Major General Oliver O. Howard Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Union general and statesman Oliver O. Howard (1830-1909) was promoted to Major General in November 1862 following the Battle of Fair Oaks (1862), where he lost his right arm but earned a Congressional Medal of Honor). Although the poor showing of his division at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg earned him the nickname "Uh-oh Howard," he later commanded the Army of the Tennessee in Sherman's march to the sea. General Howard founded Howard University in 1867 becoming its President in 1869. He served as first Commissioner of the Freedmans Bureau, a federal agency designed to assist Black Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom at the end of the Civil War. In 1874, Howard retired from both jobs, returned to uniform and led troops in the Indian wars. He later served as Superintendent at West Point (1881-1882).