Record, 92nd Highlanders.
, formed Sir Dennis Pack's 9th Brigade of Sir Thomas Picton's
5th Division, and were among the first troops to march out of Brussels at daybreak on 16 June 1815. On that day, when heading part of the regiment in an attack on a house where the enemy was strongly posted, on the Charleroi road, a few hundred yards from the village of Quatre Bras
, Cameron received his death-wound. He was buried in an allée verte beside the Ghent road, during the great storm of the 17th, by his foster-brother and faithful soldier-servant, private Ewen McMillan, (who had followed his fortunes from the first day he joined the service), James Gordon, the regimental paymaster, a close personal friend, and a few soldiers of the regiment whose wounds prevented their taking their places in the ranks. At the request of the family, however, Cameron's remains were disinterred soon afterwards, brought home in a man-of-war, and, in the presence of a gathering of three thousand highlanders from the then still populous district of Lochaber, were laid in Kilmallie churchyard, where a tall obelisk, bearing an inscription by Sir Walter Scott, marks the site of his grave.
was conferred on Ewen Cameron of Fassiefern, in recognition of the distinguished military services of his late son. Sir Ewen died in 1828, at the age of ninety, and the baronetcy has since become extinct after the death of Sir Duncan Cameron, younger brother of Colonel Cameron, and second and last baronet of Fassiefern.
Battle of Quatre Bras
The Battle of Quatre Bras, between Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the Armée du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815.- Prelude :...
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Early life
John Cameron, a great-grandson of John Cameron 18th of LochielJohn Cameron of Lochiel
John Cameron of Lochiel was the 18th chief of Clan Cameron and a significant Jacobite. He was the eldest son and heir of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, a fervent Royalist and one of the first to join the rising of 1652 in favour of King Charles II, by whom he was knighted in 1681.He joined the Earl...
, was one of the six children of Ewen Cameron
Ewen Cameron
Ewen Cameron may refer to:In Scottish Clan Cameron:*Ewen MacAllan Cameron, 10th Chief*Ewen Cameron of Lochiel , 13th Chief*Ewen 'Beag' Cameron of Lochiel, 14th Chief*Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel , 17th ChiefIn other occupations:...
of Inverscadale, on Linnha Loch, and afterwards of Fassiefern, in the parish of Kilmallie, both in Argyleshire, by his first wife Lucy Campbell of Balwardine, and was born at Inverscadale on 16 August 1771. Nursed by the wife of a family retainer, whose son, Ewen McMillan, was his foster-brother and faithful attendant through life, young Cameron grew up in close sympathy with the traditions and associations of his home and people, who looked to his father as the representative head of the clan in the enforced absence of the chief of Lochiel. He received his schooling in part at the grammar school at Fort William, but chiefly by private tuition. Later he entered the university of King's College, Aberdeen.
French Revolutionary Wars
Cameron was articled to a writer to the signet at Edinburgh, James Fraser of Gorthleck, but after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, at his special request, a commission was procured for him, and he entered the army in May 1793 as ensign, 26th Cameronians, from which he was promoted to a lieutenancy in an independent highland company, which was embodied with the old 93rd Foot (Shirley's, afterwards broken up in Demerara).
In the year following, George Gordon
George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon GCB, PC , styled Marquess of Huntly until 1827, was a Scottish nobleman, soldier and politician and the last of his illustrious line.-Early life:...
Marquis of Huntly, afterwards 5th Duke of Gordon
Duke of Gordon
The title Duke of Gordon has been created once in the Peerage of Scotland and again in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.The Dukedom, named after the Clan Gordon, was first created for the 4th Marquess of Huntly, who on 3 November 1684 was created Duke of Gordon, Marquess of Huntly, Earl of Huntly...
, then a captain, 3rd Foot Guards, raised a corps of highlanders at Aberdeen, which originally was numbered as the 100th foot, but a few years later was re-numbered, and has since become famous as the 92nd Gordon Highlanders. Cameron was appointed to a company in this regiment on 24 June 1794. He served with it in Corsica and at Gibraltar from 1795 to 1797, and in the south of Ireland in 1798. There he is said to have lost his heart to a young Irish lady at Kilkenny, but the match was broken off in submission to his father's commands.
The next year, 1799 Cameron was in North Holland, where he was wounded in the stubborn fight among the sandhills between Bergen and Egmont op Zee on 2 October, one of the few occasions on which bayonets have been fairly crossed by contending lines. He was with the regiment at the occupation of Isle Houat, on the coast of Brittany, and off Cadiz in 1800, and went with it to Egypt, where he was wounded at the Battle of Alexandria
Battle of Alexandria
The Battle of Alexandria or Battle of Canope, fought on March 21, 1801 between the French army under General Menou and the British expeditionary corps under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, took place near the ruins of Nicopolis, on the narrow spit of land between the sea and Lake Abukir, along which the...
