Rest assured I'm not out to prove the connection, just an interesting local family name that caught my fancy and I dug into. FWIW(and to add weight to your concerns) Samuel Bowman was also known as "Captain Bowman". I'm sure you remember the discussion regarding "Captain Reuben Barnes" who by my best digging was officially only a Sargent. Hildebrand tended to make a lot of his compadres "Captain". :>) Best of luck in your endeavors!

I do have a weak link to check out regarding the interplay between the Bowman's, Limbaugh's, Cook's, and Cochran's Militia. Seems that Daniel R. Limbaugh was murdered in his front yard Sept 5, 1862. Family lore is sketchy as it just wasn't talked about but the descendents in the post war period had a vitrolic hatred of "Democrats" and the assumption has been that confederate sympathizers were the guilty ones.

John R