Early Years
He was the eldest son of John Cameron and the grandson of Allan Cameron of Lochiel, 16th Chief of Clan Cameron (c. 1567/68 - c. 1647; son of John Cameron and unknown daughter Mackintosh). Having lost his father in infancy, he passed part of his youth with the Marquess of Argyll at Inveraray. In the year 1647 he became Chief of Clan Cameron, succeeding his grandfather as one of the most important Chiefs in the Scottish Highlands.
The Camerons were always strong supporters of the Royal Stuarts and Sir Ewen joined William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn in the Royalist rising of 1651 to 1654, and was defeated at the Battle of Tullich in 1652. However Ewen also won several minor skirmishes; after the defeat of this attempt he served the royalist cause by harassing the Parliamentarian general and military governor of Scotland George Monck. He then built a new base at Achnacarry Castle in 1655, to keep his men further away from the government troops. It was only upon the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658 did he submit to general Monck and was received warmly for his chivalrous conduct during the civil war. Soon after he accompanied Monck to London where the general called a meeting of parliament to discuss the new situation. After lengthy discussion and debate it was decided that the King would be invited back from exile and that the Royal House of Stuart would be restored to the throne after a republican interregnum of 12 years. For his loyal service during the war, Sir Ewen was received warmly by the King and was allowed soon after to return to his estates.
On 20 September 1665, Sir Ewen ended the 360-year feud with Clan Mackintosh after the Stand-off at the Fords of Arkaig at Achnacarry. From that point, Ewen was responsible for keeping the peace between his men and their former enemies. However when he was away in London in 1668, a feud broke out between Clan Donald and their enemies Clan Mackintosh, who headed the confederation of clans known as Clan Chattan. As Sir Ewen was away he was not able to hold back his clan, and they made a small contribution to the MacDonald victory over the Mackintoshes at the Battle of Maol Ruadh (Mulroy).
In 1681, he was knighted by Charles II, whom he had fought alongside during the war. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688 in which the Royal House of Stuart was deposed and replaced by a foreign dynasty, he became one of the principal commanders in the Jacobite rising where he fought under the famous Viscount Dundee at the Battle of Killiecrankie. This battle was won by the genius of Dundee and became legendary in Jacobite history because of the death of their greatest commander at the moment of his biggest triumph. The rebellion then collapsed soon after because of arguments among the remaining leaders. By this time Sir Ewen was approaching sixty years of age and was starting to give his son more and more responsibilities. He felt he was now too old to participate directly in military affairs and his son John now led the clan in battle, most notably in the second Jacobite Rising of 1715 at the battle of Sheriffmuir.
Read more about this topic: Ewen Cameron Of Lochiel
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