Historically Significant Civil War Canteen Identified to Pvt. Theodore Parsons Bowker Jr., Co. D, 13th Massachusetts Infantry
Historically Significant Civil War Canteen Identified to Pvt. Theodore Parsons Bowker Jr., Co. D, 13th Massachusetts Infantry - Inventory Number: CAN 204
Killed at the Battle of Antietam
A relic of personal sacrifice and battlefield tragedy, this original Civil War canteen belonged to Private Theodore Parsons Bowker Jr., Company D, 13th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, who was killed in action at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862—the bloodiest single day in American history. This artifact stands as a powerful testament to both the cost of war and the legacy of one of the Union’s most valiant regiments.
This regulation Model 1858 smooth-side Federal canteen retains its original coarse brown jean cloth covering, now worn and frayed from age and wartime service, with exposed sections revealing the oxidized tin body beneath. The original cloth sling, though fragile, remains affixed, and the pewter spout is still present, complete with a section of original chain. The canteen exhibits honest field wear, with clear signs of prolonged use. It was deaccessioned by the Texas Museum as part of a larger grouping that originally included Bowker’s blanket and haversack.
Theodore P. Bowker Jr. enlisted in the summer of 1861 at the age of 19 and served with distinction through the hard-fought campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. The 13th Massachusetts was heavily engaged in the brutal combat at Antietam’s West Woods, where Bowker was struck down during one of the fiercest infantry assaults of the battle. His death marked one of over 23,000 American casualties sustained in a single day.
Accompanied by documentation from the museum’s assessment and provenance records tying this piece directly to Bowker, this canteen is more than a utilitarian object—it is a poignant reminder of personal loss amid national conflict. Artifacts directly attributed to soldiers killed at Antietam are exceedingly scarce, and this example, once carried on Bowker’s shoulder, is a museum-grade centerpiece worthy of any advanced Civil War collection.
Condition: Good; cover shows minimal wear and fraying with losses, particularly along edges; tin body retains rust patina; strap largely intact; spout complete with chain. A deep historically documented artifact.
Provenance: Texas Museum deaccession; originally accompanied by soldier’s haversack and blanket; attributed to Pvt. Theodore P. Bowker Jr., Co. D, 13th MA Infantry, KIA Antietam. Theodore Persons Bowker, Jr., was 20 when he mustered into service. The 1860 census records him living at home with his father and mother in Boston and working as a clerk. If he or a comrade did not do the embroidery on the blanket, his mother may well have. We note his unit is “13th M.V.M.” though it was the 4th Rifles that was in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia and the 13th Mass was technically the Mass. Volunteers, but that fine distinction was likely beyond most recruits at least while the regiment was being organized. The regiment left Boston on July 29 and did its first service in Maryland in a division commanded by Banks and assigned to guarding fords along the Potomac. (It ironic given Bowker’s fate that they were posted at Sharpsburg early on.) The duty did, however, give them some taste of combat in small unit actions while on picket, outpost and scouting duty, including encounters with Confederate cavalry and repeated Confederate efforts to destroy Dam #5.
In March 1862 the regiment became part of Banks’s 5th corps, Army of the Potomac, served in the Shenandoah and then moved to northern Virginia, becoming part of McDowell’s 3rd Corps, Army of Virginia in May. Bimonthly company muster rolls show Bowker absent only for a time in the May-June time frame when he was sick in hospital at Manassas Junction. This puts him back in the ranks in time for Pope’s Virginia Campaign and then Antietam. The regiment was present but not engaged at Cedar Mountain in late August and saw its first serious fighting at Thoroughfare Gap and then 2nd Bull Run, where it was heavily engaged, losing 36 officers and men killed or mortally wounded. In September they became part of Hooker’s 1st Corps, Hartsuff’s brigade, and was engaged at South Mountain, without loss, on Sept. 14, but at Antietam they lost heavily in the fighting in the Cornfield and near Dunkard Church. According to one source they carried 301 officers and men into action, losing 136, including Bowker, who was one of 21 killed or wounded in Company A.
The nature of Bowker’s wound is not specified. He was likely treated first at one of the field hospitals, but by October had been evacuated to the “School House Hospital” at Chambersburg, PA. He would have been thought safe behind the lines at that point, but was one of the Union sick and wounded captured and paroled there on October 11 by Confederate cavalry during Jeb Stuart’s October 10-12 raid around McClellan’s army, usually called simply his “Chambersburg Raid” or his “second ride around McClellan.” He was transferred at some point after that to a hospital at Rappahannock Station, where he died of his wounds on November 12. His body was sent home for burial, whether paid for by his comrades or family is unclear, but eventually interred at Norwell, Mass. It is possible the blanket was sent home at that point as part of his personal effects since it is so well marked, though he may well have sent it home earlier at some point. In any case, this is an attractive piece of soldier’s gear, with a connection to one of the war’s most famous battles, as well as a memento of a family’s loss.
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