Federal (USV)

Lieutenant Colonel

Samuel W Owen

In July he enrolled in the newly forming 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry in Washington, mustering into Federal service as their Lieutenant Colonel on 19 August 1861 for three years. Due to the frequent absence and eventual promotion of Colonel William Averell, Owen was in effective command of the Regiment for much of his service. He was in action on the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, and commanded the 3rd Pennsylvania after 6 July when the Colonel took over the Brigade.

In the Antietam Campaign:
Owen was in command of the regiment on the Maryland Campaign; Colonel Averell absent with the "Chickahominy Fever" (malaria).

The remainder of the War:
He resigned his commission soon after Antietam, on 25 October 1862.

After the War:
A Washington, D.C. City Directory for the year 1890 shows resident Catharine Owen, widow of Samuel W. Owen.

References, Sources, and other notes:
The photograph above and some details of Owen's service are from the History of the Third.1 A photograph of Owen napping on the Peninsula at Westover Landing, Va in August 1862 is online from the US Library of Congress. Additional information from A History of the National Capital.2 A copy of his Veteran Card is online from the Pennsylvania State Archives.

Notes

1   Rawle, William Brooke, and Regimental History Committee, History of the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, Sixtieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers in the American Civil War, 1861-1865, Philadelphia: Franklin Printing Company, 1905, pg. 519  [AotW citation 728]

2   Bryan, Wilhelmus Bogart, A History of the National Capital: From its foundation through the period of the adoption of the Organic Act. 1790-1878, 2 volumes, New York: Macmillan, 1914-16, pg. 475  [AotW citation 729]