Reinert Bower
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| Name at Enlist | Reinert Bower |
| Birth Name | |
| Lived | 16 Aug 1843 – 6 Oct 1915 |
| Birth Country | Prussia |
| Resident of Muster-In | Manitowoc, Manitowoc County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | F |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 5 Jan 1862 |
| Mother | Susannah |
| Mother Lived | 1817- |
| Father | Peter |
| Father Lived | 1817- |
| Immigration | 1854 |
| Spouse | Dorothy (Dora) |
| Spouse Lived | 1848- |
| Married On | 1867 |
Reinert Bower was born in Prussia on August 16, 1843 to Peter (1817) and Susannah (1817). They immigrated in 1854. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company F. The men of the company called themselves “KK’s Protectors” in honor of the 15th’s first Lieutenant Colonel, Kiler K. Jones. “F” was also known as the Valdres Company because a large number of its members hailed from the Valdres region of Norway.
The army listed Bower as living in Manitowoc, Manitowoc County, WI, unmarried, age 17, and a farmer. He had dark eyes, dark hair, dark complexion, and stood 5’5”. He enlisted for three years on January 1, 1862 at Manitowoc, WI, and mustered at Madison, WI on January 5, 1862 as a Private (Menig). He was taken prisoner at Stones River, TN on December 31, 1862, and was paroled at St. Louis, MO in 1863. He served as an escort with the provision transport from Stevenson, AL on October 13, 1863. Bower was seriously wounded in his right knee at New Hope Church, GA on May 27, 1864 and sent to the hospital. He “Took part in the bombardment of Island No. 10; in the battle of Perryville, KY on 8 Oct 1862; in a skirmish near Lancaster, KY on 14 Oct 1862; in the Battle of Stones River 30 Dec 1831 where he was taken prisoner; in the Battle of Chickamauga, GA, 19 & 20 Sep 1863; in the siege of Dalton; in the Battle of Reseca, GA, 14 & 15 May 1864; in the battle of New Hope Church, GA, 27 May, where he was shot through the left leg.” [Report signed by Lt. Ch. Olson, commanding the company.] He mustered out with his company on January 13, 1865 at Chattanooga, TN.
After the war in 1867, he married Dorothy (Dora). In 1870, they were living with his parents in Rapids, Manitowoc County, WI. In 1910, they were still living in the same town.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-8,15; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.86; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p.500; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.273; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865; 1870 Census, Roll: M593_1723, Page: 273B, Image: 550; 1910 Census, T624_1718, Page: 2A, Enumeration District: 0031, FHL microfilm: 1375731; Civil War Pension Index, Roll # T288_44.