Edward Needles Hallowell

Third son of wealthy Philadelphia Quaker silk merchant and prominent abolitionist Morris Longstreth Hallowell (1809-1880), he was named for family friend Edward Needles, president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. In 1860 he was a 24 year old stock broker living with his parents, 4 siblings, 3 servants, and merchant John Conroy in Philadelphia.

He enlisted as a Private in the 4th Battalion Massachusetts Volunteer Militia in April 1861 and probably served with them at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor into the fall. He was then a volunteer aide to General John C. Frémont in Missouri into December 1861.

He returned east and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant of Company F, 20th Massachusetts Infantry on 11 January 1862 and mustered at that rank in Boston on 13 January. He was detailed as an aide to General Dana in August.

He was aide de camp to General Dana on the Maryland Campaign. His brother Pen later wrote of him there:

He appeared to go into action with grim delight, and to get out of it with something like regret. And yet in a marked degree he had that peculiar tenderness which is so often the characteristic of strong men. I shall never forget him on Antietam day, as he dashed by with General N. J. T. Dana's staff, waving his sword in recognition of the 20th [Massachusetts Infantry], with the light of battle on his countenance. Throughout that same Antietam night he wandered over the field, turning up the faces of dead men as he searched for the brother whom he thought was dead.

He remained on detached service on General Dana's staff to 11 April 1863, having been transferred to Company H as First Lieutenant on 28 January. He was then discharged to accept the post of Captain in the new 54th Massachusetts Infantry, his commission dated 6 March 1863. He was promoted to Major on 17 APril, to Lieutenant Colonel on 31 May, and, finally, Colonel on 18 July 1863 at the death of R.G. Shaw at Fort Wagner, SC. He took command of the regiment on 17 October after recovering from his Fort Wagner wounds to his groin and face, losing an eye. He mustered out with the regiment on 20 August 1865 at Mount Pleasant near Charleston, SC.

He was honored by brevet to Brigadier General of Volunteers to date from 27 June 1865.

In 1870 he was a wool dealer with Hallowell & Coburn in Boston and lived in Medford, MA. He died young, age 34, in 1871, of disease said to have been the result of his war service.

His service from his Compiled Service Records1 and from the 54th Massachusetts Records (NARA M1659), both online from fold3. His staff role in Maryland from Dana's Report. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860 & 1870. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a CDV in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

He married Charlotte Bartlett Wilhelmina Gray Swett (1843-1919) in February 1869 and they had 2 daughters.

For much more about Hallowell, his family, and the 54th Massachusetts, see a massive 2014 post by Elyce Feliz.

11/03/1836; Philadelphia, PA

07/26/1871; Medford, MA; burial in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA