Fort Howell and General Joshua Blackwood Howell

Fort Howell, located in Hilton Head, South Carolina, is named after Union general Joshua Blackwood Howell. It was built in 1864 by an all-Black team of troops to protect the freedman town of Mitchelville. The fort became eventually became an historical site, and in 1993 was given over to Hilton Head Island Land Trust for preservation and maintenance. Even though the site was named after Howell, limited information about him exists on the property. (1)

Joshua Blackwood Howell was born September 11, 1806 in West Deptford Township, New Jersey. He was the tenth child born to Colonel Joshua Ladd Howell, who had served in the War of 1812. (2) Howell married his first wife, Mary Lewis in 1831, and the pair had two daughters, Anna Blackwood Howell and Mary Lewis Howell. (3) Before joining the Union army during the Civil War, General Howell worked as an attorney in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the war in 1861 he became Brigadier General in the Pennsylvania Militia. After the battle of Malvern Hill, he and his infantry were transferred to North Carolina. While in North Carolina he fought in the battles of Kinston, White Hall, and Goldsboro. (4)

In the months following the Goldsboro campaign Howell was stationed along the North Carolina coast. In 1863 his brigade was transferred to X Corps and eventually took part in the siege of Charleston Harbor. He was terribly wounded during the siege by a Confederate artillery shell. “One night, a Confederate 10-inch shell crashed into a splinter-proof shelter in the second parallel that was serving as the grand guard’s headquarters. The shell badly wounded the guard’s commanding officer, Colonel Joshua B. Howell. The fifty-six-year-old Howell, the popular commander of the 85^th Pennsylvania, who now commanded a brigade in Terry’s division, was knocked senseless by a shell fragment.” (5) His fellow soldiers presumed him to be dead, but the General recovered and resumed his position. “Pulled from the wrecked bombproof, most thought he had been killed, and Howell recalled that he heard great lamenting from his soldiers as he was carried away. Howell soon recovered, and much to the joy of his men, returned to his command.” (6)

Following the siege of Charleston Harbor in 1864, his forces joined with other departments from Virginia and North Carolina to take part in Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign. Afterwards, Howell went on to lead his men in the early days of the Richmond - Saint Petersburg campaigns. It was during the Richmond-Saint Petersburg campaign that Howell suffered a fall from his horse. As a result of complications from his fall, he died at the field hospital of 85^th Pennsylvania infantry, near Petersburg, Virginia on September 14, 1864. (7) His first burial place was Presbyterian Cemetery in Woodbury, New Jersey. (8) He would later be buried at Eglington Memorial Gardens in Clarksboro, New Jersey. (9) Eventually Howell received a promotion to Brigadier General, and the promotion was backdated to September 13, one day before his death. (10)

Not only was Howell promoted to Brigadier General after his death, but he also has a fort named in his honor. John G. Foster, a Union military officer, named the fort after his fellow soldier. Fort Howell, located in Hilton Head, South Carolina, was originally constructed by a team of all-Black Union troops with the purpose of protecting the freedman town of Mitchelville. In 1993, Fort Howell “was given over to the Hilton Head Island Land Trust for maintenance and preservation so future generations can enjoy learning about this historic site.” (11)

Citations

1. Eamonn, "Joshua Blackwood Howell, "Findagrave.com, accessed November 19, 2021, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6817845/joshua-Blackwood-howell
2. Eamonn, "Joshua Blackwood Howell, "Findagrave.com, accessed November 19, 2021,https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6817845/joshua-Blackwood-howell
3. Eamonn, "Joshua Blackwood Howell, "Findagrave.com, accessed November 19, 2021, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6817845/joshua-Blackwood-howell
4. Author Unknown, "Joshua Blackwood Howell, "Civilwartalk.com, accessed November 17, 2021, https://civilwartalk.com/threads/howell-joshua-Blackwood.176914/
5. Stephen R. Wise, Gates of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863, (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994), 147.
6. Wise, 147.
7. John Eicher, Civil War High Commands, (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2001), 306-307.
8. Author Unknown, "Joshua Blackwood Howell," Civilwartalk.com, accessed November 17, 2021, https://civilwartalk.com/threads/howell-joshua-Blackwood.176914/
9. Eicher, 678.
10. Author Unknown, "Joshua Blackwood Howell," Civilwartalk.com, accessed November 17, 2021, https://civilwartalk.com/threads/howell-joshua-Blackwood.176914/
11. Heritage Library, "Fort Howell," Heritagelib.org, accessed November 19, 2021, https://heritagelib.org/fort-howell

Sources:

Author Unknown. "Joshua Blackwood Howell." Civilwartalk.com. Accessed November 17, 2021. https://civilwartalk.com/threads/howell-joshua-Blackwood.176914/

Author Unknown. "Fort Howell." Heritagelib.org. Accessed November 19, 2021. https://heritagelib.org/fort-howell

Eamonn. "Joshua Blackwood Howell." Findagrave.com. Accessed November 19, 2021. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6817845/joshua-Blackwood-howell

Eicher, John H, David Eicher, and John Y Simon. Civil War High Commands. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2001.

Wise, Stephen R. Gates of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994.