A ceremonial sword presented to Sir Colin Campbell (1792-1863) by the people of Glasgow in 1856.
Born in Glasgow in 1792, Campbell was the son of a Glasgow carpenter and originally had the surname Macliver. His uncle, Colonel John Campbell, took an interest in him, sending him to school and encouraging him to join the army. The Colonel also introduced him to the army's Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of York, who assumed that the boy was a Campbell. Not wishing to contradict royalty, Colin enlisted in the army under the name Campbell.
In 1808 Campbell went to Spain to fight in the Peninsular War, where he distinguished himself in the Battle of Vittoria and at San Sebastian. His later career in the army took him to United States, Canada and China. During the 1850s he commanded the Highland Brigade in the Crimean War and was responsible for the suppression of the Indian Mutiny.
The sword was photographed before the presentation by Duncan Brown, a talented amateur photographer who recorded many aspects of Glasgow life between the 1850s and the 1890s.
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Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow School of Art Archives
Keywords:
Battle of San Sebastian, Battle of Vittoria, British Army, ceremonial swords, Crimean War, generals, Indian Mutiny, Indian Uprising, Peninsular War, presentation swords, soldiers
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