John Eager Howard, the subject of this memoir, was born on the 4th of
June, 1752, in Baltimore county, and state of Maryland. He was the
grandson of Joshua Howard, who, when young, left his home, in the
vicinity of Manchester, England, and against the wishes of his parents,
joined the army of the Duke of York, afterwards James the Second,
during Monmouth’s insurrection; fearing to encounter the displeasure
of his parents, he joined a band of adventurers, who were preparing to
seek their fortunes in the British colonies in North America, in the
year 1685.
He soon obtained a grant of land in Baltimore county, (which is still
held by the family,) and married Miss Joanna O’Carroll, of an Irish
family, but recently emigrated from Ireland.
Cornelius, his son, and father of the subject of this sketch, married
a Miss Eager, whose estate now forms part of the city of Baltimore.
During the interval that elapsed between the emigration of the early
members of the family to the revolution, they appear to have been quiet
cultivators of the soil, taking no part in the political broils that
were frequently arising in the colonies.
The time had now arrived, when every true son of America felt bound to
participate in the approaching struggle for liberty and independence,
and John Eager Howard received a commission as captain, in one of those
bodies of militia termed flying camps in the regiment commanded by
Colonel Hall. The commission depended upon his raising thirty men in a
given time; but such was the esteem in which our hero was held, that he
formed his company required in two days, and marched direct to the army.
In the following year he was promoted, till finally he succeeded
Lieutenant-Colonel Ford in the command of the second Maryland regiment.
He was present at the battle of White Plains, and continued to serve
till the end of the year 1776, when his corps was dismissed. Congress
having resolved to raise additional regiments to serve during the war,
with officers commissioned by Congress, Major Howard was one of the
number allotted to Maryland, and in April 1777, we find him marching
with his regiment to join the army at Rocky Hill, near Princeton, where
he remained till the latter end of June, when receiving information
of the death of his father, he returned home, till the following
September, when he rejoined the army a few days after the Battle at
Brandywine Springs, but in time to give proofs of his bravery at the
battle of Germantown, which afterwards so greatly distinguished him.
Colonel Hall being disabled at the commencement of the battle of
Germantown, Major Howard assumed the command and encountered the
British corps of light infantry, posted some distance from the
main body, and after a sharp conflict, pursued them through their
encampment, Howard passing with his regiment amidst the standing tents,
and in front of Chew’s house, without any serious injury from the fire
of the British. Having passed in safety, he advanced his Maryland
troops about a quarter of a mile farther towards the main body of the
British troops, who now sallied forth from their temporary fortress,
and attacked the Maryland corps, but a return fire killed the officer
who had commanded the garrison, and no further molestation ensued.
Major Howard still remained with the army, and was present at the
battle of Monmouth, but we do not hear of any particular share that
he bore in that contest. In June, 1779, Major Howard received the
commission of Lieutenant-Colonel of the fifth Maryland regiment in the
army of the United States, and accordingly prepared for a southern
march, to meet General Gates and his army at the camp at Deep Run,
North Carolina.
Having reinforced, they made night marches, in order to attack the
British army, commanded as they thought by Lord Rawdon, but Cornwallis,
who had lately arrived from Charleston with a strong reinforcement,
was resolved to assault Gates in his camp. Gates, who had left his
camp, and was proceeding by night marches to meet his antagonist, was
encountered in the woods, where, to his great astonishment and dismay,
he found that not Lord Rawdon, but Cornwallis, was the commander of
the British troops, and that the enemy was much superior in force
to the American troops. A retreat now was impossible, and the only
alternative offered, was to form a line of battle. The disheartening
intelligence, that Cornwallis had reinforced the British army, and
the darkness of night, may, in some measure, account for the conduct
of the militia in the battle of Camden, for they gave way early in
the action, thereby throwing the whole of the British troops entirely
upon the two Maryland brigades, who maintained the contest obstinately
against superior numbers, at one time making a partially successful
attempt to use the bayonet. Colonel Howard drove the corps in front of
him out of line; and if the left wing of the American army had been
able to occupy the attention of the British right, the day would have
been propitious; but attacked as he was in front and rear, by horse
and foot, the American troops were overpowered and driven into the
woods and swamps in all directions. Colonel Howard succeeded in keeping
a few of his men together, and being occasionally joined by other
officers and men, they reached Charlotte, a distance of sixty miles,
in about three days: their only subsistence during that time was a few
peaches. From this time, and until the arrival of General Greene in
December, Colonel Howard was employed in equipping and forming into a
battalion, four companies of light infantry, placed under his command,
and then transferred to Greene. The next conspicuous act of our hero
was at the celebrated battle of the Cowpens, 17th of January, 1781. We
find from manuscript and printed documents of Colonel Howard himself,
whose scrupulous accuracy places his authority beyond a doubt, that it
was Howard, and not Morgan, who gave the order to the right company
to change its front and protect his flank, and it was Howard also,
who, on his own responsibility, ordered the charge with the bayonet.
