Who was Civil War officer Oliver Otis Howard?
When the American Civil War erupted, Oliver Otis Howard volunteered for service with the 3rd Maine Volunteers. Army officials commissioned him as a regimental commander in the volunteer army in June 1861. One month later, Howard led a Union brigade during the federal defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. In September, officials promoted Howard to brigadier general.
During the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, Howard commanded a brigade in the Army of the Potomac. During the Battle of Seven Pines, Howard’s right arm was severely wounded, forcing doctors to amputate it. Thirty-one years later, in 1893, Congress awarded Howard the Medal of Honor for his bravery at the Battle of Seven Pines. Howard returned to active duty in August, in time to take part in the Northern Virginia Campaign.
During the Maryland Campaign, Howard commanded a brigade in Major General John Sedgwick’s division of the Army of the Potomac. When an injury disabled Sedgwick during the Battle of Antietam, Howard replaced him as the divisional commander. Later in 1862, the War Department promoted Howard to major general of volunteers and he took part in the failed Union assault on Marye’s Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
In April 1863, Howard replaced Major General Franz Sigel as commander of the Army of the Potomac’s 11th Corps. At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Howard’s corps formed the right flank of the Army of the Potomac. On May 2, 1863, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson discreetly marched his Rebel corps around Howard’s men. Late in the afternoon, Jackson’s troops slammed into Howard’s unsuspecting soldiers. Hooker’s entire right flank collapsed. Afterward, Hooker blamed Howard for the Union rout at Chancellorsville.
One month later, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Major General Jubal Early’s Confederate division attacked Howard’s defensive line north of town and sent the Federals fleeing back through Gettysburg to the high ground on Cemetery Hill south of town. Howard’s men recovered, and Early’s follow-up assault the next day failed to dislodge the Yankees. To Howard’s credit, Union artillery fire from Cemetery Hill on the third day of battle contributed to the failed Confederate assault — popularly known as Pickett’s Charge — on Cemetery Ridge.
In September 1863, the War Department sent Howard’s corps to Chattanooga to help lift the Confederate siege on the city. In November, Howard’s corps took part in the successful assault on Missionary Ridge that forced the Rebels to retreat into Georgia.
When Major General William T. Sherman launched his Atlanta Campaign in April 1864, he selected Howard to lead the 4th Corps of the Army of the Cumberland. Howard served in that position throughout much of the Atlanta Campaign. Following Major General James B. McPherson’s death in July, Sherman appointed Howard to command the Army of the Tennessee. Howard continued in that capacity throughout the Savannah Campaign. At the conclusion of the campaign, the army promoted Howard to brigadier general in the regular army.
During the Carolinas Campaign, Howard’s army played an important role at the Battle of Bentonville. Afterward, Howard was present at the Surrender at Bennett Place when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston capitulated to Sherman in April 1865.
Following the war, President Andrew Johnson selected Howard as the first and only commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Under Howard’s leadership, the Bureau provided a plethora of services to freedmen and some poor whites in the South, with varying levels of success. During his time as commissioner, Howard was also instrumental in the founding of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he also served as the institution’s president from 1867 until 1873.
On January 1, 1869, Howard mustered out of volunteer service, but he remained in the regular army. In March 1872, Howard served as Special Indian Commissioner to the hostile Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona. When Howard returned to Washington, he remained commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau until July 1874, when officials placed him in command of the Department of Columbia, where he campaigned against Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe and other Native American Indians.
In 1882, Howard served nine months as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy. After that, he commanded several departments and divisions on the West Coast during the 1880s. On March 19, 1886, army officials promoted Howard to major general in the regular army. After serving as commander of the Department of the East from 1891 to 1894, Howard retired from active service on November 8, 1894, at the age of sixty-four.
Upon leaving the army, Howard fulfilled a pledge that he made to Abraham Lincoln to organize an institution of higher learning for Appalachian residents of the Cumberland Gap area. With the help of locally prominent citizens, Howard helped establish Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. Howard spent the last years of his life lecturing, doing philanthropic work, and authoring numerous books. The seventy-eight-year-old general died from a stroke on October 26, 1909, at his home in Burlington, Vermont. He was buried there at Lakeview Cemetery.
Oliver Otis Howard Facts for APUSH
Birth and Early Life
- Full Name: His full name was Oliver Otis Howard.
- Parents: His parents were Rowland Bailey and Eliza (Otis) Howard.
- Date of Birth: He was born on November 30, 1830.
- Birthplace: He was born in Leeds, Maine.
Family Tree
- Spouse: His spouse was Elizabeth Anne Waite (1855). They were married in 1855.
Death and Burial
- Death: He died on October 26, 1909.
- Place of Death: He died in Burlington, Vermont.
- Burial: He is buried at Lakeview Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont.
Education
He attended Bowdoin College (1850), and the United States Military Academy (1854).
Career
He worked as a military officer.
- Brigadier General in the United States Army
- Major General (USVA)
- Army of the Tennessee commander
- Freedmen’s Bureau commissioner
Nickname(s)
His nicknames were “The Christian General” and “Uh-Oh Howard.”
Oliver Otis Howard — Summary of His Life and Accomplishments for APUSH
- Oliver O. Howard was the oldest of three sons of Rowland Bailey and Eliza (Otis) Howard.
- Oliver O. Howard’s father, who was a farmer, died in 1840, when Howard was nine years old.
- As a youth, Oliver O. Howard attended Monmouth Academy, and North Yarmouth Academy.
- Oliver O. Howard graduated from Bowdoin College in 1850.
