The son of Harry Bowman and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Lyter) Bowman, in 1860 he was a chair maker living with his family in Dauphin, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He stood 5' 5" tall and had black hair and blue eyes. He married Mary Brua ca. 1862 and fathered Franklin (b. 04/??/60), McClellan Asbury (b. 08/29/61), William S. (b. 03/15/63), Elizabeth Brua (b. 07/18/65), Elda Romaine (b. 12/21/67 - married John Wheeler), and possibly - but questionable - Alma J. (b. 02/14/82).
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of twenty-nine in Harrisburg August 30, 1864, mustered into federal service there August 31 as a private with Co. A, 208th Pennsylvania Infantry, and promoted to corporal September 7 following. On March 23, 1865, he was furloughed home, which means that it is highly unlikely he took part in the battle of Fort Stedman two days later despite what his obituary claims (see attached). He honorably discharged with his company June 1, 1865, at Alexandria, Virginia.
He died at his home at the reported age of 74-6-0 from "anasarca" with "locomotor ataxy [sic]" a contributing factor. His birth date calculates to September 24, but the birthday from his death certificate is used here.
Bowman's obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph (see attached) makes two claims about the final weeks of his military service: 1) He guarded captured Confederate president Jefferson Davis; 2) he held the post of "quartermaster general during the massing of the troops in Washington." Neither is likely. First, the former Confederate president arrived for incarceration at Fortress Monroe on May 19, 1865, at which time the 208th Pennsylvania was stationed in Alexandria. While it was physically possible for Bowman to have guarded Davis, his compiled military service records likely would mention him being detached to duty with the provost, and they do not. Second, the quartermaster general of the United States Army held the permanent rank of brigadier general. No mere corporal would have been handed such a huge task, and Bowman's service records do not reflect that it was. At best, he may have been assigned to the quartermaster department or served a quartermaster function within the 208th Pennsylvania, but neither of those functions appears in his service records either. Moreover, the combined two claims fail a simple logic test. How could a man responsible for the gargantuan task of supplying tens of thousands of soldiers have time to serve guard duty? Overblown, romanticized assertions of this nature are unfortunately present in countless Civil War obituaries.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of twenty-nine in Harrisburg August 30, 1864, mustered into federal service there August 31 as a private with Co. A, 208th Pennsylvania Infantry, and promoted to corporal September 7 following. On March 23, 1865, he was furloughed home, which means that it is highly unlikely he took part in the battle of Fort Stedman two days later despite what his obituary claims (see attached). He honorably discharged with his company June 1, 1865, at Alexandria, Virginia.
He died at his home at the reported age of 74-6-0 from "anasarca" with "locomotor ataxy [sic]" a contributing factor. His birth date calculates to September 24, but the birthday from his death certificate is used here.
Bowman's obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph (see attached) makes two claims about the final weeks of his military service: 1) He guarded captured Confederate president Jefferson Davis; 2) he held the post of "quartermaster general during the massing of the troops in Washington." Neither is likely. First, the former Confederate president arrived for incarceration at Fortress Monroe on May 19, 1865, at which time the 208th Pennsylvania was stationed in Alexandria. While it was physically possible for Bowman to have guarded Davis, his compiled military service records likely would mention him being detached to duty with the provost, and they do not. Second, the quartermaster general of the United States Army held the permanent rank of brigadier general. No mere corporal would have been handed such a huge task, and Bowman's service records do not reflect that it was. At best, he may have been assigned to the quartermaster department or served a quartermaster function within the 208th Pennsylvania, but neither of those functions appears in his service records either. Moreover, the combined two claims fail a simple logic test. How could a man responsible for the gargantuan task of supplying tens of thousands of soldiers have time to serve guard duty? Overblown, romanticized assertions of this nature are unfortunately present in countless Civil War obituaries.
The son of Harry Bowman and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Lyter) Bowman, in 1860 he was a chair maker living with his family in Dauphin, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He stood 5' 5" tall and had black hair and blue eyes. He married Mary Brua ca. 1862 and fathered Franklin (b. 04/??/60), McClellan Asbury (b. 08/29/61), William S. (b. 03/15/63), Elizabeth Brua (b. 07/18/65), Elda Romaine (b. 12/21/67 - married John Wheeler), and possibly - but questionable - Alma J. (b. 02/14/82).
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of twenty-nine in Harrisburg August 30, 1864, mustered into federal service there August 31 as a private with Co. A, 208th Pennsylvania Infantry, and promoted to corporal September 7 following. On March 23, 1865, he was furloughed home, which means that it is highly unlikely he took part in the battle of Fort Stedman two days later despite what his obituary claims (see attached). He honorably discharged with his company June 1, 1865, at Alexandria, Virginia.
He died at his home at the reported age of 74-6-0 from "anasarca" with "locomotor ataxy [sic]" a contributing factor. His birth date calculates to September 24, but the birthday from his death certificate is used here.
Bowman's obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph (see attached) makes two claims about the final weeks of his military service: 1) He guarded captured Confederate president Jefferson Davis; 2) he held the post of "quartermaster general during the massing of the troops in Washington." Neither is likely. First, the former Confederate president arrived for incarceration at Fortress Monroe on May 19, 1865, at which time the 208th Pennsylvania was stationed in Alexandria. While it was physically possible for Bowman to have guarded Davis, his compiled military service records likely would mention him being detached to duty with the provost, and they do not. Second, the quartermaster general of the United States Army held the permanent rank of brigadier general. No mere corporal would have been handed such a huge task, and Bowman's service records do not reflect that it was. At best, he may have been assigned to the quartermaster department or served a quartermaster function within the 208th Pennsylvania, but neither of those functions appears in his service records either. Moreover, the combined two claims fail a simple logic test. How could a man responsible for the gargantuan task of supplying tens of thousands of soldiers have time to serve guard duty? Overblown, romanticized assertions of this nature are unfortunately present in countless Civil War obituaries.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of twenty-nine in Harrisburg August 30, 1864, mustered into federal service there August 31 as a private with Co. A, 208th Pennsylvania Infantry, and promoted to corporal September 7 following. On March 23, 1865, he was furloughed home, which means that it is highly unlikely he took part in the battle of Fort Stedman two days later despite what his obituary claims (see attached). He honorably discharged with his company June 1, 1865, at Alexandria, Virginia.
He died at his home at the reported age of 74-6-0 from "anasarca" with "locomotor ataxy [sic]" a contributing factor. His birth date calculates to September 24, but the birthday from his death certificate is used here.
Bowman's obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph (see attached) makes two claims about the final weeks of his military service: 1) He guarded captured Confederate president Jefferson Davis; 2) he held the post of "quartermaster general during the massing of the troops in Washington." Neither is likely. First, the former Confederate president arrived for incarceration at Fortress Monroe on May 19, 1865, at which time the 208th Pennsylvania was stationed in Alexandria. While it was physically possible for Bowman to have guarded Davis, his compiled military service records likely would mention him being detached to duty with the provost, and they do not. Second, the quartermaster general of the United States Army held the permanent rank of brigadier general. No mere corporal would have been handed such a huge task, and Bowman's service records do not reflect that it was. At best, he may have been assigned to the quartermaster department or served a quartermaster function within the 208th Pennsylvania, but neither of those functions appears in his service records either. Moreover, the combined two claims fail a simple logic test. How could a man responsible for the gargantuan task of supplying tens of thousands of soldiers have time to serve guard duty? Overblown, romanticized assertions of this nature are unfortunately present in countless Civil War obituaries.
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