In May 1863 Bowden was the Unionist candidate for attorney general of the Restored government of Virginia and won the election with 2,743 votes, thus becoming the youngest attorney general of Virginia up until that time at the age of twenty-two.
Bowden sought reelection in 1869 but was defeated by James Craig Taylor in the election held on July 6, 1869.
Until Taylor took office on January 19, 1870, Charles Whittlesey was appointed to fill the vacancy.
Not long after leaving office, Bowden moved to Washington, D.C., where he practiced law for more than twenty years.
Bowden died in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Williamsburg, Virginia.