John H. Cowin, eldest son of Samuel and Martha A. Cowin, was born on 28 April 1839, in Greensboro, Green County, Alabama. He attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, in the early 1850s. In the fall of 1858, he enrolled as a student of medicine at the University of Virginia, and then Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he graduated with his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1860.
He returned home to Greensboro to open his practice, which flourished until the spring of 1861, when he enlisted as a private in the Greensboro Guards, which became part of Company D of the 5th Alabama Infantry. HIs first enlistment was for 12 months, but he immediately reenlisted for the duration of the war. Cowin served for more than two years, participating in almost all the battles in which his regiment was engaged. On the last day of the battle of Chancellorsville, 6 May 1863, he fell in a redoubt which the 5th and 26th Alabama Infantries had taken. He bled to death as his friends were carrying him from the field. According to one source, Cowin's last words to his friends were, "I am sinking very fast, I think. If I die, tell my father that I fell near the colors and in discharge of my duty." Afterwards, the Company unanimously voted to award Cowin the badge of honor for gallantry.
From the guide to the Cowin Family Papers MSS. 0364., 1861–1921, (University Libraries Division of Special Collections, The University of Alabama)
