Reverend Horatio S. Howell,
Chaplain, 90th Pennsylvania Infantry

The monument to Reverend Howell is in downtown Gettysburg on the steps of the Christ Lutheran Church on Chambersburg Street.

From the monument:

In Memoriam.
Rev. Horation S. Howell
Chaplain.
90th Penn'a Vols,
was cruelly shot
dead on these
church steps on
the afternoon of
July 1st 1863.

"He delivereth me
from mine enemies;
Yea, thou liftest me
up above those that
rise up against me."
18th Psalms
48th verse.
"He being dead, yet
speaketh"
Hebrews 11, 4th.

Our tribute
Survivors Association
of the 90th Penn'a Vol's
and personal friends of
the lamented chaplain

During the chaotic retreat through the town after the collapse of the Union lines on July 1st, Reverend Howell was killed while visiting wounded in the church, which had been turned into a hospital. According to the most likely story, Reverend Howell, wearing a Union officer's uniform complete with sword, was ordered to surrender his weapon by a passing Confederate. Howell tried to explain that he was a noncombatant and did not need to give up his weapon but the Confederate, in the midst of an afternoon of intense fighting, was in no mood to argue.

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