Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/308

280 the government was pressed for funds, he advanced money to pay the regiment. Mr. Howe received numerous medals, including the gold medal of the World's fair held in Paris in 1867, where he also was given the cross of the Legion of honor.

HOWE, Fisher, author, b. in Rochester, Vt„ in 1798 ; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y, 7 Oct., 1871. He was engaged in business in Brooklyn for many years, and, having accumulated a fortune, gave liberally of his time and means to philanthropic enter- prises. In 1852 he made an extended tour of the east, and after many years of biblical research published a work entitled "Oriental and Sacred Scenes " (New York, 1856), and a treatise on " The True Site of the Cross " (1869).

HOWE, George Augustus, viscount, British soldier, b. in England in 1724; d. near FortTicon- deroga, N. Y., 5 July, 1758. His father, Emanuel Scrope, was second Viscount Howe of the Irish peerage. The son entered the army at an early age, soon rose to distinction, and in 1757 was sent to this country in command of the 60th regiment, arriving in Halifax, N. S., in July of this year. He was transferred to the command of the 55th in- fantry in September, promoted brigadier-general in December, and on 6 July, 1758, under Com- mander-in-Chief James Abercrombie, landed at the outlet of Lake George. Coming suddenly upon the French force two days afterward at Fort Ti- conderoga, he fell at the head of his corps in the ensuing skirmish. Howe was idolized by his men, and exercised much influence with his officers, whom he induced by his example to dress and fare like the common soldiers, and to abandon the lux- urious habits that were then in vogue. A contem- poraneous historian says in allusion to his death, " With him the soul of the army seemed to expire." The general court of Massachusetts appropriated £250 for his monument, which was erected in Westminster Abbey. — His brother, Richard, Brit- ish naval officer, b. in England in 1725 ; d. there, 5 Aug.. 1799, entered the navy at fourteen years of age, and served with distinction against the French from 1745 till 1759. On the death of his brother George in 1758, he succeeded to the family title and estates. At the conclusion of peace between France and Eng- land, he served on the admiralty board, was ap- pointed treasurer of the navy in 1765, entered par- liament for Dart- mouth, and in 1770 was made rear-admiral of the blue, and commanded a fleet in the Medi- terranean. In 1776, with the rank of rear-admiral, he sailed for North America as joint commissioner with his brother William for restoring peace with the colonies. Howe was sin- cere in his attempts to reconcile the countries, and, as unsuspicious as he was brave, thought that by riding about the country and conversing with the principal inhabitants, he could, by moderation and concession, restore the king's authority. When, after negotiations with Franklin, he discovered the true attitude of the colonists, he declared that he had been deceived in accepting a commission that left him no power but to assist in the subjugation of the colonies by arms. In a second attempt to bring about a reconciliation, after the retreat from Long Island, he used John Sullivan as a go-between to congress, but was forced by the American com- missioners that had been appointed to treat with him to acknowledge that his commission, in respect to acts of parliament, was confined to powers' of consultation with private individuals. Howe was then variously employed against the American forces for two years, and in August, 1778, had an indecisive encounter with a superior French fleet under Count d'Estaing, off the coast of Rhode Island, in which both fleets were severely shattered by a storm. Howe then resigned his command to Admiral Byron and returned to England. In 1782 he was made a peer of Great Britain under the title of Viscount Howe. In the latter part of this year he succeeded in bringing into the harbor at Gibraltar the fleet sent to the relief of Gen. Elliot; and for these and previous services was created Earl and Baron Howe of Langar. In 1793 he was put in command of the channel fleet, in the next year he gained a victory over the French on the western coast of France off Ushant, and received the thanks of the English parliament. In 1795 he was made admiral of the fleet, and in 1797 a knight of the garter. His last important service was the suppression of a mutiny in the fleet at Spithead in 1797. Lord Howe's swarthy complexion gave him, among the sailors, the sobriquet of " Black Dick." Horace Walpole describes him in parliament, as " silent as a rock except when naval matters were discussed, when he spoke briefly but to the point." A severe criticism of his conduct during the American war was written probably by Lord George Germaine (London, 1779), and he replied to it in a "Narrative of the Transactions of the Fleet" (1780). His " Life," with letters and notes from his journal, was published and edited by Sir John Barrow (London, 1838).— Another brother, William, soldier, b. in England, 10 Aug.. 1729 ; d. in Plymouth, England, 12 July, 1814, commanded the light infantry under Wolfe at the heights of Abraham, near Quebec, in 1759, and in 1775 succeeded Gen. Thomas Gage as commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. He commanded at the battle of Bunker Hill, after the evacuation of Boston retired to Halifax, and in August, 1776, defeated the colonial forces on Long Island. He took possession of New York on 15 Sept., defeated Washington at White Plains, and captured Fort Washington with its garrison of 2,000 men. In July, 1777, he sailed to Chesapeake bay, defeated Washington at Brandywine, 11 Sept., and on the 26th of this month entered Philadelphia. He repulsed the attack of Washington at Germantown on 4 Oct., but, instead of breaking up the American camp at Valley Forge, spent the winter of 1777-8 in Philadelphia with his army, in indolence and pleasure. In May, 1778, he was recalled and superseded by Sir Henry Clinton. His officers, with whom he was personally popular, were indignant at what they termed the injustice of his removal, and gave him on his departure a grand entertainment called the " mischianza." On the investigation of his military conduct by parliament in 1779, he was acquitted of blame by Lord Grey, Lord Cornwallis, and other military men, who affirmed that he had done what he could considering the insufficiency of his force. Gen. Plowe became lieutenant of ordnance in 1782, colonel of the 19th dragoons, and full general in 1786, was governor of