MARSHALL C. CAMPBELL, LCDR, USN

Marshall Campbell '56

Date of birth: ~1834

Age: 30

Loss

Photo scanned and provided by Jennifer Bryan, Ph.D., Head of Special Collections & Archives/Archivist at the Naval Academy's Nimitz Library

Photo taken "between circa 1860 and circa 1865"

Marshall died at home occurred on February 22, 1865 in Baltimore, Maryland. There is nothing to suggest his death was caused by any operational event.

From the Baltimore Sun on February 23, 1865:

Death of Lieut. Commander Campbell—Lieut. Comdr. Marshall C. Campbell, of the United States navy, late instructor at the Naval Academy, Newport, R.I., died at his residence, in this city, yesterday, in the 31st year of his age. The deceased was a promising young officer, and leaves many friends to regret his early death.

"According to the Baltimore City Directory, the address was 124 W. Fayette St; Mrs. Eliza Campbell lived there, too." (Clip and directory information via historian Kathy Franz.)

Other Information

He was born in Tennessee and appointed to the Naval Academy from Mississippi.

Career

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Midshipman, 5 February, 1850. Passed Midshipman, 20 June, 1856. Master, 22 January, 1858. Lieutenant, 23 January, 1858. Lieutenant Commander, 16 July, 1862. Died 22 February, 1865.

The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) on July 25, 1853 reported he was a Midshipman aboard the sloop of war John Adams, which had returned to Boston from Africa.

In the "Historical sketch of the United States Naval Academy" from 1876, Marshall is listed as the leader of the Department of Seamanship from 1863 until 1865 when he "detached, resigned, or transferred."

Marshall created a drawing of USS Saginaw that is published in the Autumn 2005 issue of Sea History.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.