Bowen farmed, then entered the Confederate Army in 1861 as a captain in Company H of the 8th Virginia Cavalry,[1] which fought with Payne's brigade, Lee's division, Army of Northern Virginia. On December 21, 1864, Sheridan's cavalry captured Capt. Bowen at Lacy Springs, Virginia. Upon being paroled on June 19, 1865, Bowen returned to his native county and resumed farming.
Political career
Bowen was elected and re-elected as one of Tazewell County's representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1869 to 1873. In 1883, he was elected as a Readjuster to the Forty-eighth Congress, serving from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1885. Bowen failed to win renomination in 1884. He was elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth Congress, serving from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1889. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1888 to the Fifty-first Congress.
In 1892, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention. He returned to his farm and raised livestock in Tazewell County, Virginia.
Death and legacy
Bowen died at his home, "Maiden Spring", in Tazewell County, April 29, 1915, and was buried in Jeffersonville Cemetery, Tazewell, Virginia.