We give his own language:--“Seeing my right flank was exposed to the
enemy, I attempted to change the front of Wallace’s company, (Virginia
regulars;) in doing it, some confusion ensued, and first a part,
and then the whole of the company commenced a retreat. The officers
along the line seeing this, and supposing that orders had been given
for a retreat, faced their men about and moved off. Morgan, who had
mostly been with the militia, quickly rode up to me and expressed
apprehensions of the event; but I soon removed his fears by pointing
to the line, and observing that men were not beaten who retreated in
that order. He then ordered me to keep with the men, until we came to
the rising ground near Washington’s horse; and he rode forward to fix
on the most proper place for us to halt and face about. In a minute we
had a perfect line. The enemy were now very near us. Our men commenced
a very destructive fire; which they little expected, and a few rounds
occasioned great disorder in their ranks. While in this confusion I
ordered a charge with the bayonet, which order was obeyed with great
alacrity. As the line advanced, I observed their artillery a short
distance in front, and called to Captain Ewing, who was near me, to
take it. Captain Anderson, (now General Anderson, of Montgomery county,
Maryland,) hearing the order, also pushed for the same object; and both
being emulous for the prize, kept pace until near the first piece, when
Anderson, by putting the end of his spontoon forward into the ground,
made a long leap, which brought him upon the gun and gave him the honor
of the prize. My attention was now drawn to an altercation of some of
the men with an artillery man, who appeared to make it a point of honor
not to surrender his match. The men, provoked by his obstinacy, would
have bayoneted him on the spot, had I not interfered and desired them
to spare the life of so brave a man. He then surrendered his match.
In the pursuit I was led to the right, in among the seventy-first,
who were broken into squads; and as I called to them to surrender,
they laid down their arms, and the officers delivered up their swords.
Captain Duncanson, of the seventy-first grenadiers, gave me his sword
and stood by me. Upon getting on my horse, I found him pulling at my
saddle, and he nearly unhorsed me. I expressed my displeasure, and
asked what he was about. The explanation was, that they had orders
to give no quarter, and they did not expect any; and as my men were
coming up, he was afraid they would use him ill. I admitted his excuse
and put him into the care of a sergeant. I had messages from him many
years afterwards, expressing his obligation for my having saved his
life.” At the time Colonel Howard was “among the seventy-first,” as he
observes, he had in his hand at one time, seven swords of officers who
had surrendered to him personally.
The moral effect of this celebrated battle was felt throughout the
whole country. Congress voted a gold medal to Colonel Howard, (_See_
Plate I.,) descriptive of his gallant conduct at the Cowpens, which is
described at the end of this sketch.
The battle of the Cowpens is the only one on record, in which the
American troops fairly conquered the British with the bayonet in open
field.
In the extreme danger incurred by the rear guard, in protecting the
retreat of Greene, Colonel Howard bore his full share; in the battle of
Guildford, which soon followed, we find his skill and bravery displayed
in no common degree. In his own manuscript, he observes:--“My station
being on the left of the first regiment, and next the cleared ground,
Captain Gibson, deputy adjutant-general, rode up to me, and informed
me that a party of the enemy inferior in number to us, were pushing
through the cleared ground and into our rear, and that if we would face
about and charge them, we might take them. I rode to Colonel Gunby and
gave him the information. He did not hesitate to order the regiment to
face about, and we were immediately engaged with the guards. Our men
gave them some well directed fires, and we then advanced and continued
firing. At this time Gunby’s horse was shot, and falling upon him,
injured him, but not severely. Major Anderson was killed about this
time. As we advanced, I observed Washington’s horse, and as their
movements were quicker than ours, they first charged and broke the
enemy. My men followed very quickly, and we pressed through the guards,
many of whom had been knocked down by the horse without being much
hurt. We took some prisoners, and the whole were in our power.
