Biography

North Carolina’s only major general during the American Revolution remains an enigma today. A New England visitor observed of Robert Howe, “’He was formed by nature and his education to shine in the senate and the field… (as) a favorite of the man of sense and the female world.’”¹ Born to a plantation owner near Brunswick Town in 1732, he was sent to England for school. After returning, he was elected to the Provincial Assembly. He was also named to the treasury court by the royal governor, so he did not openly oppose the Stamp Act. Howe joined the militia, may have fought in the French and Indian War², and afterwards was placed in command at Fort Johnston. There he appears to have embezzled some of the fort’s funds to help cover his horse-racing debts.³ Howe was in charge of the artillery for two campaigns against the Regulators