Philips Cameron was the eldest son of Lieutenant General Sir Allan Cameron of Erracht. He was commissioned into the 79th Highlanders on 1st June 1794 aged just twelve.

During the Peninsula War in 1811, the British-Portuguese Army under the Duke of Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal to relieve the besieged city of Almeida in Spain. Lieutenant Colonel Phipps Cameron was the Commanding Officer of the 79th Highland Regiment that had been tasked with holding the village of Fuentes de Oñoro. The French sent forward an entire Division of Infantry against the 79th; the village provided excellent cover for the British Infantry whilst the French were severely restricted in the narrow streets. However, the French did have some initial success surrounding and overpowering two companies of the 79th; Lieutenant Colonel Philips Cameron was killed aged 29. The time gained by the 79th holding the village allowed for other regiments of the British-Portuguese Army to drive the French Army out of the village.

Such was the esteem of Philips Cameron, that the Duke of Wellington as well as all available General’s attended the funeral.

Reasearch by Neil Thompson-Burton

This original watercolour painting shows the death of Lieutenant Colonel Philips Cameron at Juentes d’Onor (Fuentes de Oñoro) in 1811, and was painted by Harry Payne. This work originally belonged to the Ramsay Collection and formed part of the original edition of ‘Groves Illustrated Histories of the Scottish Regiments’. The highly detailed watercolour shows Cameron on horseback at the moment he was fatally wounded by the French Army of Portugal.