Lieutenant-General Sir James Campbell[a] KB (c. 1680 – 11 May 1745) was a British army officer and Whig politician who represented the constituency of Ayrshire in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1727 to 1741.

A distinguished cavalry officer, Campbell began his military career at a young age and fought in several conflicts of the Second Hundred Years' War, along with serving as the governor of Edinburgh Castle from 1738 until his death in 1745.

During the War of the Spanish Succession, Campbell served in Europe in the Royal North British Dragoons, fighting in the battles of Blenheim, Oudenarde and Malplaquet and rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

In 1742, the War of the Austrian Succession broke out and Campbell accompanied a British force to Continental Europe, where he participated in the Battle of Dettingen and was knighted.

In 1701, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out; the next year, Campbell was transferred to the Earl of Mar's Regiment of Foot, renewing his own officer's commission in the process.

[2] Campbell was then sent along with the rest of his regiment to Europe, where they fought in the Battle of Blenheim on 13 August 1704, a decisive victory for the Grand Alliance (of which the Kingdom of Scotland was a part).

[5] After the treaty was signed, Campbell started becoming involved in British political affairs, joining forces with his brother Hugh in supporting the Hanoverian Succession to Britain's Queen Anne.

[2] In the same year, Campbell became a Member of Parliament, running unopposed for the parliamentary constituency of Ayrshire at the 1727 British general election "through the influence of his brother."

[10] In 1740, the War of the Austrian Succession broke out, and two years later the British government made plans to dispatch a military expedition to the continent, as Britain was a member of the anti-French Pragmatic Alliance.

[13] During the battle, Campbell led a cavalry charge against the Maison Militaire du Roi de France, the household troops of the French Army, which played a major role in securing a victory for the Pragmatic Alliance.

His deputy, the Earl of Crawford, then recommended that infantry be used to clear a nearby forest, though the plan was soon abandoned when Dutch hussars were driven off by hidden French troops.

[2] Campbell changed his son's surname to Mure-Campbell in 1729 in order for him to inherit the Rowallan estate near Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, which was an old family possession.