Major (later Major-General) Sir Neil Campbell CB, 1815 (c)

Oil on canvas by Edouard Henri Pingret (1788-1875), 1819.

Campbell (1776-1827) is depicted wearing the uniform of the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot, holding a telescope, his cloak spread on the ground beside him on which are maps; gunsmoke and a windmill in the background (possibly Waterloo).

Known as 'The man who let Boney go', Major Sir Neil Campbell was chosen by the British Government to accompany Napoleon to the island of Elba in 1814. However, in February 1815, whilst Campbell was in Florence on business, Napoleon effected his escape to France. It was widely believed that Campbell had been bribed, but he was not officially blamed for the escape and his service was declared satisfactory. In 1815 Campbell went on to command the 54th (or the West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot, serving at the Battle of Waterloo and the storming of Cambray. Promoted Major-General in 1825, he was appointed Governor of Sierra Leone, where he died of fever in 1827.