Andrew Cowan (artillerist)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Cowan served as a Union artillerist in the American Civil War
. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Gettysburg
and the Battle of Sayler's Creek
.
The 1st New York Battery http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/artillery/1stIndBat/1stIndBatMain.htm was recruited by Capt Terrence J. Kennedy, mostly in Cayuga County, beginning on October 18, 1861. The battery was organized at Auburn, New York
. Andrew Cowan was commissioned the unit’s first lieutenant. The battery was mustered into the service as a volunteer unit for a term of three years on November 23. The battery left for the Washington, D. C., arriving on December 4. Officially designated the 1st New York Battery three days later, it was assigned to BG William F. Smith
's division of the Army of the Potomac
in January 1862. The division joined IV Corps
in March of, 1862. The division joined VI Corps
in May 1862, serving in the Peninsula Campaign
. By that time, Lt Cowan was in charge. He was promoted to the rank of captain during the Peninsula Campaign.
The 1st New York Battery served at the Battle of Yorktown
and the Battle of Williamsburg
under the division’s senior artillerist Capt Romeyn B. Ayres
. It took part in Seven Days Battles
, the Battle of South Mountain
at Crampton’s Gap, the Battle of Antietam
and the Battle of Fredericksburg
. In the Chancellorsville Campaign, the battery served in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, covering the crossing of VI Corps into the town of Fredericksburg. It then supported the division of BG Albion Howe at the Battle of Salem Church
.
The battery was assigned to the Artillery Brigade of VI Corps in May 1863. In that arrangement it served in the Battle of Gettysburg
. In reserve at first, on July 3, 1863 it was placed just south of the copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge, in time to resist Pickett's Charge
. Cowan’s guns filled a gap in the infantry line left when a regiment left the front. Cowan ordered his men to fire double canister on a group of Confederates trying to penetrate the federal line, and their fire broke up that threat. BG Henry J. Hunt, the army’s chief of artillery, was present with then and had his horse shot out from under him. A newspaper account reported that Capt Cowan served in a gun crew at the height of the assault.http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/artillery/1stIndBat/1stIndBatCWN.htm A monument to the battery, executed by J. G. Hamilton, stands on the sight of this action.http://dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0007107.htm
In the autumn of 1863, the battery served in the Bristoe Campaign
, especially the Battle of Rappahannock Station, and in the Mine Run Campaign.
The battery served in the VI Corps Artillery Brigade in the Overland Campaign
and in the earliest stage of the Siege of Petersburg
. Then it served with the Army of the Shenandoah of MG Philip Sheridan
from October 1864. In Sheridan’s portion of the Valley Campaigns of 1864
, Cowan was wounded at the Third Battle of Winchester. His battery saw particularly hard service at the Battle of Cedar Creek
.
After serving briefly in XXII Corps
from December 1864 until it rejoined the Army of the Potomac on January 25, 1865. Men at the expiration of their term of service were given the chance to be discharged, but most reenlisted permitting the battery to continue in service.
In the Army of the Potomac, Capt Cowan, who had received the brevet
rank of major, took command of the Artillery Brigade when Col Charles H. Tompkins was assigned to other duties. Cowan was in charge of the VI Corps guns during the Appomattox Campaign
. At Sayler’s Creek on April 6, 1865, Cowan had gathered 20 guns near the Hillsman House. They opened fire at about 5:15 PM, experiencing no counter battery fire from the Confederates, because their guns had not accompanied the infantry. Two divisions of VI Corps attacked the Confederate rear guard under Ltg Richard S. Ewell
at about 6:00 PM. Ewell's men attacked the VI Corps divisions as they crossed the stream. The federals were thrown back. However, Cowan's guns stopped the southern advance, allowing the infantry to reform and counterattack. The Confederate line was hit in the front by VI Corps and in the flank by federal cavalry. It collapsed, and Ewell was among the southerners captured on the field.http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11793
After Robert E. Lee
’s surrender, the battery returned home. It was honorably discharged and mustered out June 23, 1865 at Syracuse, New York
. The 1st New York Battery lost 1 officer and 12 enlisted men killed. 1 officer and 6 enlisted men died of wounds. Another 38 enlisted men died of disease or other causes. Andrew Cowan left the volunteer services as a brevet lieutenant colonel, this promotion dated April 9, 1865.
, where he had by then settled. He became a leather merchant and after a less than cordial welcome he eventually became locally prominent. His company sold retail. He also served on company boards, headed a printing company for the blind and was a park commissioner. Cowan also served on the committee that raised funds for the erection of the Statue of Liberty
as the city’s representative. In 1900, he was a member of a Kentucky delegation that visited the White House
to discuss problems in the state with President William McKinley
.
