William Campbell
Brigadier General, Continental Army

William Campbell was born in 1745 in Augusta County, VA. Following his father's death, he moved with his mother and four sisters to the Holston Valley of Virginia where they established the family home, called Aspenvale, south of present day Marion, VA.

In 1774, Campbell became a Captain in the Militia and served in Colonel Christian's regiments in the campaign against the Shawnee. In 1777, he returned to Aspenvale where he served as Justice of the Peace and was made a Lieutenant Colonel in the militia.

In September 1780, he led his regiment on a march from southwest Virginia to Kings Mountain, NC. There on 7 October 1780, Campbell led his regiments in the Battle of Kings Mountain, defeating the British Forces led by Major Patrick Ferguson. The victory by Col. Campbell destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis' Army and forced the British to retreat from Charlotte into South Carolina.

In March 1781, Col. Campbell joined General Nathanael Green at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. After a term in the legislature, he was made a Brigadier General in the militia, and served under Lafayette in the Battle of Jamestown. Shortly after the battle, General Campbell fell ill and died at Rocky Mills, which was the home of his half-brother, Col. John Syme, Jr. in Hanover County, VA. He was originally buried at Rocky Mills but, in 1823, relatives moved his remains to his old home of Aspenvale on the Holston, and laid him to rest next to his mother (Margaret Buchanan), his widow, Elizabeth Henry Campbell (the sister of Patrick Henry, the orator), his young son and other relatives.

Death and Burial

Brigadier General William Campbell died on 22 August 1781 in Hanover County, VA. His final resting place is the Aspenvale Cemetery, located on private property on the north side of Seven Mile Ford Road, south of Marion in Smyth County, VA.