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Lot Essay
John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, was a military commander appointed by George III in 1756 to Captain General and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Virginia, and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in America.
He arrived in New York on July 23 travelling immediately to Albany to take command of the troops gathered there. The English Forces were in some confusion with the French having control of the Forts of Oswego and Ontario. In order to conceal his intent to lay siege on Louisbourg, on Jan. 3, 1757, Loudon set up an embargo on all outward bound ships, a measure which was criticized both in England and in America. Unable to decide on a definite course of action, he languished with his troops in Halifax and as a result was recalled to England and replaced by General Amherst. It is said that a Philadelphian likened Loudon to 'King George upon the signposts, always on horseback but never advancing'; see Scots Guards, exhibition catalogue, 1935.
Ramsay painted Loudon on a number of occasions. A portrait of him in Peer's robes is in the collection of C.B. Lindsay of Coltoun, Coltoun, Scotland; a second full-length portrait of 1747 is in a private collection, Scotland.
He arrived in New York on July 23 travelling immediately to Albany to take command of the troops gathered there. The English Forces were in some confusion with the French having control of the Forts of Oswego and Ontario. In order to conceal his intent to lay siege on Louisbourg, on Jan. 3, 1757, Loudon set up an embargo on all outward bound ships, a measure which was criticized both in England and in America. Unable to decide on a definite course of action, he languished with his troops in Halifax and as a result was recalled to England and replaced by General Amherst. It is said that a Philadelphian likened Loudon to 'King George upon the signposts, always on horseback but never advancing'; see Scots Guards, exhibition catalogue, 1935.
Ramsay painted Loudon on a number of occasions. A portrait of him in Peer's robes is in the collection of C.B. Lindsay of Coltoun, Coltoun, Scotland; a second full-length portrait of 1747 is in a private collection, Scotland.