Robert Goldthwaite
Carter
Robert Goldthwaite Carter (October 29,
1845–January 4, 1936) was a US Cavalry officer who participated in the
American Civil War and the Indian Wars, most notably against the Comanche
during which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role
against a Comanche raiding party at Brazos River in Texas on October 10,
1877.
He became a successful author in his later years writing several
books based on his military career, including On the Border with
Mackenzie (1935), as well as a series of booklets detailing his years
as an Indian fighter on the Texas frontier. Only 100 of these were
published for private distribution and are considered extremely rare
surviving only in selected excerpts included in On the Border with
Mackenzie.
Biography
Born in Bridgton, Maine, Carter moved to Portland with his
family in 1847, and again in 1857, to Massachusetts. He was preparing to
enter Phillips Academy when Carter enlisted as a private in the 22nd
Massachusetts Infantry at the start of the American Civil War and remained
with the Army of the Potomac from August 5, 1862 until October 4, 1864.
During the war, he took part in the Battle of Antietam, Gettysburg, the
Wilderness and the Siege of Petersburg as well as other minor
engagements.
In July 1865, he began attending West Point and was
eventually commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 4th U.S.
Cavalry on June 15, 1870. During the next several years, Carter would
participate in a number of expeditions against the Comanche and other
tribes in the Texas-area.
It was during one of these campaigns that he
was brevetted first lieutenant and awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor for his "most distinguished gallantry" against the Comanche
in Blanco Canyon on a tributary of the Brazos River on October 10, 1871.
Carter would suffer a severe injury during the battle, his left leg being
shattered as his horse fell against a rock, which would eventually result
in his early retirement. He would officially receive the medal on January
23, 1900.
Returning to active duty, he joined Colonel Ranald Mackenzie
in several campaigns including against the Kickapoo of northern Mexico in
May 1873 and awarded a brevet to captain. He did win promotion to first
lieutenant on February 21, 1875 although his leg injury disqualified him
from active field duty and forced him to retire on June 28,
1876.
Although he eventually recovered from his leg injury after proper
treatment, his requests to return were denied by the US Army. He taught
school and later headed the Washington-bureau of the Public Service
Publishing Company in New York City. He would also write a number of
booklets and books including Four Brothers in Blue (1913) and
The Old Sergeant's Story (1926). However, the most successful was
his memoir On the Border With Mackenzie (1935) which was
published as the age of 90. He died at Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1936
and buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 4th U.S. Cavalry.
Place and date: On Brazos, River, Tex., 10 October 1871. Entered service
at: Bradford, Mass. Birth: Bridgeport, Maine. Date of issue: 27 February
1900.
Citation:
Held the left of the line with a
few men during the charge of a large body of Indians, after the right of
the line had retreated, and by delivering a rapid fire succeeded in
checking the enemy until other troops came to the rescue.
Books
- The Boy Soldier at Gettysburg (1977)
- Four Brothers in Blue (1913)
- The Old Sergeant's Story (1926)
- On the Border With Mackenzie (1935)
Pamphlets
- Records of the Military Service of First Lieutenant and Brevet
Captain Robert Goldthwaite Carter, U.S. Army. (1904)
- Tragedies of Canon Blanco: A Story of the Texas Panhandle
(1919)
- The Mackenzie Raid into Mexico (1919)
- Massacre of Salt Creek Prairie and the Cowboys' Verdict.
(1919)
- On the Trail of Deserters: a Phenomenal Capture by Captain
Robert Goldthwaite Carter. (1920)
- Pursuit of Kicking Bird: a Campaign in Texas 'Bad Lands'.
(1920)
(Source: Wikipedia)
Edward
Pearce Casey
Designer, architect, was born June I8, 1864, in
Portland,
Maine; and is the son of Brigadier-General Thomas Lincoln Casey. He
was educated at the Emerson institute of Washington, D.C.;
and graduated from the school of mines of Columbia University; he received
the degree of C.E. in 1886 and that of architect in 1888. He studied also
in Ecole des beaux arts in Paris. In 1892-97 he was supervising architest
of the congressional library building. In 1893 he was one of the six equal
prize winners in the New York City hall competition; and in 1900 won the
first prize for a design for a bridge over the Potomac river at Washington, D.C.;
and also won first prize for a design for the Grani monument at
Washington, D.C. He is a noted architect of New York City;
and a member of the leading architectural and technical associations of
America.
[Source: Herringshaw’s National Library of American
Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged
Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States, by William Herringshaw,
1909 – Transcribed by Therman Kellar]