, and received the gold medal given by the Ottoman Porte for the Egyptian Campaign.
Peninsula War
Cameron became major in the regiment in 1801, and lieutenant-colonel of the new second battalion (afterwards disbanded) on 23 June 1808. After some years passed chiefly in Ireland, Cameron rejoined the first battalion of his regiment soon after its return from Corunna, and commanded it in the Walcheren expedition, subsequently proceeding with it to Portugal, where it landed, 8 October 1810. At its head he signalised himself repeatedly during the succeeding campaigns, particularly at the battle of Fuentes de OnoroBattle of Fuentes de Onoro
In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro , the British-Portuguese Army under Viscount Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.-Background:...
, 5 May 1811; at the battle of Arroyo dos Molinos
Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos
The Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos took place on 28 October 1811 during the Peninsula War. An allied force under General Rowland Hill trapped and defeated, a French force under General Jean-Baptiste Girard, forcing the latter's dismissal by the Emperor Napoleon...
, 28 October 1811; at battle of Almaraz
Battle of Almaraz
The Battle of Almaraz was a battle of the Peninsula Wars which took place on 18/19 May 1812, in which the British under Lord Hill destroyed a French pontoon bridge across the River Tagus. The bridge was protected by two French garrisons at either end.....
, 19 May 1812; and at battle of Vittoria, 21 June 1813, where his services appear to have been strangely overlooked in the distribution of rewards; at the passage of Maya
Battle of Maya
The Battle of Maya was a battle between French and British forces during the Peninsular War .-Background:After Wellington's decisive defeat of King Joseph at Vitoria, he advanced to capture San Sebastián and Pamplona, the last French outposts on Spanish soil.While Wellington concentrated his...
, 13 July 1813; at the battles on the Nive
Battle of the Nive
The Battles of the Nive were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army defeated Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army in a series of battles near the city of Bayonne.Unusually, for most of the battle, Wellington...
between 9 and 13 December 1813; at the passage of the Gave at Arriverette, 17 February 1814; and at the capture of the town of Aire (misprinted ‘Acre’ in some accounts), 2 March 1814. Some particulars of the armorial and other distinctions granted to Cameron in recognition of his services on several of these occasions will be found in Cannon's Historical Record, 92nd Highlanders.
Waterloo Campaign and death at Quatre Bras
In the Waterloo Campaign the 92nd, under Cameron, with the 42nd Highlanders, 1st Royals, and 44th East Essex44th Regiment of Foot
The 44th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army. After 1782 the regiment became known as the 44th Regiment of Foot. The lineage of the 44th transferred to the Essex Regiment in 1881...
, formed Sir Dennis Pack's 9th Brigade of Sir Thomas Picton's
Thomas Picton
Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton GCB was a Welsh British Army officer who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain, and rose to the rank of lieutenant general...
5th Division, and were among the first troops to march out of Brussels at daybreak on 16 June 1815. On that day, when heading part of the regiment in an attack on a house where the enemy was strongly posted, on the Charleroi road, a few hundred yards from the village of Quatre Bras
Quatre Bras
Quatre Bras is a common name given to a crossroad in French.More specifically it refers to the crossroad of the Charleroi-Brussels road and the Nivelles-Namur road South of Genappe in Wallonia, Belgium...
, Cameron received his death-wound. He was buried in an allée verte beside the Ghent road, during the great storm of the 17th, by his foster-brother and faithful soldier-servant, private Ewen McMillan, (who had followed his fortunes from the first day he joined the service), James Gordon, the regimental paymaster, a close personal friend, and a few soldiers of the regiment whose wounds prevented their taking their places in the ranks. At the request of the family, however, Cameron's remains were disinterred soon afterwards, brought home in a man-of-war, and, in the presence of a gathering of three thousand highlanders from the then still populous district of Lochaber, were laid in Kilmallie churchyard, where a tall obelisk, bearing an inscription by Sir Walter Scott, marks the site of his grave.
Family
In 1817 a baronetcyCameron Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created for persons named Cameron, both in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Both titles are extinct.-Cameron Baronets, of Fassiefern :...
was conferred on Ewen Cameron of Fassiefern, in recognition of the distinguished military services of his late son. Sir Ewen died in 1828, at the age of ninety, and the baronetcy has since become extinct after the death of Sir Duncan Cameron, younger brother of Colonel Cameron, and second and last baronet of Fassiefern.