William Hunter Campbell

Who was William Hunter Campbell?

William Hunter Campbell was an Ohio civilian who worked for the Union Army during the early years of the American Civil War. He participated in a daring raid behind enemy lines on the Western and Atlantic Railroad, known famously known as the Great Locomotive Chase. The mission failed and Campbell and seven fellow raiders were executed by the Confederates on the charge of spying.

William Hunter Campbell was born in Fox Township, Carroll County, Ohio to Samuel and Sarah Hunter Campbell. Howe says in Historical Collections of Ohio that his mother was named Jane Morgan, a cousin of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan.

Campbell was visiting friends with 2nd Ohio Infantry in Kentucky in 1862 when he was recruited to participate in a raid to steal a Confederate locomotive and bring it to Federal lines. James J. Andrews, also a civilian, recruited Campbell and 22 soldiers from three Ohio regiments, the 2nd, 21st and 33rd Ohio Infantry. Another participant described Campbell : "He was a man of two hundred twenty pounds, handsome as Apollo, and of immense physical strength, which he was slow to use when roused, though good-natured and clever in the main."