Ayrshire > Volume 2

228 HISTORY OF AYRSHIRE
On the death of the first Earl, he was succeeded by
his only son James, second Earl of Loudoun, who married
Lady Margaret Montgomerie, daughter of Hugh, seventh
Earl of Eglinton, by whom he had three sons and four
daughters. His third son, Sir James Campbell of Lawers,
entered the army, and greatly distinguished himself at
the hard fought battle of Malplaquet, September n,
1709. In this battle the Scots Greys, of which regiment
Sir James was Lieutenant-Colonel, were stationed in
front of the right of the allied line, and, although he had
been ordered to remain where he was, seeing the issue
of the battle to be doubtful, he charged with his men
right through the ranks of the enemy and back again.
So notable was the effect of the charge, and so resultful,
that after the victory had been won, Campbell was
publicly thanked before the army by Prince Eugene
for having exceeded his orders. After the battle of
Utrecht, he returned home and became an ardent
politician, and a warm supporter of the Hanoverian
succession. In 1717 he was made Colonel of the Scots
Greys, and in 1727 he was elected M.P. for Ayrshire.
When George II. came to the throne, he promoted
Campbell to be Major-General, and a Groom of the
Bedchamber, and in 1738 appointed him Governor and
Constable of Edinburgh Castle. In 1742 when war
again broke out with France, he returned to the field,
and at the battle of Dettingen, 1743, charged the
household troops of France and was invested a Knight
of the Bath on the field of battle by the King. Two
years later, at the battle of Fontenoy, he headed
with great gallantry many unsuccessful charges against
the army of Marshal Saxe, but towards the close
of the day his leg was carried off by a cannon ball,
and he died on the field and was buried at Brussels.
Sir James was married to Lady Jean Boyle, daughter
of the first Earl of Glasgow, and his only son, James
Mure Campbell, succeeded as fifth Earl of Loudoun,
and was the father of Flora, Countess of Loudoun, and
Marchioness of Hastings.