Five Bowdish Brothers troop off to the Civil War: Not all return

Young Corydon Bowdish died days after suffering fatal wounds during the Civil War’s Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia.

by Ron Kaiser and Patrice Johnson

Unhurt at the Battle of Wilderness, William Bowdish, the eldest brother, was promoted to sergeant. Then on August 21, 1864, he was taken prisoner at the Weldon Railroad near Petersburg. He survived seven grueling and health-sapping months of incarceration in the Salisbury, NC, confederate prison.

One can only imagine the anguish of John and Emeline Bowdish on watching five of their sons troop off to the bloody, nation-dividing Civil War. If he were not merely 14 years old when the war began in 1861, their sixth son, Fernando, might well have joined his older brothers. The family also had two daughters and another daughter who died in infancy.

The Bowdishes were farmers living in Stockbridge Township. The father, John, had served four terms as township supervisor. His five sons, beginning with the eldest, were William, Lucius, Wellington, Carleton and Corydon.

June 19, 1861, 23-year-old Wellington enlisted first and was designated a corporal with the new Company B of the 7^th Michigan Infantry, mustered at Fort Wayne, Detroit. Two months later, 26-year-old brother Lucius joined Wellington in Company B.

In January 1863, a year and a half into the war, eldest son William, 34, and Carleton, 21, enlisted into a different regiment.

As the war dragged into its third year, Corydon, the youngest to serve, joined his brothers Wellington and Lucius in Company B.

In addition to bearing the weight of fears for their sons’ safety, the Bowdishes suffered the loss of four much-needed farmhands. Beyond their ideals of fighting to preserve the union and abolish slavery, perhaps the lure of seeing some of the world and escaping the drudgery of farm chores played a role.

Lucius Bowdish enlisted two months after his younger brother,  Wellington, enlisted in Company B. Later, Lucius was wounded and lost his right arm.

The three brothers in the 7^th Michigan regiment were sent east to fight; the other two were sent out West. Then the 27^th Michigan moved east, and all five brothers were reunited to fight together in the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia.

Before going battle, Wellington was wounded in the foot at the Battle of Fredericksburg and was given a disability discharge on March 25, 1963.

Nearly a year later, the four remaining brothers’engagement at the Battle of the Wilderness turned into a calamity. Lucius was wounded and lost his right arm. Young Corydon suffered fatal injuries and died days after the battle. Carleton, most likely shaken at Corydon’s death and Lucius’ wounds, deserted.

Unhurt at the Wilderness, William was promoted to sergeant. But on August 21, 1864, the confederates captured him at the Weldon Railroad near Petersburg. He survived seven grueling, health-sapping months of incarceration in the Salisbury, NC, prison.

Just before another battle, Wellington Bowdish was wounded in the foot at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He was given a disability discharge March 25, 1963.

As his arm wound recovered, Lucius returned to Corydon’s burial site and received permission to secure the body. He accompanied his brother’s rough-hewn wooden coffin by train back to Stockbridge for interment.

After the war, the surviving Bowdish brothers, minus Carleton, returned to the Stockbridge area to live out their lives. Carleton, perhaps feeling shame at his desertion, never returned and was later heard from in California. There he married and lived until his death in 1916.

William, suffering under the lingering effects of his imprisonment, died in 1867, two years after the war’s end. Lucius died in 1916 and Wellington in 1926. The four, along with other family members, are interred in the Stockbridge area: William and Corydon in Derby Cemetery, Lucius in Oaklawn, and Wellington in North Waterloo.

It is unknown whether more than five sons of any other family in Michigan participated in the Civil War. Michigan and Stockbridge are justly proud of the Bowdish family for their contributions and sacrifices.

Carleton Bowdish, most likely shaken at Corydon’s death and the severity of Lucius’ wounds, deserted.

Sincere appreciation to Evelyn Bowdish Batchelor and Richard Ramsdell for sharing their family histories to add to this story. Thanks, too, to the State Archives of Michigan for allowing use of the above photos, which inspired the original article by Larry Arnold in 2005  for the Ann Arbor Civil War Round Table newsletter. Adapted with AACWRT’s permission.