Pinckney D. Bowles was born in Edgefield County, South Carolina, to a wealthy plantation family.

He also served as first lieutenant in the local Conecuh Guards, and was later promoted to its captain after the Civil War began.

[3] He was married, during the Civil War, at Sparta, Alabama, on February 24, 1863, to Alice Irene, daughter of Judge N. F. and Anna C.

Although some sources state he was finally commissioned as a brigadier general on April 2, 1865,[7] in fact there is no record of any such promotion.

[8] While Bowles may have commanded a hastily organized brigade of two regiments (or perhaps the five regiments mentioned in earlier sources) and some reserves under Brigadier General James Walker during the Appomattox Campaign, and Allardice found no evidence that the reserve units were in Walker's division, this would not have required his promotion.

[10] After the end of the war, Bowles returned home to practice law in Sparta, before moving to Evergreen, Alabama, when the county seat relocated there.