Individual Details

Marriage

According to the 1910 California census, Amelia Jane Stewart and Emmer Bowen Junior had five surviving children out of eight.

Military

Emmer BOWEN enlisted as a Union Private on 20 Aug 1862 and again on 5 Sep 1862 into C Company, 127th Infantry Regiment, IL. He transferred into the Regiment U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps on 10 Jan 1865. Emmer transferred out of the military on 10 Jan 1865. His official muster date is 17 Jun 1865.

The Illinois 127th Infantry was mustered into service at Camp Douglas 6 Sep 1862. It performed a considerable amount of guard duty in Camp Douglas, where the Harper's Ferry prisoners were sent in the fall of 1862. The command drew a full complement of English Enfield rifles in the beginning of November and on the 9th of that month, departed over the Illinois Central railway for Cairo where it went on board the steamer Emerald and landed at Memphis, TN on the 13th. It reached the Yazoo in December and was engaged in the operations on the Chickasaw bluffs during which its loses were 1 man killed and 7 wounded. It was the expedition which captured Arkansas Post and was one of the first to plant its colors on the enemy's works. Its losses in the assault were 2 killed, 20 wounded and 9 missing. It was in the bloody assaults upon the Vicksburg lines in May 1863, planting its colors on the first day on the glacis of the Confederate works and maintaining its position until nightfall when the troops were withdrawn. The losses of the regiment in the two engagements were about 15 killed and 60 wounded. It took part in the series of battles around Resaca, GA in the spring of 1864, notably the one on the evening of 14 May when the brigade to which it was attached carried the fortified line along the slope of Conasine Creek by a desperate assault with the bayonet in which the regiment bore a conspicuous part and captured a number of prisoners. In the operations in front of Resaca the regiment lost 1 man killed and 3 wounded. In the sharp fighting among the Dallas hills it was almost constantly under fire, showing gallantry in the actions of 27 and 29 May. In the assault upon Kennesaw Mountain, the regiment stood up grandly under the most terrible fire it had ever encountered, and in the bloody engagement of 22 Jul, east of Atlanta, it was in the thickest of the fray. On 3 Aug it took part in an attack on the Confederate skirmish line to the west of Atlanta in which it displayed its usual gallantry and lost a number of men. It was hotly engaged in the battle of Jonesboro, its officers and men displaying the greatest gallantry and inflicting severe loss upon the enemy. The regiment accompanied Sherman's Army on its grand march through Georgia and the Carolinas, and at the battle of Bentonville it was for 24 hours on the skirmish line but escaped without loss. After the surrender of Johnston, it marched to Washington, took part in the grand review, and was specially complimented for its fine discipline and military bearing. It was finally mustered out on 17 Jun 1865, after an arduous service of almost three years, the actual number of men finally discharged being about 240, all that remained of the 900 with which the regiment left Camp Douglas in Nov 1862.

Civil War Service Record

Emmer BOWEN served in Company C, 127th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for action on the 22nd of May, 1863 at Vicksburg, Warren, MS. The 21 Jul 1894 citation reads: "Gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party."

Pension Claim

Emmer BOWEN filed a Civil War Pension Claim in Colorado as an invalid. Application # 469562; Certificate # 494.497

Voter Registration

Emmer BOWEN registered to vote in Los Angeles County in 1888. He is listed as 57 years old, born in New York, a carpenter by profession and living in Vernondale.

Voter Registration

Emmer BOWEN is listed as a millwright in Mountain, San Bernardino, CA.

Voter Registration

Emmer BOWEN registered to vote in Los Angeles County in 1892 at the age of 62. He is listed as 5' 11" tall, fair complected, with blue eyes and brown hair. His occupation was carpenter, right thumb crippled, born in New York and residing in Vernondale.