Howard was born in Lexington, Kentucky, (then part of Virginia) and graduated in 1797 from the College of William & Mary.

In September 1813, Brigadier General Benjamin Howard led an expedition of about 1,400 men against Indian villages around Lake Pimiteoui.

The troops came from St. Louis in reinforced keel boats and immediately began to build a stockade adjacent to the river at the former French village.

Eight hundred mounted rangers from the Illinois and Missouri militia reached the settlement three days after the arrival of the regulars.

General Howard sent a force in two boats under Major William Christy to pursue the Indians on the upper Illinois River.

The rangers were relieved of duty at Fort Clark in mid-October and returned to their home stations, leaving the regulars to garrison the post.

Some time between 1817 and 1844, his remains were reinterred at the Old Grace Church Graveyard just north of downtown St. Louis (11th and Warren streets).