Many a time he would wander on Cruachan hill side, brooding over his vision, and people passing him would see the far-away look in his eyes, and would say one to the other: "The puir laird, he is aye thinking on him that is gone".

Only his dearest friends knew the cause of his melancholy.
In 1756 the war between the English and French in America broke out.
The 42nd regiment embarked, and landed at New York in June of that year.

Campbell of Inverawe was a major in the regiment.

The lieut.- colonel was Francis Grant.

From New York the 42nd proceeded to Albany, where the regiment remained inactive till the spring of 1757.
One evening when the 42nd were still quartered at this place, Inverawe asked the colonel "if he had ever heard of a place called Ticonderoga".