In 1857 he was appointed chief clerk in the office of auditor of the State, retaining this position until 1861, when he volunteered as a rebel soldier in the Arkansas State troops and participated in the battle at Wilson's Creek. He had charge of a gun in the famous Bragg's Battery, and his company was commanded by William E. Woodruff, Jr.

Immediately after the battle of Wilson's Creek he went to Judge Murphy's at Hindsville, and died March 20, 1862, of consumption with which disease he was afflicted before enlisting, and which grew rapidly worse from dust and hardship. He left a widow and three children: Emma (wife of Dr. BAIRD of Swifton, Ark), Augustus, and Willie, who died March 13, 1863 in infancy.

Mrs. LOWE left the State in company with her sisters, Louise, Laura and Geraldine: the latter went with them as far as Little Rock, Ark, for a visit. Another sister of Mrs. Lowe, Mrs. James R. BERRY, moved to Little Rock, Ark in the early part of the autumn of 1862, so that the two sisters were separated from the others for over a year, not even receiving letters, as all mail communication had been broken off. Miss Louisa Murphy died at St. Louis, March 1, 1863; Miss Laura died March 13, 1863, just two hours after Willie Lowe, making four deaths within one year, all caused by the war.

The three just named died of lung and brain fever, brought on by hardship, exposure and excitement. Augustus Lowe was ill at the same time, but recovered, losing, however, his hearing, and he is still almost totally deaf. Miss Geraldine, the youngest of the family, their pride and joy, beautiful, accomplished, and very lovely in her character, while in an excellent state of health, was drowned by a sudden rise in Lollar's Creek, which she was crossing, September 19, 1870. "So perish those whose life is sweet, leaving others, far less fortunate, to mourn".