Howard, Oliver (1830 - 1909)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Oliver Otis Howard was born in Leeds, ME. He attended Bowdoin College and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, in 1855. During the Civil War, he served as a colonel in the Third Maine Volunteers in the Union Army. He fought at bull Run, Fair Oaks (where he lost an arm), Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He was promoted to Major General and commanded the Army of Tennessee under William T. Sherman.

After the War he was appointed as Commissioner of the Freedom Bureau to provide food and medical supplies for the former slaves.

In 1867, he established Howard University and served as its president from 1869-1874.

He returned to the Army and served in the Indian Wars, most notably in the Wallowa Valley in Washington against Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. Then he served as superintendent at West Point (1880-1882).

After retirement from military service, he continued to campaign for improvements to the quality of education for the former slaves and their descendants in the South and founded Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN (1895).

Selected Bibliography

  • Fighting for Humanity, Or, Camp and Quarter-Deck (1898)
  • Henry in the War, Or, The Model Volunteer (1899)
  • Donald's School Days (1899)
  • My Life and Experiences Among our Hostile Indians: A Record of Personal Observations, Adventures,... (1907)
  • autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard, Major General, United States Army (1908)
  • The True Story of the Wallowa Campaign (1998)