[2] In 1862, while continuing to serve as a judge, he entered the Union Army as a captain in the 124th Illinois Infantry Regiment.
After the war he resumed his legal practice, and was frequently talked of as a candidate for congress in the 5th District.
[2] On April 6, 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Howe chief justice of the Wyoming Territory.
[3] Howe's efforts were resisted by male lawyers, and ultimately his successor in office reversed this policy.
[3] Howe resigned on October 14, 1871,[1] and was later appointed as secretary to a commission adjudicating a boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico.