Major General Samuel Powhatan Carter, (USA)

Major General & Rear Admiral Samuel Perry 'Powhatan' Carter

NOTE: President Lincoln appointed Carter to train the Union Army, with the rank of brevet Brigadier General. By war's end he had been promoted to Major General. After the Civil War he returned to his naval career and rose up through the ranks to Rear Admiral. He's believed to be the only man to hold flag rank in both the Army and Navy in the history of the United States.(Only one title can be listed above)

• Find A Grave Memorial ID # 5886863
• Samuel Powhatan Carter WiKi Page

Samuel Perry "Powhatan" Carter (August 6, 1819 – May 26, 1891) was a United States naval officer who served in the Union Army as a brevet major general during the American Civil War and became a rear admiral in the postbellum United States Navy. He was the first and thusfar only United States officer to have been commissioned both a general officer and a Naval flag officer.

Early life and career

Carter was born in Elizabethton, Tennessee, the eldest son of Alfred Moore Carter, a direct descendant of the early settlers for whom Carter County is named. His mother was Evalina Belmont Perry. Although later known as Samuel Powhatan Carter, Samuel's middle name was Perry. He had two brothers, William Blount Carter and James Patton Taylor Carter. Samuel Carter attended Washington College and Princeton University before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in February 1840. Serving as a midshipman, Carter's five years of service included duty in the Pacific and Great Lakes region before transferring to the United States Naval Academy. He graduated in the class of 1846, later seeing action during the Mexican-American War aboard the USS Ohio at the Battle of Veracruz.

Stationed at the United States Naval Observatory for several years following the war, Carter became an assistant professor of mathematics at the United States Naval Academy for three years, from 1850 to 1853. After another tour of duty with the Pacific and Brazil Squadrons, he served in various duties before winning promotion to lieutenant in April 1855. The following year, Carter was present aboard the USS San Jacinto during the bombardment of Chinese coastal fortifications before returning to the United States to be appointed to the staff at the U.S. Naval Academy, remaining at this tour of duty until 1860.

Civil War

In early 1861, after receiving a letter from Carter assuring his loyalty to the Union should a civil war break out, Tennessee senator Andrew Johnson used his influence in the War Department for Carter to be detached from the Navy. Carter was ordered to organize and enlist Unionists within his native East Tennessee, where the majority of the population remained loyal. When Confederate occupation of the region prevented this, Carter raised a brigade of infantry from among the hundreds of East Tennesseans fleeing to Kentucky. During this time he adopted "Powhatan" as a code name when corresponding secretly with Unionists who remained behind Confederate lines. Carter's younger brother, William B. Carter (1820–1902), planned and coordinated the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy in late 1861.

Carter was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers without resigning from the Navy. He led an infantry brigade at the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19, 1862, and participated in operations under Brigadier General George W. Morgan that resulted in the occupation of Cumberland Gap on June 17, 1862. Carter's hope that Morgan would then invade and occupy East Tennessee was dashed when Morgan was forced to retreat in the face of a Confederate move into Kentucky—Braxton Bragg's Perryville Campaign.

Following Bragg's defeat and retreat to Middle Tennessee, Carter successfully lobbied his superiors for permission to conduct a raid into East Tennessee. Carter's plan was to cripple the vital East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad. This would support the operations of Major General William S. Rosecrans in Middle Tennessee, and test the route through the mountains as a potential path of invasion. The result was the first long-range, large-scale Federal cavalry raid of the war. With a force of just under 1,000 men Carter moved through the rugged mountains of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee during the last week of 1862. On December 30 he destroyed railroad and wagon bridges at Union and Carter's Depot, Tennessee. He repeatedly defeated the Confederate forces in his path, captured a moving train, destroyed tens of thousands of dollars of military stores, and returned safely to Kentucky on January 2, 1863. Plans to follow the raid with an invasion and occupation of East Tennessee, a move urged by Lincoln, were canceled when Carter reported the route impracticable for a large force.

In July 1863, Carter was placed in command of the XXIII Corps cavalry division and continued campaigning across Tennessee throughout the year, engaging Confederate forces during the Battle of Blue Springs of the Knoxville Campaign.

By 1865, Carter was in North Carolina and commanding the left wing of the Union forces at the Battle of Wyse Fork. He was promoted to brevet major general of volunteers on March 13, 1865, briefly commanding the XXIII Corps before being mustered out of volunteer service in January 1866.

While Carter was serving in the Union Army, the U.S. Navy promoted him to lieutenant commander in 1863, then to commander in 1865.

Postbellum career

Returning to naval service, Carter was appointed a commander due to his military record during the Civil War. Rejoining the Pacific Squadron, he commanded the USS Monocacy. He was promoted to captain in October 1870, served as commandant of midshipman in the Naval Academy until 1873, and returned to sea duty in Europe before being named a member of the Lighthouse Board in 1877.

In 1877, Carter married Martha Custis Williams (1827–1899), a descendant of Martha Custis Washington. Promoted to commodore in November 1878, Carter retired in August 1881, shortly before being promoted to rear admiral in May 1882. He lived in retirement until his death in Washington, D.C. He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery.

Fellow officers remembered Carter as "tall, handsome and dignified, graceful in carriage and very affable ... a 'soldierly Christian' of sincere piety and undoubted courage."

A Tennessee Historical Marker located on West Elk Avenue in front of the S.P. Carter home in downtown Elizabethton, Tennessee, commemorates his life and naval career.

Marriages

Name: Samuel Powhatan Carter
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 16 Jul 1851
Marriage Place: District of Columbia, USA
Spouse: Caroline C Potts
Film Number: 002079252

Washington, D.C., U.S., Marriage Records, 1810-1953

Name: Samuel Powhatan Carter
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 02 Oct 1877
Marriage Place: District of Columbia
Spouse: Martha Custis Williams
FHL Film Number: 2107965
Reference ID: p.118

Washington, D.C., U.S., Compiled Marriage Index, 1830-1921

NOTE: Martha (Custis) Williams was a great-granddaughter of First Lady Martha (Dandridge) Custis Washington. Her father was Captain William George Williams of the Topographical Corps, U.S.A., who lost his life in the Battle of Monterery, Mexico. Her mother was a sister of the wife of Commodore Kennon of Georgetown.

Military profile

Name: Samuel Powhatan Carter
Enlistment Age: 42
Birth Date: 6 Aug 1819
Birth Place: Elizabethon, Tennessee
Enlistment Date: 1 May 1862
Enlistment Rank: Brig General
Muster Date: 1 May 1862
Muster Regiment: U.S. Volunteers, General Staff
Muster Information: Commission
Rank Change Date: 13 Mar 1865
Rank Change Rank: Major General
Muster Out Date: 15 Jan 1866
Muster Out Information: Mustered Out
Side of War: Union
Survived War?: Yes
Was Officer?: Yes
Death Date: 26 May 1891
Death Place: Washington, District of Columbia
Occupation: US Naval Officer
Additional Notes: Midshipman USN 02/14/1840
Title: Heitman: Register of United States Army 1789-1903; Dyer: A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion;

Generals in Blue, Lives of the Union Commanders

Samuel P. Carter Burial Plot at Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, District of Columbia, Lot 822 East and 823 West