Edward C Fowler (1828 - 1862)

Born 12 Jan 1828 in Charlestown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Caroline Elizabeth Bagley — married 18 Feb 1849 in Springfield, Clark, Ohio, United States

Descendants

Died 6 Apr 1862 at age 34 in Pittsburg Landing, Hardin, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Edward was born in 1828. He was killed in the Civil War in 1862.

Sources

• NARA. Widow's Application for Pension by Caroline E Fowler. Certificate No. 966. Hard copy privately held by family.

1850 US Census, Springfield Clark Ohio.

Edward Fowler, as an enlisted volunteer soldier in 1861, was one of 1,754 men who died to end slavery on 6-7 April 1862, in the Union Army at Shiloh Tennessee--ten months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.

1 Oct 1861. Ottumwa Iowa. Enlisted as Private in Company D, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, 15th Infantry Regiment of George A Madison. 1 Nov 1861. Corporal. Mustered into the US Army at Keokuk Iowa. 14 Mar 1862. Sargent. Promoted at Camp Benton Missouri. Present day location of St Louis Fairground Park.

6 Apr 1862. Killed in action at Battle of Shiloh, Pittsburgh Landing, Hardin County Tennessee. Fowler, Charles. 1 Sgt. D [company] 15 Iowa Vols {Volunteers]. April 6 Shiloh Killed in Action. Wm H Gibbon R S. U S Register of Deaths of Volunteers. 1861-1865 Iowa. Records of the Adjutant General’s Office. Record Group 94. NARA Washington D C. Ancestry 24 Dec 2021. (Entry as Charles for given name suggests that Charles could be the middle name.)

'Company D. Edward C Fowler, 1st Sergeant. Killed in battle. April 6, 1862, Shiloh, Tenn.’ Arrival of company and ammunition first issued after battle commenced. . .The Command of the15th arrived from St Louis at Pittsburgh Landing at around daylight on Sunday, April 6th. ‘The discharge of artillery into our very faces was the nature of our reception. We formed line of battle from the flank. The 16th Iowa promptly taking position on our right.’ . . . The 15th and the 16th were unsupported by others, where they were ambushed by the Confederates, who had advanced through a gap in the lines to the left of Sherman and on McClernand’s right. Officers and men fought with great gallantry. ‘This was their first experience in skirmish or battle.’ The command had received their arms only a few days prior. They had ‘no opportunity of learning their use until brought face to face in actual combat with a very active foe. . . The regiment . . . moved forward like veterans.’ They held their position for two hours, from about 10 o’clock to noon, until ordered to retire to avoid capture. History of the Fifteenth Regiment, Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry. William W Belknap. Keokuk [Iowa]:1887. From the first 12 pages of the history & page 544. Copy held by Harvard University. Google Books, Viewed 13 Feb 2020.

‘The evening of April 6 was a dispiriting end to the first day of one of the bloodiest battles in American history. The cries of wounded and dying men on the fields between the armies could be heard in the Union and Confederate camps throughout the night.’ Union: 13,047, casualties; 1,754 killed. Confederate: 10,699 casualties. 1,728 killed. (Battle of Shiloh, Wikipedia.)