Hugh Marshall Cole (July 14, 1910 – June 5, 2005) was an American historian and army officer, best known as the author of The Lorraine Campaign and The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge, two volumes of the official history of The U.S. Army in World War II.
Born in Pittsford, Michigan, Cole studied as a young man and achieved his doctorate in history in 1937 from the University of Minnesota.
After serving as the chief of foreign area and language studies for the Army Specialized Training Program, he was assigned as a historical officer on the staff of General Patton's Third Army, with whom he participated in four campaigns in northern Europe.
During 1976–77, Cole held the Harold K. Johnson Chair of Military History at the Army War College.
Cole died on June 5, 2005, of peripheral vascular disease in Alexandria, Virginia.