Robert Howe (Continental Army officer)

Robert Howe
Major General Robert Howe
Nickname(s)	"Bob" Howe[1]
Born	c. 1732 New Hanover County, Province of North Carolina
Died	(1786-12-14)December 14, 1786[2] (aged 53–54) Bladen County, North Carolina
Buried	Columbus County, North Carolina
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain  United States
Service / branch	Provincial Militia Continental Army
Years of service	North Carolina militia 1755–1774 Continental Army 1775–1783
Rank	Major General
Commands	2nd North Carolina Regiment (September 1, 1775 – May 1, 1776) Southern Department (April 15, 1777 – September 28, 1778) Commandant of the fortifications at West Point (February 21, 1780 – August 3, 1780)
Battles / wars	French and Indian War War of the Regulation Battle of Alamance American Revolutionary War Burning of Norfolk Capture of Savannah Battle of Stony Point
Relations	James Moore (great-grandfather)
Other work	North Carolina General Assembly (1786)
Signature

Robert Howe (/haʊ/; c. 1732 – December 14, 1786) was a Continental Army general from the Province of North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. The descendant of a prominent family in North Carolina, Howe was one of five generals, and the only major general, in the Continental Army from that state. He also played a role in the colonial and state governments of North Carolina, serving in the legislative bodies of both.

Howe served in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War and commanded Fort Johnston at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. He also served as a colonel of Royal Governor William Tryon's artillery during the War of the Regulation. Howe suffered greatly when Tryon, a personal friend, became Governor of New York, and he staunchly opposed Tryon's successor. He became active in organizing efforts within North Carolina and among the American colonies between 1773 and 1775 and was an active member of the North Carolina Provincial Congress. At the outset of the Revolutionary War, Howe was promoted to brigadier general and was heavily involved in actions in the Southern Department, commanding the Continental Army and Patriot militia forces in defeat in the First Battle of Savannah.

Howe's career as a military commander was contentious and consumed primarily by conflict with political and military leaders in Georgia and South Carolina. In 1778, he fought a duel with Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina which was spurred in part by Howe's conflict with South Carolina's state government. Political and personal confrontations, combined with Howe's reputation as a womanizer among those who disfavored him, eventually led to the Continental Congress stripping him of his command over the Southern Department. He was then sent to New York, where he served under General George Washington in the Hudson Highlands, although Howe did not have a successful or significant career in that theater. He sat as a senior officer on the court-martial board that sentenced to death John André, a British officer accused of assisting Benedict Arnold in the latter's plot to change allegiance and deliver West Point to the British. Howe himself was accused of attempting to defect to the British, but the accusations were cast aside at the time as having been based in a British attempt to cause further discord in the Continental Army. Howe also played a role in putting down several late-war mutinies by members of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Lines in New Jersey and Philadelphia and returned home to North Carolina in 1783. He again became active in state politics, but died in December 1786 while en route to a session of the North Carolina House of Commons.