Thomas H. Carter

Thomas Henry Carter (October 30, 1854 – September 17, 1911) was a territorial delegate, a United States Representative, and a U.S. Senator from Montana. The child of Irish immigrants, Carter rose from a childhood spent on small farms in the Midwest to become one of the most successful and popular politicians in the early history of the State of Montana. He also made a name for himself within the national Republican Party, becoming in 1892 the first Catholic to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Biography

Carter was born to Irish immigrant parents on October 30, 1854, in a small village known as Junior Furnace, near Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio. His parents, Edward and Margaret (Byrnes) Carter, came to the United States in 1849 or 1850 following the Irish Potato Famine. They were married in Wheeling, West Virginia, shortly after their arrival in the U.S., Edward converting to Catholicism from the Anglican Church due to Margaret's influence. The Carters settled in Junior Furnace, Ohio by 1852 when their first son, Richard, was born. Shortly after Thomas' birth in 1854 the family moved to a farm a few miles from Junior Furnace.

Thomas Henry Carter (soldier)

Thomas Henry Carter (June 13, 1831 – June 2, 1908) 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.

Early life

Carter was born in King William County, Virginia, 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.

Civil War

He entered what became the Army of Northern Virginia in June 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 Lt. Gen. 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 1864, he remained with the Army of Northern Virginia during the Overland Campaign until September when he left to temporarily replace Brig. Gen. Armistead L. Long as chief of artillery for Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early during the second half of Early's Valley Campaigns of 1864. Carter fought in several important battles, including the Battle of Cedar Creek.