- Oliver O. Howard graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854, ranking fourth in his class of 46 cadets.
- After graduating from West Point, Oliver O. Howard was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant of ordnance on July 1, 1854.
- On February 14, 1855, Oliver O. Howard married Elizabeth Anne Waite. Their marriage lasted for over fifty years and produced seven children.
- Oliver O. Howard was promoted to second lieutenant on February 15, 1855.
- In 1856, Oliver O. Howard was transferred to Tampa, Florida, where he served during the Third Seminole War (1855 – 1858).
- Oliver O. Howard was promoted to first lieutenant on July 1, 1857.
- While serving in Florida, Oliver O. Howard became an evangelical Christian.
- Colleagues and subordinates derisively referred to Oliver O. Howard as “the Christian general” due to his religious passion.
- Oliver O. Howard served as an assistant mathematics professor at the United States Military Academy from 1857 and 1860.
- When the American Civil War erupted, Oliver O. Howard was elected as colonel of the 3rd Maine Volunteers on May 28, 1861.
- Oliver O. Howard was officially commissioned as a regimental commander in the volunteer army on June 4, 1861.
- Oliver O. Howard resigned his commission in the regular army on June 7, 1861.
- Oliver O. Howard served as a brigade commander during the First Battle of Bull Run (July 21, 1861).
- Oliver O. Howard was promoted to brigadier general on September 3, 1861.
- Doctors amputated Oliver O. Howard’s right arm as a result of injuries he received on June 1, 1862, during Battle of Seven Pines (May 31 – June 1, 1862).
- In 1893, Congress awarded Oliver O. Howard the Medal of Honor for his bravery at the Battle of Seven Pines.
- During the Maryland Campaign Howard commanded the 2nd Brigade of Major General John Sedgwick’s 2nd Division of the Army of the Potomac’s 2nd Corps.
- When Major General John Sedgwick was wounded during the Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862) Oliver O. Howard replaced him as commander of the division.
- Oliver O. Howard was promoted to major general of volunteers on November 29, 1862.
- Oliver O. Howard participated in the failed Union assault on Marye’s Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 11–15, 1862).
- Oliver O. Howard replaced Major General Franz Sigel as commander of the Army of the Potomac’s 11th Corps on April 1, 1863.
- Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall Jackson” outflanked and overran Oliver O. Howard’s corps on May 2, 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30 – May 6, 1863).
- On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 – 4, 1863), Major General Jubal Early’s division exploited a salient in Oliver O. Howard’s defensive line and routed Howard’s corps.
- Some historians credit Major General Winfield Scott Hancock with the decision to defend and hold Cemetery Hill at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 – 4, 1863). Nonetheless, on January 28th, 1864 Oliver O. Howard received the “Thanks of Congress” for the decision (S. Res. 3).
- On September 23, 1863, Oliver O. Howard and his corps were detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent under the command of Major General Joseph Hooker to help defend the city of Chattanooga.
- On November 25, Oliver O. Howard’s Corps participated in the successful assault on Missionary Ridge.
- On April 10, 1864, Major General William T. Sherman selected Oliver O. Howard to lead the 4th Corps of the Army of the Cumberland.
- On July 27, 1864, Major General William T. Sherman selected Oliver O. Howard to command the Army of the Tennessee following the death of Major General James B. McPherson during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22.
- Oliver O. Howard commanded the Army of the Tennessee throughout the Savannah Campaign (November 15 – December 21, 1864) and the Carolinas Campaign (February – April 1865).
- Oliver O. Howard was brevetted to major general in the regular army on March 13, 1865, for his gallantry at the Battle of Ezra Church (July 28, 1864).
- Oliver O. Howard was present when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his forces to Major General William T. Sherman at Bennett Place, near Durham, North Carolina, on April 26, 1865.
- Oliver O. Howard served as the first (and only) commissioner of the Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees (more commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau) from May 12, 1865, to July 1874.
- Under Oliver O. Howard’s leadership, the Freedmen’s Bureau provided a plethora of services to freedmen (and some poor whites) in the South, with varying levels of success.
- Oliver O. Howard was instrumental in the founding of Howard University in Washington, DC, and he served as president of the university from 1867 until 1873.
- Oliver O. Howard mustered out of volunteer service On January 1, 1869, but he remained in the regular army.
- In March 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant temporarily reassigned Oliver O. Howard as Special Indian Commissioner to the hostile Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona.
- In July 1874, Oliver O. Howard was placed in command of the Department of Columbia.
- Oliver O. Howard campaigned against Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe as well as other Native Americans in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
- Oliver O. Howard served as Superintendent of the U. S. Military Academy from January 21 to September 1, 1882.
- Oliver O. Howard commanded the Department of the Platte from 1882 to 1886.
- Oliver O. Howard was promoted to major general in the regular army on March 19, 1886.
- Oliver O. Howard commanded the Division of the Pacific and Department of California from 1886 to 1888.
- Oliver O. Howard commanded the Division of the Atlantic from 1888 to 1891.
- Oliver O. Howard’s final command was the Department of the East from 1891 to 1894.
- Oliver O. Howard retired from active service on November 8, 1894, at the age of sixty-four.
- Oliver O. Howard was instrumental in the founding of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, which was chartered by the State of Tennessee on February 12, 1897.
- Oliver O. Howard died from a stroke on October 26, 1909, at his home in Burlington, Vermont.
- On November 12, 1932, the State of Maine dedicated an equestrian statue of Howard on Cemetery Hill at the Gettysburg National Military Park.
Oliver Otis Howard Video
This video from Across the Fence discusses the legacy of Oliver Otis Howard.