Hugh George Campbell

Hugh George Campbell (1760 – November 11, 1820) was an American naval captain, veteran of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and commander of the USS Constitution from 1806 to 1807.

Biography Little is known about Campbell's life before the American Revolution, however, Campbell was born in 1760 in South Carolina and enlisted in the South Carolina Navy in 1775 when he was 15-years-old. He saw stationed aboard the Defence and saw combat against British vessels off the coast of Charleston while attempting to block a channel with scuttled hulks. After the war, he became a first mate of the cutter South Carolina with the United States Revenue Cutter Service in 1798. By 1798, he had risen to command of the cutter Eagle in Philadelphia. When the ships of the Revenue Marine were taken under the United States Navy's control during the Quasi-War with France, Campbell was commissioned a master commandant. He was promoted to captain in October 1800.

During the First Barbary War, Campbell subsequently commanded the frigate USS Adams in Commodore Richard V. Morris’ Mediterranean Squadron in 1802, and then USS Constellation and USS Essex in Commodore Barron’s squadron in the summer of 1804. Campbell was the last commander of the Constitution to fight in the First Barbary War.

On May 30, 1806, Captain Campbell became commander of the Constitution, succeeding John Rodgers. He led the ship from May 30, 1806 to December 8, 1807, being succeeded by his predecessor, John Rodgers.

During the War of 1812, Campbell captured seven British merchant vessels in Spanish-controlled waters. Campbell died while on a to Washington, D.C. on November 11, 1820. He was interred in the Congressional Cemetery.