Howell, Charles Wagoner

Charles Wagoner Howell (July 21, 1841 - April 5, 1882) was a U.S. Army engineer and veteran of the American Civil War. Born in Goshen, Indiana, Howell entered West Point on September 1, 1859, and graduated seventh in his class of twenty-five on June 11, 1863. He was commissioned as a First Lieutenant on his graduation day and assigned to the Engineer Battalion of the Army of the Potomac, then engaged in the Pennsylvania Campaign. Per the obituary in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, his first important work as part of the Army of the Potomac was building a bridge across the Potomac at Berlin, Maryland. He served with the Army of the Potomac for the rest of the Civil War, serving in the Rapidan campaign, the Rappahannock campaign, the Mine Run operations, and General Grant's Overland Campaign. He was at Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg from June 17, 1864, until February 16, 1865. He was brevetted to captain and major during the siege of Petersburg. He also participated in the pursuit of the Confederate Army from Petersburg and was at Appomattox Court House for the surrender. After the war, he was transferred to Willett's Point, New York, where he was promoted to full Captain of Engineers on July 10, 1866. He was promoted to Major on June 30, 1879. He was ordered to New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 8, 1869, to take charge of the improvements of the mouth of the Mississippi River and the defenses of New Orleans. Not long after improving Galveston Harbor was added to his list of tasks. He died of consumption in New Orleans on April 5, 1882, after six months sick leave from the Army. According to the Times-Picayune obituary, 'Major Howell was a noble hearted, genial man, loved by all who knew him'.