Martina Tognato Guaqueta

Upperclassmen residence Howard Hall, built in 1996, immortalizes the “Christian General,” a Bowdoin alum both ridiculed and revered who helped to alter the course of American education

Oliver Otis Howard was born to Rowland Howard and Elizabeth Otis in the small town of Leeds, Maine. At the age of nine, Howard’s uncle became his primary caregiver following Rowland’s tragic and unexpected death.

An enthusiastic student at the public schools in North Yarmouth and an avid proponent of learning, Howard also taught classes in the summers to afford his years at Bowdoin.

Although his religious pacifism instilled an initial trepidation about military service, Howard greatly admired his grandfather, who served as a captain in the American Revolution. Howard’s uncle, a member of the Congress of Maine, ensured his nephew’s acceptance to West Point, and Howard was immediately appointed to the military academy upon his graduation from Bowdoin in 1850.

Howard endured a tough first year at West Point. Aside from his unpopularity with his peers due to his soft-spoken, gentle manner, Howard was also hospitalized for a prolonged illness during the winter months.

When it appeared Howard would not recover, Colonel Robert E. Lee, superintendent of West Point, proved a compassionate bedside companion. However, Lee’s son Custis was a cadet alongside Howard and reserved a particular contempt for Howard.

Custis graduated first in West Point’s class of 1854, while Howard graduated fourth following a miraculous recovery from his long-lasting illness. The two reconvened as Civil War combatants on opposing sides of the fray—Howard’s troops emerged victorious.

Howard taught mathematics at West Point from 1857 until 1861. While he contemplated studying for the Episcopalian ministry, Howard pursued an army career instead and began completing routine assignments on the East Coast.

During the 1857 campaign against the Seminole, Howard converted to evangelical Christianity. He adamantly abstained from smoking, drinking alcohol and cursing, while also encouraging enlisted men to partake in his guided prayer meetings. Howard’s piety earned him admiration for his integrity and discipline, but soldiers’ references to the “Christian General,” a name evoking his sobriety, were rarely made without contempt.

Howard was elected colonel of the Third Maine Infantry Regiment at the outbreak of the Civil War and was promoted within a month. The Union suffered a resounding defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, yet Howard was soon elevated to brigade command.

Relentlessly courageous in battle, Howard was a capable commander, yet he was often resented by his soldiers for his uncompromising moral conviction.

Howard’s right arm was viciously wounded by two bullets in the Battle of Seven Pines in 1862, and, while his bravery awarded him the Medal of Honor, this injury resulted in an above-elbow amputation. In a letter to his wife, Elizabeth Howard, he warned that he was returning “with only his left arm,” and he remarked to another general who had lost an arm that they could now share a single pair of gloves.

Howard underwent a prolonged recovery in Maine prior to the Battle of Chancellorsville. Chancellorsville, a violent assault orchestrated by Stonewall Jackson and his men, was a treacherous loss for Howard as commander of the XI Corps. The Union’s defeat was softened, however, when Jackson was accidentally shot by one of his own soldiers.

Nevertheless, Howard’s procurement of Cemetery Hill was vital in the Union triumph at the Battle of Gettysburg. Union General John Reynolds sent a pleading missive to Howard, imploring him to secure the hill. Howard never received Reynolds’ message, but his strategic intuition led him to the same outcome.

Howard was praised by Congress for his work at Gettysburg, and he was considered among the top generals at the war’s conclusion.

A devout abolitionist, Howard was appointed by President Andrew Johnson as the commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Land. As commissioner, Howard distributed supplementary finances, provided medical assistance and constructed hospitals, but also negotiated thousands of unethical labor contracts for the formerly enslaved.

Howard also devoted nearly $5 million in federal funding to educational institutions for Black students. As a founder and namesake of Howard University, Howard allocated land and essential funds for the school. During his military career, he also served as the university’s third president.

As Bowdoin students pass through Howard Hall’s doors, they inhabit a quiet monument to moral resolve and students’ rights to education.