Colin Campbell was born in Glasgow on 20 October 1792. He was the eldest son of John Macliver, a carpenter in Glasgow and Agnes Campbell who belonged to the Campbells of Islay. He was educated at the expense of his uncle Colonel John Campbell, who in 1807 also introduced Campbell to the Duke of York as a candidate for a commission in the army.
On 26 May 1808 he was appointed as an ensign in the 9th Regiment, and sailed to Portugal with the 2nd battalion, with Sir Arthur Wellesley's expedition. He fought at the battle of Rolica and was present at Vimeiro; he also served with his regiment in Sir John Moore's advance to Salamanca, and the retreat to Corunna. He was with the first Battalion of the 9th Regiment in the Walcheren expedition, where he caught fever.
On 28 January 1809 Campbell became a Lieutenant and in 1810 he joined the 2nd Battalion in Gibraltar. Lieutenant-General Colin Campbell then attached Campbell to the Spanish army where he served with them until December 1811. He then rejoined the 2nd Battalion. In January 1813 he joined the 1st Battalion of the 9th, under the command of Colonel John Cameron. Campbell served at the battle of Vittoria and the siege of San Sebastian. On 17 July 1813 Campbell led the attack on the fortified convent of San Bartholomé; on 25 July he led the unsuccessful attempt to storm the fortress itself. He was wounded twice and subsequently was recommended for promotion. On 9 November 1813 he was given a company in the 60th rifles. He was awarded a pension of £100 a year for his wounds, and ordered to join the 7th battalion of the 60th rifles in Nova Scotia.
Campbell reached the rank of captain in five years but it took almost another thirty years before he became a Colonel. He joined the 5th battalion of the 60th Rifles at Gibraltar in November 1816 and in 1818 he was transferred to the 21st regiment (the Royal Scots Fusiliers) which he joined in Barbados in April 1819. In 1821 he became both aide-de-camp to the governor of British Guiana and Brigade-Major to the troops at Demerara. In 1825 he purchased his commission as a Major
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Field Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde GCB, KSI (20 October 1792 – 14 August 1863) was a British Army officer from Scotland who led the Highland Brigade in the Crimea and was in command of the ‘Thin red line’ at the battle of Balaclava. He later commanded the relief army in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
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Early life

He was born Colin Macliver, the eldest of the four children of John Macliver, a carpenter in Glasgow, Scotland, and his wife Agnes Campbell.[1] He was educated at the High School of Glasgow, but the age of ten, his mother's brother Colonel John Campbell placed him in the Royal Military and Naval Academy at Gosport. When he was only fifteen and a half, his uncle presented him to the Duke of York. The Duke enlisted the boy under the surname of Campbell, which he adopted for life

والده نجار ولا يعرف عنه ولا عن والدته شيء. يبدو انه تم الاعتناء به وبدراسته من قبل خاله وعمه.

مجهول الطفولة.