George Washington Papers

To George Washington from Hugh George Campbell, 6 May 1791

From Hugh George Campbell

Charleston, S.C., 6 May 1791. Offers himself as a candidate for the command of the United States revenue cutter for South Carolina and refers to the accompanying certificate for information respecting his character.1

ALS, DNA: RG 59, Applications and Recommendations for Public Office, 1797–1901. Archivists filed the letter under 1798.

1The enclosure, dated 6 May 1791 and written in Hugh George Campbell’s hand, was signed by Daniel DeSaussure, Arnoldus Vanderhorst, and fourteen other men who certified that Campbell (1760–1820) was a “Gentleman of respectable Character and of proffessionall abillities, that he Served last war in the Navy of the United States, and we do think him a very proper person to Command the Revenue Cutter of this State” (DNA: RG 59, Applications and Recommendations for Public Office, 1797–1901). Campbell accepted the position of first mate of the South Carolina cutter after GW named Robert Cochran its captain (see GW to Hamilton, 8 May 1791 and note 2, and 20 May 1791). For Campbell’s subsequent naval career, see Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War, description begins Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War between the United States and France. 7 vols. Washington, D.C., 1935–38. description ends 7:134–35, 321, 367.

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