- Joseph Bowman
Joseph Bowman (c. 1752 – c.
14 August 1779 ) was aVirginia militia officer during theAmerican Revolutionary War . He was second-in-command duringGeorge Rogers Clark 's famous campaign to capture theIllinois country , in which Clark and his men seized the British-controlled towns of Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and others. Bowman was injured in an accidental gunpowder explosion after the campaign, and subsequently died of his wounds. He was the only American officer killed during theIllinois campaign . [English, "Conquest of the Country", 1:108.] Bowman kept a daily journal during the trek from Kaskaskia to Vincennes, which is one of the best primary accounts of the event.Early life
Bowman was the son of George Bowman and Mary Hite Bowman. His maternal grandfather was
Jost Hite , a German immigrant credited as the first European colonist to settle west of theBlue Ridge Mountains . [English, "Conquest of the Country", 1:112.] In 1732, Hite led his extended family, including daughter Mary and her husband George Bowman, to theShenandoah Valley , near presentWinchester, Virginia . Hite distributed land to his family and to other settlers—claims which would later be contested in "Hite v. Fairfax ", a landmark Virginia land case. Joseph Bowman was born at his parents' house near what is nowStrasburg, Virginia .In 1774, Bowman served in the Virginia militia during
Dunmore's War . Other Virginians in the war who would be important in Bowman's activities in the next several years included George Rogers Clark andLeonard Helm . Soon after Dunmore's War, Bowman moved to Kentucky with other British colonists who were seeking to settle there. He was living in Harrodstown in Kentucky by 1777. [English, "Conquest of the Country", 1:83.] On11 September 1777 , 37 men from the area gathered at Bowman's property to shell corn and were attacked by Indians. One settler was killed and six others were wounded before the attackers were driven off. [English, 1:83]American Revolution
Bowman and three of his brothers served in the American Revolutionary War. Joseph Bowman is sometimes confused with his brother Colonel John Bowman, a prominent leader of the Kentucky militia during the war. [Butterfield, "History of Clark's Conquest", 294n.]
Joseph Bowman served as a Captain during the
Illinois campaign and was present at the capture of Fort Gage at Kaskaskia on4 July 1778 . He then led a combined American and French force to captureFort de Chartres andCahokia , where he remained for a time as commander of the renamed Fort Bowman. [English, 1:197]When
Fort Sackville and CaptainLeonard Helm were captured by British Lt-GovHenry Hamilton in late in 1778, Captain Bowman marched with Colonel Clark in February 1779 across 180 miles to lay siege to the British forces at Vincennes. He also participated in the negotiations for their surrender. The American flag was raised in the renamed Fort Patrick Henry on24 February 1779 . In celebration, thereafter, a six-pound cannon was fired on25 February . Some nearby cannon cartridges ignited, wounding Captain Bowman, Captain Worthington, four privates, and a British soldier.Within days, a dispatch from the Governor of Virginia arrived, with commissions promoting Clark to general, and Bowman to major. For his services rendered, Major Bowman was granted a total of 4,312 acres in land north of the
Ohio River known as "Clark's Grant." [English, 2:839]Oddly enough, Clark makes no mention of the cannon accident in his memoir. However, he does describe Major Bowman leading soldiers as late as June 1779.
Major Joseph Bowman's health deteriorated, and he died at Fort Patrick Henry on
14 August 1779. [English, 1:109 is a facsimile of Bowman's death certificate.] The last page of his journal is blank, except for an anonymous notation: "God save the commonwealth, this 15th day of August, 1779." [English 1:374 says Bowman probably died on 15 August and was buried 18 August.] A bronze grave marker with the date of18 August was later placed in the St. Francis Xavier cemetery, adjacent to theGeorge Rogers Clark National Historical Park , though he was buried somewhere along theWabash River .Notes
References
*Butterfield, Consul Willshire. "History of George Rogers Clark's Conquest of the Illinois and the Wabash Towns, 1778 and 1779." Columbus, Ohio: Heer, 1904.
*English, William Hayden. "Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio 1778-1783 and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark" Vol I. ©1896. The Bowen-Merrill Company. Indianapolis, Ind., and Kansas City, Mo.
*Harrison, Lowell H. "George Rogers Clark and the War in the West". Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1976; Reprinted 2001, ISBN 0-8131-9014-2.External links
* [http://graves.inssar.org/B/bowmjose.html Online memorial to Joseph Bowman] by the Indiana SAR.
* [http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/Ihb/resources/bowdiary.html Online excerpts] from Joseph Bowman's journal, courtesy of the Indiana State Library.
* [http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2003_winter_spring/forgotten_knife.htm "The Forgotten Long Knife"] , article about Bowman from the "Early American Review", 2003.
* [http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=594 "Fort Bowman"] , historical marker near the house where Joseph Bowman was born.
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