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In the death of Capt. Robert Theodore Bowie, Camp W. H. T. Walker, No. 925, U. C. V., of Hapeville, Ga., loses one of its oldest and most valued members. Captain Bowie passed quietly and peacefully away at his home in Atlanta, on the morning of October 24, 1921. He was born in Abbeville County, S. C., July 25, 1836, and was quite a large boy when the family moved from South Carolina to Cobb County, Ga., near Smyrna. At the outbreak of the war, Captain Bowie was practicing law in Blakely, Early County, and was lieutenant of a military compnay there known as the "Early County Guards," This company went at once to Griffin, Ga., to the mobilization camp, and became Company G, of the Thirteenth Georgia Regiment. They were rushed at once to Virginia, but were one day late for the first battle of Manassas. After a years service in Virginia under Lee, Col. Marcellus Douglas brought the regiment to Savannah, and here it became part of a brigade under General Lawton. It was here at the battle of Whitemarsh Island that Captain Bowie received his first wound from the enemy. After a two months furlough, he was sent back to Virginia to rejoin his regiment, and was in Jackson's Corps until the battle of Sharpsburg, in which battle the greater part of his company were among the killed and wounded. He was himself so badly wounded that he was left on the field among the dead and dying, the ambulance surgeon thinking there was no chance of his living to get to the hospital. Several hours later his own Col. J. M. Smith (later governor of Georgia), was riding over the field looking for his men and came to where he was lying. Colonel Smith told him if he was willing to take a chance he would lift him to his horse and swim the river to the nearest hospital. This exertion came near being too much for him, but they made the trip successfully and his life was saved. He was granted a two month's furlough after leaving the hospital and came home to Georgia. While here the citizens of Blakely presented him with a gold-headed cane in token of their appreciation of his bravery, and this cane is now the prized posession of one of his daughters. As his wound failed to heal entirely, he joined the State troops under Col. George Lester, and patrolled the northern part of the State for six months. When mustered out from this service, he organized a company in Atlanta, of which he was made captain, and joined the 4th Georgia Regiment, Company D, and did guard duty at Andersonville prison until the close of the war. He was cited for bravery three times. Captain Bowie never entirely recovered from his severe wound at Sharpsburg, and during his last years he was an invalid, being tenderly and lovingly cared for by his devoted daughters. He was a faithful member of St. John's Methodist Church for more than twenty-five years. A brave soldier, a tender, loving father, and a true and upright man has gone to his reward. SOURCE: Confederate Veteran Magazine, February, 1922.
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