Medal of Honor Recipient for gallantry at the Battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia

At Fair Oaks he received two very serious wounds which resulted in the amputation of his right arm

11th Corps Commander at the Battle of Gettysburg

1864 dated image

(1830-1909) Howard was born in Leeds, Maine, and graduated #4 in the West Point class of 1846. Was appointed Colonel of the 3rd Maine Infantry, in June 1861, and saw action as a Brigade Commander at the 1st Battle of Bull Run. He was promoted to brigadier general on September 3, 1861, and fought at Yorktown, and Fair Oaks where he received two serious wounds and lost his right arm. Howard recovered quickly enough to rejoin the army for the Battle of Antietam, in which he rose to division command in the 2nd Corps. He was promoted to major general in November 1862, seeing action at Fredericksburg, and he was appointed as the commander of the 11th Corps in April 1863. He later fought in the battles of Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Howard and the 11th Corps were transferred to the Western Theater becoming part of the Army of the Cumberland in Tennessee. In the Battles for Chattanooga, the corps joined the assault that captured Missionary Ridge, and they also participated in the Atlanta campaign. General Howard subsequently led the right wing of General William Tecumseh Sherman's infamous "March to the Sea," through Georgia and then the Carolina's. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Fair Oaks, and the Thanks of Congress for Gettysburg. Continuing in the Regular Army, he was peace commissioner to the Apaches, and he participated in Indian fighting. He founded Howard University for Negroes in Washington, D.C., and served as it's president from 1869-74. He served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy, 1881-1882. Oliver O. Howard died in Burlington, Vermont, on October 26, 1909, and is buried at Lakeview Cemetery, in Burlington. At his death, Howard was the last surviving Union Army general to have held the permanent rank of a general in the regular U.S. Army.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Bust view in uniform with rank of brigadier general. Back mark: Wenderoth & Taylor, Philadelphia, with 2 cents blue revenue tax stamp on the verso, stamped in black W & T (Wenderoth & Taylor) 1864. Bottom right corner of the mount is bent, not affecting the image. Tiny abrasion at upper portion of the background area, not near the subject, and a very thin vertical surface scratch that is only visible upon close inspection when you turn the card on an angle. Very sharp image. Displays well. Desirable Gettysburg general and MOH recipient.