Joseph Bowman

Who was Joseph Bowman?

Joseph Bowman was a Virginia militia officer during the American Revolutionary War. He was second-in-command during George Rogers Clark's famous campaign to capture the Illinois country, in which Clark and his men seized the British-controlled towns of Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and others. Bowman was injured in an accidental gunpowder explosion after the campaign, and subsequently died of his wounds. He was the only American officer killed during the Illinois campaign. Bowman kept a daily journal during the trek from Kaskaskia to Vincennes, which is one of the best primary accounts of the event.