Archibald Cameron first saw action in late August 1745, when he helped to lead a fairly futile attack on Ruthven Barracks. In the campaign that followed Cameron seems to have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in his brother's clan regiment. The Newgate Calendar's hagiography portrays him as being a pacifist by nature, refusing to offer more than his surgical skills in the cause, but this is likely to be inaccurate since Cameron was slightly wounded in action at the Battle of Falkirk in January 1746. He is also recorded as having performed surgery on his brother after he suffered two broken ankles and other injuries at the Battle of Culloden.