552

BOWEN, JOHN STEVENS

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 700.00 USD
BOWEN, JOHN STEVENS
<b>552. JOHN STEVENS BOWEN</b> (1830 - 1863) Confederate major general attached to Breckinridge's division at Shiloh, where he was wounded, also participated in the Vicksburg campaign until his death. Excessively rare A.L.S. signed twice with initials "<i>J. S. B.</i>" 4pp. 4to., Fort McIntosh, Texas, Aug. 6, 1855, a lengthy personal letter to his younger sister, Abbie. In small part: <i>"...If ever you should marry a man who loves you as I do...you will find out how I behaved so mean to you by not writing as soon as I arrived. I was ordered right out into camp and have been scouting...since...I am still here on a Court Martial and should not wonder if an order came up by the next mail to create the Court to 18 members and try a man for Murder and 3 for mutiny...The men I alluded to above belong to Capt. Rhetts Company. One of them shot down the Orderly Sgt. with his revolver, putting one ball through his head and then stood deliberately over him and fired two through his body...We have had some real Jefferson Barracks hot days, not quite up to last summer, but just as warm as any cared to have. We have a real tedious case before us a Dutchman with an interpreter...I grow more and more tired of foreign gibberish...</i>". Signature has been clipped out of final page, with some text loss as a result, yet two initialed signatures remain. Overall good condition. Bowen is rare in any form.<b> $500-700</b>