Brig. Gen. William Campbell, a Revolutionary War soldier, militia commander, and regional political leader, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1745, and by 1768 he had moved to present-day Smyth County. During the Revolutionary War, he led his soldiers to victory at the Battle of King’s Mountain in North Carolina on 7 Oct. 1780. In Jun. 1781, Campbell joined the Marquis de Lafayette in eastern Virginia until Campbell’s death on 22 Aug. 1781. He was buried at Rocky Mills in Hanover County, and by 1832 his remains were reinterred at Aspenvale Cemetery.