Thomas H. Carter (Colonel)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Henry Carter was an artillery
officer in the Confederate States Army
during the American Civil War
. His battalion
played an important role in the Battle of Gettysburg
.
, the third of five children and the second son of Thomas Nelson Carter and Juliet Gaines Carter. His father was a first cousin to Robert E. Lee
. Carter was a member of the Virginia Military Institute
(VMI) Class of 1849. He earned medical degrees from the University of Virginia
(1851) and the University of Pennsylvania
(1852). Carter never practiced medicine. Instead, he returned to manage his father's plantation, Pampatike
, after the overseer died.
in June of 1861 as captain of the King William Artillery. His younger brother, Julian Carter of the 4th Virginia Cavalry
, was killed in late July 1862 at a minor skirmish near Malvern Hill
. Tom Carter was wounded in the foot at Sharpsburg
. In December he was promoted to major, a rank he held until he became a lieutenant colonel
in April 1863. By the Gettysburg Campaign
of 1863, Carter commanded a battalion of artillery in Richard S. Ewell
's Second Corps. His guns unlimbered on Oak Hill northwest of Gettysburg
and contributed to the eventual withdrawal of the Union
First Corps
of the Army of the Potomac
. Carter's guns later supported Pickett's Charge
on July 3. Promoted to colonel
in March of 1864, he remained with the Army of Northern Virginia during the Overland Campaign
until September when he left to temporarily replace Brigadier General Armistead Lindsay Long
as chief of artillery for Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early
during the second half of Early's Valley Campaigns of 1864
. Carter fought in several important battles, including the Battle of Cedar Creek
.
, Carter returned to his ancestral family plantation, Pampatike
, which was located near the Pamunkey River
in eastern Virginia, where he lived with his wife Susan (Roy) Carter and their three small children. Carter continued to farm the property, and his wife operated a school at the house. In the late 1870s Carter was appointed the first railroad commissioner in the state of Virginia. He held the position for a handful of years. In the late 1880s, he served for several years as a member of the board of arbitration of the Southern Railway and Steamship Association. Carter spent his final years as proctor
and superintendent of grounds and buildings for the University of Virginia
.
.
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
officer in the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. His battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
played an important role in the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
.
Early life
Carter was born in King William County, VirginiaKing William County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,146 people, 4,846 households, and 3,784 families residing in the county. The population density was 48 people per square mile . There were 5,189 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
, the third of five children and the second son of Thomas Nelson Carter and Juliet Gaines Carter. His father was a first cousin to Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
. Carter was a member of the Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
(VMI) Class of 1849. He earned medical degrees from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
(1851) and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
(1852). Carter never practiced medicine. Instead, he returned to manage his father's plantation, Pampatike
Pampatike
Pampatike is a farm that lies along the Pamunkey River just two miles South East of the intersection of Rt. 360 and the Pamunkey River in King William County, Virginia....
, after the overseer died.
Civil War
He entered what became the Army of Northern VirginiaArmy of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
in June of 1861 as captain of the King William Artillery. His younger brother, Julian Carter of the 4th Virginia Cavalry
4th Virginia Cavalry
The 4th Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia....
, was killed in late July 1862 at a minor skirmish near Malvern Hill
Battle of Malvern Hill
The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, took place on July 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, on the seventh and last day of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee launched a series of disjointed assaults on the nearly impregnable...
. Tom Carter was wounded in the foot at Sharpsburg
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
. In December he was promoted to major, a rank he held until he became a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
in April 1863. By the Gettysburg Campaign
Gettysburg Campaign
The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for offensive operations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The...
of 1863, Carter commanded a battalion of artillery in Richard S. Ewell
Richard S. Ewell
Richard Stoddert Ewell was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E...
's Second Corps. His guns unlimbered on Oak Hill northwest of Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
and contributed to the eventual withdrawal of the Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
First Corps
I Corps (ACW)
I Corps was the designation of three different corps-sized units in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The units served in the following armies:...
of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
. Carter's guns later supported Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander,...
on July 3. Promoted to colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
in March of 1864, he remained with the Army of Northern Virginia during the Overland Campaign
Overland Campaign
The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the...
until September when he left to temporarily replace Brigadier General Armistead Lindsay Long
Armistead Lindsay Long
Armistead Lindsay Long was a brigadier general for the Confederate States of America, and the author of the 1886 book Memoirs of Robert E. Lee.-Early life and career:...
as chief of artillery for Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early
Jubal Anderson Early
Jubal Anderson Early was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil War. He served under Stonewall Jackson and then Robert E. Lee for almost the entire war, rising from regimental command to lieutenant general and the command of an infantry corps in the Army of Northern Virginia...
during the second half of Early's Valley Campaigns of 1864
Valley Campaigns of 1864
The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October 1864. Military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns, but it is useful to consider the three together and how they...
. Carter fought in several important battles, including the Battle of Cedar Creek
Battle of Cedar Creek
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended...
.
Post War career
Following the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court HouseAppomattox Court House
The Appomattox Courthouse is the current courthouse in Appomattox, Virginia built in 1892. It is located in the middle of the state about three miles northwest of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, once known as Clover Hill - home of the original Old Appomattox Court House...
, Carter returned to his ancestral family plantation, Pampatike
Pampatike
Pampatike is a farm that lies along the Pamunkey River just two miles South East of the intersection of Rt. 360 and the Pamunkey River in King William County, Virginia....
, which was located near the Pamunkey River
Pamunkey River
The Pamunkey River is a tributary of the York River, about long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. Via the York River it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay.-Course:...
in eastern Virginia, where he lived with his wife Susan (Roy) Carter and their three small children. Carter continued to farm the property, and his wife operated a school at the house. In the late 1870s Carter was appointed the first railroad commissioner in the state of Virginia. He held the position for a handful of years. In the late 1880s, he served for several years as a member of the board of arbitration of the Southern Railway and Steamship Association. Carter spent his final years as proctor
Proctor
Proctor, a variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam or dormitory.The title is used in England in three principal senses:...
and superintendent of grounds and buildings for the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
.
Death
Carter died in 1908. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.