PETER VAN
KOWAN
139th New York Volunteers
Company K
Private
Middle Island
Peter Van Kowan
Private, 139th New York Infantry, Company K
Middle Island
Peter Van Kowan was born in Germany. He
immigrated to America and found work as a farmer. He was
working on the farm on Judge William Bartlett in Middle
Island when the Civil War broke out.
Van Kowan enlisted as a private with
Company K of the 139th New York Infantry on August 14,
1862. Older than most recruits, he was thirty-nine years
old at the time, stood five feet ten and a half inches
tall, and had blue eyes and brown hair. He trained at
Fort Greene in Brooklyn until the regiment left for
Washington, D.C., in September. The regiment then moved
to Fortress Monroe in Virginia.
In June of 1863, while engaging in raids
against the Confederates, Van Kowan was captured along
the Chickahominy River near White House, Virginia. After
five months, Van Kowan was lucky enough to benefit from a
prisoner exchange. He was returned to his regiment on
October 16, 1863. Fellow Middle Islander, Edward Bayles,
also a soldier in the 139th, wrote home to his
grandfather about Van Kowan's return:
Old Peter (Bartlett's Dutchman) has got
back to the regiment again. You know he was captured by
the Rebs while our regiment was on a raid and was taken
to Richmond where he was kept prisoner 5 months. And was
then exchanged when he regained his regiment. I supposed
he was killed, but was agreeably surprised at seeing him
on picket the other morning.
A few months later, on December 18, 1863,
Van Kowan wrote a letter Camp West near Fort Magruder. He
requested a furlough to go home and attend to
"business that requires my immediate
attention." The nature of that business is not
known, but Van Kowan was granted a ten-day furlough and
he returned at the end of December.
The regiment stayed at Camp West during
January and February. They were moved to Northwest
Landing, Virginia, in March. Van Kowan was a frequent
visitor to the tent of Edward and Albert Bayles, who were
in Company A. In a letter written home on March 28, 1864,
Edward wrote, "Old Peter has just come in and sends
his respect to grandfather. He comes in to see us very
often."
The 139th engaged in the Battle of Cold
Harbor on June 3, 1864. This action resulted in 153
casualties for the regiment. Van Kowan survived, but two
of those killed were his Middle Island friends, Edward
and Albert Bayles. There was little time to mourn,
however, for the 139th was active when Union forces took
the outer line of entrenchments guarding Petersburg on
June 15.
Van Kowan spent July and August in the
hospital at Bermuda Hundred with an undisclosed illness.
He returned to the regiment in September, in time to
leave with his regiment when they moved out from Bermuda
Hundred. The regiment marched throughout the night and
engaged the enemy at daylight. They captured Fort
Harrison with an assault at eight in the morning. They
crushed Confederate forces that tried to retake the
position a day later.
The 139th later engaged at Fair Oaks,
Virginia, but the Confederates repulsed their attack. The
regiment spent the remaining days of the war stationed
near Fort Burnham, where they participated in the siege
of Petersburg. Van Kowan was present at the fall of
Petersburg on April 2, 1865.
Peter Van Kowan was discharged on June
19, 1865, and returned home to New York.
Union pickets
skirmishing with Confederate pickets along the
Chickahominy. (Harper's Weekly)