Donald Cameron of Lochiel

Donald Cameron of Lochiel
19th Lochiel
1762 painting suggested as based on 1748 sketch of Lochiel, now in Achnacarry House[1][2]
Tenure	ca 1719–1748
Predecessor	John Cameron, 18th Lochiel
Successor	John Cameron, 20th Lochiel
Born	c. 1695 Achnacarry, Lochaber, Scotland
Died	26 October 1748(1748-10-26) (aged 53) Bergues, France
Buried	Bergues Communal Cemetery[3]
Wars and battles	1745 Jacobite Rising Prestonpans Falkirk Culloden
Offices	Colonel, Cameron of Lochiel's Regiment 1745–1746 Colonel, Régiment d'Albanie 1747–1748 Order of Saint Michael
Spouse(s)	Anne Campbell
Issue	John Cameron, 20th Lochiel (1732–1761) James Cameron (1736–1759) Charles Cameron, 21st Lochiel (1747–1776)
Parents	John Cameron of Lochiel Isobel Campbell

Donald Cameron of Lochiel (c. 1695 – 26 October 1748), popularly known as the Gentle Lochiel,^[4] was a Scottish Jacobite, soldier and hereditary chief of Clan Cameron, traditionally loyal to the exiled House of Stuart. His support for Charles Edward Stuart proved pivotal in the early stages of the 1745 Rising. Lochiel was among the Highlanders defeated at the Battle of Culloden, and thereafter went into hiding before eventually fleeing to France.

Born into a Non-juring Episcopalian and staunchly Jacobite family, his father was permanently exiled after the 1715 Rising and when his grandfather Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel died in 1719, Donald assumed his duties as Chief (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Iall, Mac Dhòmhnaill Dubh) of Clan Cameron (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Camshròn). The Clan held a strategic importance out of proportion to numbers due to the compact nature of their lands and ability to act as a cohesive unit; in contrast, many of their rivals were scattered across different areas and riven by internal feuds. Despite considerable misgivings in launching the rebellion, Lochiel and his clan played an important role in the course of the rising, being among the most prominent of the Highland chiefs and commanding a regiment which was widely regarded as being the most elite and reliable component of the Jacobite army.

Defeated and wounded at Culloden, Lochiel was forced into hiding in company with Prince Charles and other senior Jacobites. Upon escaping to France in late 1746, he was appointed Colonel of the Régiment d'Albanie, the Scottish Guards of the French Royal Army, and made a member of the Order of Saint Michael by Louis XV. He was to command his regiment during the War of the Austrian Succession, but died at Bergues, French Flanders on 23 October 1748.