Oliver Otis Howard (1830-1909), a general on the Union side in the American Civil War, was commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau and helped establish an educational system for Southern African Americans.

Oliver Otis Howard was born on Nov. 8, 1830, on a farm in Leeds Township, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1850 and entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After graduating fourth in his class in 1854, he held minor Army appointments before returning to West Point as an instructor of mathematics.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Howard became colonel of the 3d Maine Regiment. He held important commands in the Army of the Potomac and participated in most of the major battles in the eastern theater. He lost his right arm at the Battle of Fair Oaks, Va., in 1862. A devout Congregationalist, he earned the sobriquet of "the Christian Soldier." He commanded a Union...