[1] In 1817 he obtained a cadetship in the service of the British East India Company, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Madras Army on 2 October 1818.

Promoted to captain on 3 October 1826 during the First Anglo-Burmese War, Campbell served in the 43rd regiment of Madras native infantry from 1826–7, and was decorated with the Indian war-medal for services rendered.

[2] Upon returning from India, Campbell was introduced by the sculptor Alexander Munro to Dante Gabriel and William Michael Rossetti, with whom he became good friends.

He subsequently published short stories, prose sketches and poetry in numerous periodicals and assisted with the publication of the Germ in 1850.

He was eulogised by the Athenæum as "a graceful writer of the minor prose and poetry of his time, and a kind-hearted scholar and gentleman.