Norwood Penrose Hallowell: Athlete Turned War Hero

Norwood Penrose Halllowell played a key role in the storming of Fort Wagner during the American Civil War as an officer of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry, the first African-American regiment in the U.S. Army. MPI/Getty Images

Born into a Quaker and abolitionist family, Norwood Penrose “Pen” Hallowell would spend most of his life fighting for the equal treatment of African Americans in various ways. He volunteered to fight in the Civil War and commanded two regiments of African American soldiers.

Hallowell was born in Philadelphia in 1839. While a child, his family’s home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Once the Civil War started, his father opened up his home to care for wounded Union soldiers.

Hallowell was athletically talented growing up. He attended Harvard and took up rowing and swimming. While at Harvard, Hallowell befriended future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr., who would become his lifelong friend. Hallowell graduated from Harvard in 1861 as Class Orator.

Norwood Penrose Hallowell as a Union officer, 1862. Public Domain

Shortly after his graduation, Hallowell volunteered to join the Civil War effort on the Union side, and he convinced Holmes to also join. Holmes and Hallowell were then quickly put to work on the frontlines as members of the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Athletic Prowess

Hallowell fought in his first major skirmish on Oct. 21, 1861 during the Battle of Ball’s Bluff. He made a name for himself during the battle by leading a line of soldiers to hold off Confederates.

Once the fighting intensified, Hallowell used skills he learned in college to swim across the Potomac River, where Union soldiers were hemmed in. He constructed a raft to help rescue the trapped Union soldiers. Hallowell swam back and forth during the rescue, all the while getting bombarded by enemy gunfire. Hallowell saved several Union soldiers until his makeshift raft fell apart. Due to his bravery during combat, Hallowell was promoted to captain on Nov. 26, 1861.

He continued to fight in several major battles including Yorktown, Malvern Hill, and Chantilly. During the summer of 1862, Hallowell suffered his first war-time injury, when he was wounded during the Battle of Glendale. A few months later, both he and his friend Holmes were wounded in the Battle of Antietam. Enemy gunfire shattered Hallowell’s left arm; Holmes was shot in the neck.

Group portrait of the officers of the 20th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, including American Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr (3rd from left, top row), and Norwood Penrose Hallowell, unidentified in this photo. Boston, Massachusetts, 1869. Authenticated News/Getty Images

Luckily, a surgeon saved Hallowell’s arm before he and Holmes sought refuge in a farmhouse. Holmes and Hallowell were evacuated soon after. Both were given a few months to heal from their wounds.

The Massachusetts 54th

In 1863, Massachusetts Gov. John Murray Forbes asked Hallowell to accept a promotion to lieutenant colonel and become second-in-command of the 54th Massachusetts regiment of African Americans under the lead of Col. Robert Gould Shaw. A month later, Hallowell became colonel in command of the 55th Massachusetts, which was also made up entirely of African American soldiers.

Hallowell and his troops were stationed at Charleston Harbor where they would go on to participate in the siege and takeover of Fort Wagner. In fact, Hallowell was known to be one of the first Union soldiers to enter the fort after it was abandoned by the Confederate troops. The film, “Glory,” tells this stirring story, although Hallowell is not featured as a character.

"Battle of Glendale—Contest around General McCall's Cannon," 1864, engraving. Frontispiece from Rev. J.J. Marks, Peninsula Campaign in Virginia. J.B. Lippincott & Co. Public Domain

During his service in the military, Hallowell kept true to his values by fighting for equal pay for African American soldiers. After he was discharged due to disabilities suffered from his war wounds later in 1863, Hallowell helped finance a private school for African American students in Calhoun, Alabama with Booker T. Washington.

After Hallowell passed away in 1914, Holmes spoke highly of his “oldest friend” in a letter he wrote to Lewis Einstein stating that Hallowell’s death left “a great space bare for him.”

In the letter, Holmes called Hallowell “the most generously gallant spirit and I don’t know but the greatest soul I ever knew.”

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