Cowan also was active in veterans’ affairs. On July 3, 1887, Col Cowan took a leading part in the dedication of the monument to his battery in Gettysburg. He also gave to veteran’s of MG George Pickett
’s division, the Pickett Division association, a sword that had fallen into his hands at the Battle of Gettysburg. On September 9, 1895, Cowan gave a banquet for delegates to a convention of the Grand Army of the Republic
. Cowan was close with Confederate survivors in Kentucky, who named him an honorary member of their Orphan Brigade
in 1912. In 1915, the colonel was the father of a proposal to hold a Confederate reunion in Washington. Later than year, he gave an address at the dedicate of a statue of BG Alexander S. Webb
, who had commanded the Philadelphia Brigade
at Gettysburg, in the Gettysburg National Military Park
. When the Confederate reunion was held in 1917, Col Cowan and President Woodrow Wilson
were among the participants. Cowan presented an American flag that was hung beside the Confederate banner Col Cowan also served a term as president of the Society of the Army of the Potomac.
Andrew Cowan died in Louisville on August 23, 1919 at the age of 78.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
and the Battle of Sayler's Creek
Battle of Sayler's Creek
-External links:* * : Maps, histories, photos, and preservation news...
.
Pre-War
Andrew Cowan was born in Ayrshire, Scotland on September 29, 1841, and he migrated to the United States as a boy. He married his first wife, Mary Asdit, in upper New York State where she bore a son, Albert Andrew Cowan, in August 1867 but she died the following month most likely from complications from childbirth.Civil War Service
Andrew Cowan had seen service in Virginia before becoming an officer in an independent battery.The 1st New York Battery http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/artillery/1stIndBat/1stIndBatMain.htm was recruited by Capt Terrence J. Kennedy, mostly in Cayuga County, beginning on October 18, 1861. The battery was organized at Auburn, New York
Auburn, New York
Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687...
. Andrew Cowan was commissioned the unit’s first lieutenant. The battery was mustered into the service as a volunteer unit for a term of three years on November 23. The battery left for the Washington, D. C., arriving on December 4. Officially designated the 1st New York Battery three days later, it was assigned to BG William F. Smith
William F. Smith
William F. Smith may refer to:*William Farrar Smith , Union Army General*William Francis Smith , U.S. District Court judge*William French Smith , U.S. Attorney General...
's division of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
in January 1862. The division joined IV Corps
IV Corps (ACW)
There were two corps of the Union Army called IV Corps during the American Civil War. They were separate units, one serving with the Army of the Potomac and the Department of Virginia in the Eastern Theater, 1862–63, the other with the Army of the Cumberland in the Western Theater,...
in March of, 1862. The division joined VI Corps
VI Corps (ACW)
The VI Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Formation:The corps was organized as the Sixth Provisional Corps on May 18, 1862, by uniting Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin's Division, which had just arrived on the Virginia Peninsula, with Maj. Gen. William F. Smith's...
in May 1862, serving in the Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...
. By that time, Lt Cowan was in charge. He was promoted to the rank of captain during the Peninsula Campaign.
The 1st New York Battery served at the Battle of Yorktown
Battle of Yorktown (1862)
The Battle of Yorktown or Siege of Yorktown was fought from April 5 to May 4, 1862, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. Marching from Fort Monroe, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac encountered Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder's small Confederate force...
and the Battle of Williamsburg
Battle of Williamsburg
The Battle of Williamsburg, also known as the Battle of Fort Magruder, took place on May 5, 1862, in York County, James City County, and Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War...
under the division’s senior artillerist Capt Romeyn B. Ayres
Romeyn B. Ayres
Romeyn Beck Ayres was a Union Army general in the American Civil War.-Early life:Ayres was born at East Creek, New York, along the Mohawk River in Montgomery County. He was the son of a small-town doctor who urged all of his sons into professional careers...
. It took part in Seven Days Battles
Seven Days Battles
The Seven Days Battles was a series of six major battles over the seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, away from...
, the Battle of South Mountain
Battle of South Mountain
The Battle of South Mountain was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B...
at Crampton’s Gap, the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
and the Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
. In the Chancellorsville Campaign, the battery served in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, covering the crossing of VI Corps into the town of Fredericksburg. It then supported the division of BG Albion Howe at the Battle of Salem Church
Battle of Salem Church
The Battle of Salem Church, also known as the Battle of Banks' Ford, took place on May 3–4, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, as part of the Chancellorsville Campaign of the American Civil War....
.
The battery was assigned to the Artillery Brigade of VI Corps in May 1863. In that arrangement it served in the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
. In reserve at first, on July 3, 1863 it was placed just south of the copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge, in time to resist Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander,...
. Cowan’s guns filled a gap in the infantry line left when a regiment left the front. Cowan ordered his men to fire double canister on a group of Confederates trying to penetrate the federal line, and their fire broke up that threat. BG Henry J. Hunt, the army’s chief of artillery, was present with then and had his horse shot out from under him. A newspaper account reported that Capt Cowan served in a gun crew at the height of the assault.http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/artillery/1stIndBat/1stIndBatCWN.htm A monument to the battery, executed by J. G. Hamilton, stands on the sight of this action.http://dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0007107.htm
In the autumn of 1863, the battery served in the Bristoe Campaign
Bristoe Campaign
The Bristoe Campaign was a series of minor battles fought in Virginia during October and November 1863, in the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, began to maneuver in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern...
