George W. Bowers & George L. Brown.

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Some short notes on George W. Bowers.

Company I.

George W. Bowers, Capt.; must, into serv. Jan. 3, '62; capt. at Plymouth, N. C, Apr. 20, 1864, escaped November 3, 1864 ; must out with Co. Jan. 2, 1865, exp. of term.
We surrendered about 11 o'clock a. m. on the 20th of April, and the next day were matched, as prisoners of war, to Tarboro, and thence taken by rail to Andersonville, Georgia. The enlisted men were imprisoned here, and the officers sent to Macon, Ga. Captains Bowers and Dawson, and Lieuts Conley, Helm and Davidson, made their escape, but the regiment remained in prison until the spring of 1865, at which lime over half the number bad died.

Capt. George W. Bowers escaped from Columbia, S. C, and after traveling and hiding for 42 days, succeeded in reaching the Federal lines near Bell Plain, Tenn.

Company I.

George L. Brown, 1st Lieut.; must, into serv. Jan. 3, '62; wounded and capt. at Plymouth, N. C, Apr. 20, '64; must, out with Co. Mch. 11, to date Jan. 2, '65; exp. of term.

Lieutenant George L. Brown.

At the age of 23 George L. Brown enlisted as a private in Co. I.. 101st Regiment, on the 14th day of September, 1861. He was promoted to second lieutenant of his company Jan. 1, 1862, and on March 1, 1863, he was commissioned first lieutenant. To write a history of the activities of Lieutenant Brown
while in the service of Uncle Sam, is but to recapitulate the Regimental narrative, for he participated in every battle, skirmish and reconnoissance in which the Regiment was engaged, from the time it cast its fortunes with the Army of  the Potomac, until it was finally compelled to lower its colors in the presence of  an overwhelming force of the enemy. But even then, Lieut. Brown was saved the mortification of surrendering to the victorious foe in a normal condition. In the fmal charge made by the enemy and before he became a prisoner of war he bad been made hors dr combat by a severe wound in the left arm and breast.

After the capitulation of the garrison at Plymouth, on April 20. [864, Lieut. Brown, owing to his severe wounds, was kept a prisoner at Plymouth until he was abK' to travel. After leaving Plymouth he was confined at Weldon, N. C. ; Macon, Ga.; in jail yard at Charleston, S. C, and for a time in the Old Marine Hospital at Charleston, where he and bis fellow prisoners were under the tire of the Federal batteries. From Charleston he was moved to Columbia, S. C, from where he escaped, and after eluding the enemy until he bad reached east Tennessee, he bad to undergo the chagrin of surrendering to blood-hounds, lie was then confined in the jail at Columbia, and while there, was placed in irons, bucked and gagged, for the simple offense of communicating with a fellow prisoner of war, Maj. Teller, who was held as a hostage. From Columbia he was moved to Charlotte, N. C. thence to Raleigh, and finally Goldsboro. During his imprisonment he escaped four times, but was recaptured before he succeeded in
reaching the federal lines; however, he was only captured once by the blood-hounds, I le was paroled for exchange, Feb. 27, 1865. and owing to the depleted ranks of the Regiment, the near termination of the war, which was then known to be practically at an end. and the fact that he was under parole, he
was mustered out of the service at Washington, D. C, March 15, 1865,

Lieut. Brown was born at Milton, l'enna.. December 6, 1838. Patriotic blood flows in bis veins, his paternal grandfather having served in the war of 1S12. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was engaged in business as a merchant, but he did not rest until be was freed from it, and in the service of his country.

In January. 1863, when Wessells brigade was encamped at New Bern, N. C. it was rumored that the Regiment was to go to Charleston, S. C. Among a batch of papers, sent to the writer, by Lieut, Brown, some of which have been used in the Regimental narrative, one verbatim, the writer found a letter written by Lieut. Brown to his father. This letter explains how these papers came to be preserved, even when everything, pertaining to the Regiment and with it, was lost twice in battle. But it does more than this; it gives an insight into the character of the writer, and will recall to the mind of the comrades an event in the history of the Regiment that most of them had forgotton. The letter is as follows:

Head Quarters Co. I, 101st P. V., Encamped 2 miles from New Bern. N. C, Jan. 16, 1863.

Dear Father : Enclosed you will find copies of papers which I wish you to keep for me. I am well and expect to join this grand expedition of forty days' length. I presume it is to Charleston ; but I dare not say where.  Remember me to all. I will win a bar on my shoulders this expedition or I will quit. Write me soon and direct to Co. I, 101st P. V., Wessell's Division, Hunt's Brigade, Washington, D. C. Your Son, GEORGE.