Robert Henry Bowles was born on Feb. 15, 1817 in Ballickmoyler, Queens county, Ireland and emigrated to Canada (with his mother and step-father) by 1825.  See The Bowles of Quebec City and The Bowles of Ballickmoyler, co. Laois for more on the origins of this family.

In 1835 Robert, with his brother Joseph and their two step-sisters, Mary and Anna Taylor, moved to New Orleans.  See The Family Tree of the Bowles from Quebec in New Orleans.  Robert was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1850.  His application to Citizenship Court was signed by Charles A. Labuzan who would later be Robert's commanding officer in the Civil War, General Labuzan.  ref. 

This was pre-Civil War and we know that Robert had at least one slave, "the black boy Gilbert", at #1 Royal Street.  We know that Robert valued him highly as he offered a $50 reward ("$100 if taken out of state") when Gilbert ran away in 1851. In January 1852 there was a fire at his #1 Royal Street location but he re-opened at #55 Canal Street within weeks where he advertised a sale on 'old stock, slightly damaged by water at the late fire'.  In June 1852 Robert advertised his new store at #55 Canal Street as selling trunks, bags and valises as well as his 'boots and shoes made to order'.  That was obviously a temporary location though as in November 1852 he moved from the Canal Street location to #11 Charles Street.

In 1854 Louisiana organized the state militia as the only military body in the state.  This was a regular stand-by army of volunteers available to be called into service as the occasion demanded.  Robert became an officer of the New Orleans detachment.  A report from the First District Police Court in 1859 stated that a boy, John Kelly, had been caught stealing a pair of boots from Colonel Bowles shop on Canal Street.  The volunteer basis of the militia was about to change.  In 1861 Louisiana and ten other states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America and in April of that year the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  Robert enlisted in Company K of the 4th Regiment,2nd Brigade of the 1st Louisiana Militia on Sept. 21, 1861 and received his Captain's commission in the Confederate Army on October 1st.  In February 1862 he was recorded in a newspaper account as Captain R. H. Bowles of the Fourth Militia Regiment of General Labuzan's Brigade when he presented a sword to his commanding officer Colonel Solomon on behalf of the officers of his regiment.
 

By that time Flag Officer David Farragut of the Union Navy was massing a fleet in the Gulf and was standing off the mouth of the Mississippi.  That same month, the militia was reorganized and many of them were ordered out of the city to serve further north.  However, Robert remained in a newly formed 3rd Brigade in which he received a new Captain's commission on Mar. 3, 1862. On April 29, 1862 Farragut led an assault up the Mississippi River and took command of New Orleans on May 1.  I haven't found any record of Robert having any further military role after that.

In April 1865 the war ended and business returned somewhat to normal in the South.  Robert's advertisements returned to the New Orleans papers in December 1865 with the announcement that he had a stock of Parlor Skates in addition to his usual assortment of 'boots, shoes, trunks etc.' in his store at 103 Canal Street.  That was the same shop he had prior to the war.  He was one of the initial stockholders and a founding Board Member of the Canal and Claiborne Streets Railroad Company in 1867. 

On May 28, 1871 Robert placed his last notice in the newspaper stating that he had yet again moved his store to a new location, this time from #103 to # 156 Canal Street. note  However, Robert was seriously ill at this point, possibly with what we now know as Alzheimers disease or a similar dementia.  His brother-in-law petitioned for an interdiction on June 2 stating that "Robert H Bowles by reason of long sickness, has become idiotic, of unsound mind, and utterly incapable of attending to his business and managing his affairs". The interdiction taking away Robert's right to manage his own affairs was granted on June 3 ref. and four days later he passed away.  

As on all these Bowles in Louisiana pages, I would like to express my appreciation to Kay Emery, a descendant of 5.3 Henry Belmont Bowles. Kay has done most of the research on this branch and has kindly allowed me to publish it here.