{⋆★⋆} MG Bowen, John Stevens

John Stevens Bowen

:CSA1stNat:
Bowen.jpg


Born: October 30, 1830

Birthplace: Bowen's Creek, Georgia

Father: William Parker Bowen 1802 – 1859

Mother: Ann Elizabeth Wilkins 1802 – 1861

Wife: Mary Lucretia Preston Kennerly 1835 – 1904

Children:


Menard Kennerly Bowen 1855 – 1899​
Anna Beauregard Bowen 1860 – 1940​
John Sydney Bowen 1862 – 1925​

Education:

Attended University of Georgia​
1848 – 1851: Attended West Point Military Academy​

Occupation before War:

1853 – 1856: Served in the United States Army rising to 2nd​ Lt.​
1857 – 1861: Served in the Missouri State Militia rising to Lt. Colonel​

Civil War Career:

1861: Colonel of 2nd​ Missouri Volunteers Militia Regiment​
1861: Chief of Staff to Brig. General Daniel M. Frost​
1861: Captured at Camp Jackson, Missouri​
1861: Exchanged on November 1, 1861​
1861 – 1862: Colonel of 1st​ Missouri Infantry Regiment​
1862 – 1863: Brigadier General of Confederate Army, Infantry​
1862: Brigade Commander during the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee​
1862: Wounded by artillery shell during Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee​
1862: Brigade Commander during Second Battle of Corinth, Mississippi​
1863: Confederate Post Commander at Grand Gulf, Mississippi​
1863: Major General of Confederate Army, Infantry​
1863: Division Commander during Battle of Champion Hill​
1863: Captured during the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi​
1863: Paroled by the Union Army​

Died: July 13, 1863

Place of Death: Edwards, Mississippi

Age at time of Death: 32 years old

Cause of Death: Dysentery

Burial Place: Cedar Hill Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi
 
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Bowen contracted dysentry during the siege of Vicksburg, and would die shortly after being parroled. He was a classmate of John B. Hood's at West Point, and would have gotten firewood from Grant in St. Louis.
Philip T. Tucker asserts that Bowen "was not second to any Major General then in the Confederate Service". Others apparently call him the "True Stonewall of the West", instead of the more famous Patrick Cleburne (I'd love to make a thread to debate this).
 
During the Vicksburg Campaign, he was technically, by rank, the official commander of the Missouri Brigade, which defacto was commanded by Francis Cockerell during the Campaign. However, Bowen and Cockerell both would play a large role in shaping the brigade into becoming the most disciplined and well drilled brigades in the Western Theater.
 

Court-Martial of Van Dorn

As the result of his actions before, during and after the Battle of Corinth, the Confederate Army court-martialed Earl Van Dorn. Though other generals had lost battles, Van Dorn had the singular misfortune of having a vocal critic who was so dissatisfied with Van Dorn's performance that he preferred charges against him.

Brigadier General John Bowen was a brigade commander in Lovell's division. An 1853 graduate of West Point, Bowen was an army engineer for only two years before resigning his commission. When the Civil War broke out, he went from the Missouri State Guard to the Confederate Army.

When Bowen preferred charges, the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, ordered a court of inquiry to investigate. Bowen made two charges against Van Dorn: neglect of duty and improper treatment of his men.

Specifications under the first charge included attacking Corinth "without due consideration or forethought," failing to attack on the night of the 3rd, and allowing reinforcements to reach Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.

Specifications under the second charge included causing "long, tedious, and circuitous marches" and allowing at least one train of wounded to spend the night in Water Valley unattended. Later a charge of drunkenness was added.

As it was, there was little doubt of the outcome of the inquiry. Davis liked Van Dorn, and stacked the court in his favor. President of the court was Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, with Brig. Gen. Dabney Maury another member. Both appeared as witnesses in Van Dorn's defense. The third member of the court was Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghmann, who also was a defense witness, though he was not even present at the battle.

Given the opportunity of prosecuting the case, Bowen backed down, allowing the court recorder to handle the questioning. His own testimony failed to substantiate all his claims, and defense witnesses refuted others.

Van Dorn concluded his defense by personally refuting each charge. "Gentlemen of the court, I am a Mississippian by birth," he said. "The ashes of my parent repose in her soil. It has been my pride to serve her….My blood has always been ready for her, yet in the midst of my struggles for her my name has been blighted by her people."

It did not take the court long to find him innocent of all charges. But, though vindicated legally, Van Dorn was never again trusted with command of an army. He was transferred to command of the cavalry, and a few months later was shot dead by a jealous husband in Tennessee.
 
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