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 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; 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 “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, 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 MEDAL.Occasion.—Victory at the Cowpens, N. Carolina. Device.—An officer mounted, with uplifted sword, pursuing an officer on foot, bearing a stand of colors: Victory descending in front over the former, holding a wreath in her right hand over his head: a palm-branch in her left hand. Legend.—John Eager Howard, legionis peditum prÆfecto comitia Americana. Reverse Inscription—(within a laurel wreath.)—Quod in nutantem hostium aciem subito irruens, prÆclarum bellicÆ virtutis specimen dedit in pugna, ad Cowpens, 17th January, 1781. |