The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-07-08
c. c. BOWEN. E
His Life and Character-A Record that No
One will Envy.
From Charleston Me,us and Courier.


From Charleston Ne,rs and Courier.
Of the earlylife of 9. G. Bowen little
is known. By his own account he was
born in Providence, Rhode Island, and
came South when quite young. He went
first to Augusta, Ga, and from that point
wandered from place to place in Georgla.
and Florida as mechanic in search OF
work. When work failed he gambled,
and he admitted that he had played faro
son both sides of the table," In Feb
ruary, 1860, he went to Lee County,
Georgia, where, it appears, he remained
up to the spring Of 1862, during which
time he was engaged in farming. In
1862 he entered the Confederate service
at Savannah, Ga, in company called
'The Partisan Rangers" and in the early
part of May, 1862, went into camp with
the command, upon the organization OF
which he was elected third lieutenant.
The company after remaining at Savan-
nah some time mustered ninety.five men,
and was attached to the battalion com.
.mandeA by Col. VIM. Parker White, the
officer whose assassination Bowen was
afterwards charged with instigating.
The command came to Charleston in
January, 1853, Bowen being at that time
the only commissioned officer OF the
company, the others having resigned.
Col. White requested him to consent to
the appointment of new officers, which
Bowen declined. The command left
Charleston in April, 1868, and went into
camp at Waccamaw Neck. Bowen OBJ.
tanned leave of absence and went to
Savannah and did not return until Sep
tember, after his leave of absence had
expired. At this time he was captain of
his company, which was Company D,
Twenty-irst Georgia Battalion of Cav
airy. He was court-nlartialed on three
charges, as follows: 1st. Conduct unbe-
coming an officer and gentleman, the
specification being that he had altered
his leave of absence and changed the
dates for the purpose Of obtaining his
pay in Savannah; I'd. Breaking his ar
rest; and Sd. Conduct prejudicial to
good order and military discipline. He
was convicted of all the charges and
specifications and dismissed from. the
service. Shortly after this occurrence,
Col. White was assassinated near the
camp in Georgetown County. Accord
ing to Bowen's statement, after his dis
missal from the service he went to Co
,lumbia on the Sd of March, 1864, and
remained there FIVE or six days. Then
he went to Augusta, where he remained
few days, after which he came to
Charleston, where he was arrested on the
charge Of having murdered Col. White.
He was incarcerated in the Orphanhouse
and subsequently in the Jail, where he
remained until the evacuation of the
city. Concerning the assassination Of
Col. White it was shown that Eli G.
Grimes, a man who used to work for
Bowen'in Lee County, Georgia, and who
had subsequently joined Bowen's COM
.pany, had committed the deed. Grimes
testified that he had shot Col. White by
"Capt. Bowen's orders" The witness
described minutely the crime in all its
details. He said Bowen came to him
about 300 yards from the camp at Wac.
caraaw; carried him into thick wood to
place where he (Bowen) had cut out an
opening with a knife, and told him to
place himself there in the clearing and
shoot Col. White when he passed along
the road on picket duty. The witness
said that he had secreted himself there
and that Col. White had passeo frequent
ly, but that he did not attempt to shoot
him !; that Bowen kept abusing him and
urging him to kill White, and that be
had carried him to other places to do the
same deed. On one occasion, Grimes
said, when Bowen had placed him near
bank to shoot Col. White, he (Grimes)
had taken the lock off his gun and had
broken the handspring, and Bowen had
cursed him for his seeming carelessness,
aud remarked that it was id strange
that the handspring had broken just at
that time. A few days before the shoot.
ing Bowen had told him that he (Bowen)
WAS going to Charleston, and would be
back in few days; that when he got
back he would be in command of the
company, and that if he (Grimes) did
not kill Col. White before he (Bowen)
came back, he would never see home.
Bowen then gave him a gun which he,
Bowen, loaded himself. Grimes stated
that on the night of the murder he went
to Col. Whites quarters, fired through
the weatherboarding, and throwing the
gun in the ditch ran off back to his camp.
He was subsequently, arrested and con-
fessed the shooting to Col. White before
that officer died, and gave the evidence
which led to the arrest of Bowen on the
charge of having instigated the murder.
Both nowen and Grimes were under
arrest for murder when the Federal forces
occupied Charleston.
The above facts we're vaguely known
during the ten years Immediately follow.
ing the war, and were frequently referred
to by this journal. Emboldened by his
official station and political influence, as
we'll as by his long immunity from arrest,
in April, 1875, Sheriff Bowen instituted
a criminal prosecution for libel against
the proprietors of the Meps and Courier
for the publication of articles charging
him with the crime of murder. The
trial was, probably, the most dramatic
and exciting that has ever taken place in
a Charleston court. Grimes, the only
witness who could substantiate and JUS
tify the obnoxious publications, had not
been heard of for years and nobody knew
his whereabouts, and Bowen and his
counsel, Messrs. Corbin and Buttz, were
confident that the proprietors of the
News and Courier would be convicted.
At the critical moment, however, and to
the utter onsternation of the prosecu-
tion, Grimes himself appeared in court
and took the stand, repeating with great
exactness of detail his testimony of ten
wears before, and pointing out Bowen, in
the hushed and crowded court room, as
the man who had compelled him by
abuse and threats to fire the shot that
killed Col. White. The defense was
managed with great skill by the counsel
for the News and Courier, consisting of
Mr.. H. A. NJ. Smith, Major w. H. Braw-
lev and Messrs. Porter & Conner. The
IL ol~oS