Joseph Bowman | |
|---|---|
 Joseph Bowman grave marker, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral Cemetery, near George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, Vincennes, Indiana | |
| Born | Joseph Lawrence Bowman c. March 8, 1752 March 8, 1752 |
| Died | August 15, 1779 (aged 27) |
| Cause of death | burn wounds from gunpowder explosion |
| Resting place | St. Francis Xavier Cathedral Cemetery, near George Rogers Clark National Historical Park |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | frontiersman, hunter, farmer, soldier, state militia officer |
| Parent(s) | George Bowman and Mary Hite, Anglicized from Hans Georg Baumann and Marie Elisabetha Hite |
| Relatives | Jost Hite (grandfather) Jacob Bowman (brother) John Bowman (brother) Isaac Bowman (brother) Abraham Bowman (brother) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service | Virginia Militia |
| Years of service | 1774, 1778-1779 |
| Rank |  Major |
| Battles / wars | Lord Dunmore's War American Revolutionary War |
Joseph Lawrence Bowman (c. 1752 – 15 August 1779) was an American frontiersmen and military officer who fought during the American Revolutionary War. He was second-in-command during Colonel George Rogers Clark's 1778 military campaign to capture the Illinois Country, in which Clark and his men seized the key British-controlled towns of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes. Following the campaign, Bowman was critically injured in an accidental gunpowder explosion and subsequently died of his wounds. He was the only American officer killed during the 1778-1779 Illinois campaign.[1] Joseph Bowman kept a daily journal of his trek from Kaskaskia to Vincennes, which is one of the best primary source accounts of Clark's victorious campaign.
- ^ English, Conquest of the Country, 1:108.