, especially the Battle of Rappahannock Station, and in the Mine Run Campaign.
The battery served in the VI Corps Artillery Brigade in the Overland Campaign
Overland Campaign
The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the...
and in the earliest stage of the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
. Then it served with the Army of the Shenandoah of MG Philip Sheridan
Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
from October 1864. In Sheridan’s portion of the Valley Campaigns of 1864
Valley Campaigns of 1864
The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October 1864. Military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns, but it is useful to consider the three together and how they...
, Cowan was wounded at the Third Battle of Winchester. His battery saw particularly hard service at the Battle of Cedar Creek
Battle of Cedar Creek
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended...
.
After serving briefly in XXII Corps
XXII Corps (ACW)
XXII Corps was a corps in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was created on February 2, 1863, to consist of all troops garrisoned in Washington, D.C., and included three infantry divisions and one of cavalry...
from December 1864 until it rejoined the Army of the Potomac on January 25, 1865. Men at the expiration of their term of service were given the chance to be discharged, but most reenlisted permitting the battery to continue in service.
In the Army of the Potomac, Capt Cowan, who had received the brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
rank of major, took command of the Artillery Brigade when Col Charles H. Tompkins was assigned to other duties. Cowan was in charge of the VI Corps guns during the Appomattox Campaign
Appomattox Campaign
The Appomattox Campaign was a series of battles fought March 29 – April 9, 1865, in Virginia that culminated in the surrender of Confederate General Robert E...
. At Sayler’s Creek on April 6, 1865, Cowan had gathered 20 guns near the Hillsman House. They opened fire at about 5:15 PM, experiencing no counter battery fire from the Confederates, because their guns had not accompanied the infantry. Two divisions of VI Corps attacked the Confederate rear guard under Ltg Richard S. Ewell
Richard S. Ewell
Richard Stoddert Ewell was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E...
at about 6:00 PM. Ewell's men attacked the VI Corps divisions as they crossed the stream. The federals were thrown back. However, Cowan's guns stopped the southern advance, allowing the infantry to reform and counterattack. The Confederate line was hit in the front by VI Corps and in the flank by federal cavalry. It collapsed, and Ewell was among the southerners captured on the field.http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11793
After Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
’s surrender, the battery returned home. It was honorably discharged and mustered out June 23, 1865 at Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
. The 1st New York Battery lost 1 officer and 12 enlisted men killed. 1 officer and 6 enlisted men died of wounds. Another 38 enlisted men died of disease or other causes. Andrew Cowan left the volunteer services as a brevet lieutenant colonel, this promotion dated April 9, 1865.
Post war
After the war, Andrew Cowan married his second wife, Anna Gilbert in New York state in 1876 and on October 24, 1876 she bore a son, Gilbert S. Cowan in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, where he had by then settled. He became a leather merchant and after a less than cordial welcome he eventually became locally prominent. His company sold retail. He also served on company boards, headed a printing company for the blind and was a park commissioner. Cowan also served on the committee that raised funds for the erection of the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
as the city’s representative. In 1900, he was a member of a Kentucky delegation that visited the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to discuss problems in the state with President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
.
Cowan also was active in veterans’ affairs. On July 3, 1887, Col Cowan took a leading part in the dedication of the monument to his battery in Gettysburg. He also gave to veteran’s of MG George Pickett
George Pickett
George Edward Pickett was a career United States Army officer who became a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
’s division, the Pickett Division association, a sword that had fallen into his hands at the Battle of Gettysburg. On September 9, 1895, Cowan gave a banquet for delegates to a convention of the Grand Army of the Republic
Grand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...
. Cowan was close with Confederate survivors in Kentucky, who named him an honorary member of their Orphan Brigade
Orphan Brigade
The Orphan Brigade was the nickname of the First Kentucky Brigade, a group of military units recruited from the Commonwealth of Kentucky to fight for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The brigade was the largest Confederate unit to be recruited from Kentucky during...
in 1912. In 1915, the colonel was the father of a proposal to hold a Confederate reunion in Washington. Later than year, he gave an address at the dedicate of a statue of BG Alexander S. Webb
Alexander S. Webb
Alexander Stewart Webb was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg...
, who had commanded the Philadelphia Brigade
Philadelphia Brigade
The Philadelphia Brigade was a Union Army brigade that served in the American Civil War. It was raised primarily in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the exception of the 106th regiment which contained men from Lycoming and Bradford counties.The brigade fought with the Army of the...
at Gettysburg, in the Gettysburg National Military Park
Gettysburg National Military Park
The Gettysburg National Military Park is an administrative unit of the National Park Service's northeast region and a subunit of federal properties of Adams County, Pennsylvania, with the same name, including the Gettysburg National Cemetery...
. When the Confederate reunion was held in 1917, Col Cowan and President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
were among the participants. Cowan presented an American flag that was hung beside the Confederate banner Col Cowan also served a term as president of the Society of the Army of the Potomac.
Andrew Cowan died in Louisville on August 23, 1919 at the age of 78.