George Cowling

He immigrated with his family from Cambridgeshire, England to Vinland Township, Winnebago County, WI in 1851. By 1855 they were in Algoma Township. In 1861 he was a farmer living in Algoma (or Oshkosh), and he enlisted in Company B, 3rd Wisconsin Infantry on 22 April.

He was wounded in action on 17 September 1862 at Antietam.

He was discharged from the 3rd Infantry on 26 October 1862 to enlist in the Regular US Army. He had enlisted in Battery F, 4th US Artillery near Harpers Ferry at Sandy Hook, MD on 23 September at age 19. He was described as being 5' 10-3/4" tall, with blue eyes, brown hair, and a florid complexion. He reenlisted on 1 February 1864 at Stevenson, AL as a Private. He was listed as a deserter on 16 August 1865.

It is likely he returned to Winnebago County, where he had extended family, and farmed after the War. He was found dead at about age 65, probably frozen to death, in a barn near Oshkosh on 23 February 1909. He was known to have been living "an out-of-door life" - wandering about. He had planned to visit Milwaukee, so was not missed by relatives in Vinland, WI, and was thought to have been dead about 2 weeks when he was found.

Basic information from Bryant1 and the Park Service's Soldiers and Sailors Database. US service from the Registers.2 Early life details from family genealogists. His death from a piece in the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern of 23 February 1909, pg. 3.

c. 1843; Peterborough, ENGLAND

02/1909; Oshkosh, WI