“After passing through the guards, as before stated, I found myself
in the cleared ground, and saw the seventy-first regiment near the
court-house, and other columns of the enemy appearing in different
directions.
“Washington’s horse having gone off, I found it necessary to retire,
which I did leisurely; but many of the guards who were lying on the
ground, and who we supposed were wounded, got up and fired at us as we
retired.”
Such is the unadorned narrative of this brave and gallant soldier.
At the battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, he also ably distinguished himself.
At Eutaw he had the command of the second Maryland regiment, who
distinguished themselves at the bayonet’s point, and (according to Lee)
in encountering the obstinate resistance of the Buffs, many of the
Marylanders and of the Buffs were mutually transfixed with each other’s
bayonets. Colonel Howard, in a letter, says, “nearly one-half of my
men were killed or wounded, and I had seven officers out of twelve
disabled; four killed, and three severely wounded.” Towards the end
of the battle, Colonel Howard received a ball in the left shoulder,
which, passing entirely through, came out under the shoulder-blade, and
disabled him. In a letter from General Greene to General Smallwood,
written a few days after the battle, he says, “nothing could exceed
the gallantry of the Maryland line, the uncommon bravery of Colonels
Howard, Williams, and the other officers, and the free use of the
bayonet, by this and some other corps, gave us the victory.”
As soon as he was able to be removed, Colonel Howard was taken home,
followed by the affectionate commendations of his brother officers.
General Greene, in writing to a friend, after his departure, says,
“Colonel Howard is as good an officer as the world afforded, and
deserves a statue of gold, no less than the Roman or Grecian heroes.”
At the conclusion of the war, Colonel Howard retired to his estates
in Baltimore county, and soon after married Margaret, the daughter of
Benjamin Chew, of Philadelphia. He was shortly after chosen governor
of Maryland, which office he filled for three years. In 1795, General
Washington invited him to a seat in his cabinet, but this was declined.
In 1796, he was transferred from the legislature of his own state to
the senate of the United States, where he remained seven years; he then
returned again to his agricultural pursuits, where he remained till
the trumpet of war broke in upon his retirement in 1814. The capture
of Washington by the enemy, and the meditated attack upon Baltimore,
demanded a preparation for resistance, and a troop of aged men was
organized to render such services as their strength would allow, and
Colonel Howard was, by unanimous consent, placed at its head. Colonel
Howard now began to feel the effects of his early wound, which at
every slight exposure brought on severe pain, which made inroads in
his constitution not easily repaired. In 1821 he had the misfortune
to lose his eldest daughter, and in 1822 his eldest son, and in 1824,
the loss of his devoted wife gave him a shock from which he never
recovered; from that time his health began fast to decline, and in
October, 1827, he resigned his life with characteristic fortitude and
pious resignation. An obituary notice written by a celebrated dignitary
of the Catholic church, demands a place in these pages. “One after
another, the stars of our revolutionary firmament are sinking below the
horizon. They rise in another hemisphere, as they set to us; and the
youth of other times will gaze upon their lustre, as he learns their
names and marks them clustering into constellations, which will recall
to his mind some interesting event of our period of struggle.” An able
historiographer thus speaks of the lamented Howard: “In private life he
was distinguished for the amenity of his manners, his hospitality, and
his extensive and useful knowledge. He possessed a memory uncommonly
minute, and a love of information that never sank under the labor of
acquisition. These faculties rendered him, perhaps, the most accurate
repository of the history of his own time, in this or any other
country. His habits of life were contemplative, cautious, scrupulously
just, and regulated by the strictest method. Few men have enjoyed a
more enviable lot;--his youth distinguished in the field, his age in
the council, and every period solaced by the attachment of friends.
Affluent in fortune, as rich in public regard, and blessed in his
domestic and personal associations, he has glided away from the small
band of his compatriots, as full of honors as of years. The example
of such a citizen is a legacy to his country, of more worth than the
precepts of an age.”