Originally published in the Cecil Whig
This is a quiz. A couple of weeks ago we celebrated the 150th anniversary of what Civil War battle?
Gettysburg, that’s correct. Cecil County Judge David McCauley notes in his July 3, 1863 diary that the roar of the canons, preceding Pickett’s Charge, could be heard in Elkton that afternoon. But there was another battle that didn’t occur in the north and was not an immediate victory for the Union which we also observe this month, this week, in fact. It’s the July 18th, 1863 battle of Fort Wagner. Unless you saw the movie Glory or you are one of those persons who is obsessed with Civil War military history, you may not have heard of it.
Fort Wagner, lodged amongst the sand dunes, guarded the harbor entrance to Charleston, South Carolina. Because of its natural sand walls, Fort Wagner was essentially impenetrable. In fact, in spite of weeks of naval bombardment, Fort Wagner was never taken. Its defenders abandoned it to Union forces later in 1863 because of its increasingly polluted water supply.
I mentioned the movie Glory. Glory is about the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, the first official Union regiment made up entirely of African American volunteers. I have lots of issues with the movie, but it does generally tell the regiment’s story in more or less accurate fashion. The climax of the movie is the afore mentioned battle of Fort Wagner when the 54th’s regimental commander, Col. Robert Shaw, a white officer, volunteers his unit for the suicide mission of spear heading the charge on the impenetrable fort… a charge he will lead.
Roughly 48 hours later, Shaw, along with between one quarter and one half of his regiment, lay dead, slaughtered by Confederate guns. Amongst the survivors were 2 black soldiers from Cecil County. Their names are George Tolbert and Charles Bowser.
We don’t know much about Private Tolbert except what can be gleaned from his military record, courtesy of Ancestry.com. Tolbert was born in Cecil County and enlisted with the Massachusetts 54th regiment at the age of 22, training at Reedsville, Massachusetts in the spring of 1863. He was 5 feet 4 inches tall and listed his occupation as “Farmer.” The 1850 census lists a George Tolbert as living and working for the Thomas Logan family in Cecil County as a free man. Ten years later this George Tolbert is working for Francis Brumfiela, still in Cecil County and also as a free man.
Private Tolbert has an undistinguished war record, working first as the company cook and then as a washer man. There is no mention of any battles, however, by the time he was mustered out of the service in August of 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina, Tolbert owed the government $16.09 for lost equipment and ordinance “due to carelessness.” Uncle Sam owed him one hundred dollars in unpaid bounty money. That’s where the trail ends. In spite of repeated searches of Ancestry.com, using many different spellings of George Tolbert’s name, he seems to disappear, with one possible exception. On December 21, 1871, there is a death certificate for a George Tolbert, about the same age as our hero, at an unnamed Philadelphia hospital. This Tolbert is buried on the hospital grounds. No cause of death is listed nor is there any other personal information. Somehow it doesn’t seem quite fitting an end for a Civil War soldier who risked so much for his freedom and the freedom of others. Much more should be known and celebrated.
Charles Bowser’s history nearly leaps from the public record. The future Private Bowser was born in 1845 in Middletown, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in Company “F” of the Massachusetts 54th on April 8th of 1863, just two weeks before Tolbert, and trained, possibly with Tolbert, at Reedsville. He also lists himself at 5 feet 4 inches tall and, like Tolbert, is a farmer. Apparently Private Bowser served well as no demerits or charges are placed against his record.
Some time after the war, Bowser resumes his farming career in the Fair Hill area of Cecil County and, by 1870, marries Fannie Bowser. No maiden name is listed for her. They have three sons: Washington, Charles junior, and John. By 1880 they moved to Elkton and acquire a boarder named Charles Johnson. Fannie keeps house while the eldest son, 13 year old Washington, is a waiter.
By the time of the 1896 tax assessment, things are looking up for the Bowsers. They have added a daughter, Annie, and a son, Benjamin to their family. They own a lot on Booths Lane in Elkton with a frame dwelling worth $425. Household goods are worth $50. They own two hogs, worth $10.
Eldest son, Washington, moved away by the time of the 1900 census which leaves John as a day laborer and Charles junior working as a grocer. Their 21 year old daughter, Annie, is a servant.
Charles Bowser is 71 years old on the 1910 census and while half of his children have moved away, a granddaughter, Sarah, has been added. Just 2 years later, on November 11th, 1912, Private Charles Bowser dies, leaving an estate to his wife Fannie. A last will and testament is filed with the Cecil County Register of Wills along with a property inventory and tax assessment. The Will leaves all of Bowsers worldly goods to his wife. Those goods include: a stove, refrigerator, clock, 4 rocking chairs, 2 bureaus, various tables, 5 hogs, and one red cow. In all Bowser’s estate was worth over $1000. Five dollars and 25 cents were owned to the county in taxes.
As we continue to observe the 150th anniversary of our Civil War, reenacting the various battles, and arguing strategy, it is our duty, not to forget men like Privates George Tolbert and Charles Bowser as the men who voluntarily offered their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to what Lincoln called the “unfinished work” which those like Tolbert and Bowser “so nobly advanced.” For it was they who produced Lincoln’s “new birth of freedom” for all Americans, and while that dream is not yet realized, we, as a people, who are highly resolved, will yet make it a reality.