--a biographical word portrait. by Dr. Rosalie Carter [ The following article is an edited version of a booklet originally copyrighted and published in 1978, and consists of three separate pages. If you prefer to read off~line, you may download a zipped version in either Rich Text Format ( .rtf ) or Microsoft Word ( .doc ) by selecting the appropriate link. ]  So many Tennesseans were killed in the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, the whole State was plunged into mourning, yet the story of this Battle is seldom told without the account of the heoric death of young Capt. Tod Carter. But the day of life's ending is not all of a man's life. What of the other days and the other years? What was Tod like as a boy? Who Were his ancestors, his brothers and sisters, his teachers, his friends? What was his education? What were his experiences during those three and one-half years when his life paralleled the history of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, Confederate States Army? What is the stuff of which heroes are made? No complete biography of Tod Carter has ever been written, nor is this biographical word-portrait complete. There was no fact-finding historian at Tod's side, taking notes on a life as yet untouched by fame, a life that ended at age twenty-four. "How can you possibly write a biography of a man about whom so little is known, a man who died more than a century ago?" asked Capt. J. Dan Reilly, United States Navy, Ret., Tod's great, great nephew. From widely scattered and often most fragmentary references this true story of the life of Tod Carter had taken form. Mr. Glen Tucker once wrote in "Civil War Times": "What thrills await the finders of documents shedding new light on the past, and this is occurring not infrequently. A newly-discovered nugget of information is as much of a thrill as comes to a stamp collector on encountering a rare issue in an old garret." It is hoped that still other pieces of this historical and biographical mosaic may yet be found. Born in 1797, Fountain Branch Carter grew top manhood in the log home of his parents, Francis Watkins Carter and Sarah Holcomb Anderson Carter, located in Waddell Hollow, near the much travelled Natchez Trace. Waddell Hollow was about 10 miles from the lovely village of Franklin. On August 27, 1821 Fountain bought a tract of land, 95 acres lying on Indian Creek, a branch of the West Harpeth River, for which he paid one hundred ninety dollars. It adjoined his father's land and that of Rev. John Atkinson, who had migrated from Halifax County, Virginia, to Tennessee about 1811. It is said that the first money Fountain ever earned was from the sale of a hogshead of tobacco which he and his brother John had grown, and which they rolled all the way to Nashville, a distance of about eighteen miles. On June 29, 1823, when he was twenty-six and she was seventeen, Fountain Branch Carter and lovely Mary Armistead Atkinson were married. In the Court House records she used her pet name, "Polly". The ceremony was performed by her grandfather, Rev. John Atkinson, for fifty years a Baptist minister. Mary was the oldest child of Samuel and Nancy Brown Atkinson, of Halifax County, Virginia, who had nine daughters and only one son. Nancy's father was Daniel Brown, the son of Richard and Rachel Abbott Brown of Halifax County. Richard Brown was a Vestryman. Fountain Branch and Mary Carter first lived in a small brick house at the corner of Church and College Streets (now Fourth Avenue) in Franklin, and here Tod's oldest brother, Moscow Branch Carter, was born on December 5, 1825. According to an advertisement in the local newspaper, The Western Balance, dated 1829, Fountain was a partner with a Mr. Allgaier in the manufacture of boots and shoes at that time. According to family tradition the factory was located in the old white-columned building still standing on East Main Street near the Harpeth River. It was in October 1829 that Fountain Carter bought 19acres of land from Angus and Ann (Nancy) Sharpe McPhail, located on Columbia Turnpike, which had been a part of the Revolutionary grant of her father, Maj. Anthony Sharpe. Although it adjoined the city limits of Franklin, it was considered in the country. The following year he built a substantial brick home for his growing family -- and this house became Tod Carter's birthplace. Through the years Fountain Carter, an industrious, God-fearing man, engaged in many business enterprises. He was a merchant, a County Surveyor, farmer, operator of a cotton gin, a buyer and seller of both city lots and farm lands. The farm which he operated grew from 19cres to 288 acres, lying on both east and west sides of the Columbia Turnpike. In 1841 he was asked to be a member of the committee to over-see the building of the First Presbyterian Church's second house of worship in its new location at Five Points, at the corner of Main Street and West Margin (now Fifth Avenue). From 1824 to 1844 Fountain and Mary became the parents of twelve children, eight of whom reached maturity. According to records in the family Bible the girls bore the names Mary Alice, Sarah Holcomb, Annie Vick, and Frances Hodge. For the older sons, besides Moscow Branch, such names as Nisan Red, Orlando Hortensious, William Augustus, James Fountain, and Samuel Atkinson had been chosen and a younger son was named for his grandfather, Francis Watkins Carter. On March 24, 1840 the tenth child, a son, was born, and special thought was given the selection of his name. Perhaps many names were considered as the name for this little boy. The name "Theodrick" had been a favorite one in this Carter family since the year 1650 A.D. There had been a long procession of boys named "Theodrick Carter," there being seven in one generation from 1775 to 1800. Therefore on January 20, 1844 Rev. A. N. Cunningham, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Franklin, Tennessee, christened this little boy, "Theodrick". He usually signed his name with the abbreviation "The." but soon almost everyone was calling him "Tod." The earliest story handed down in the family about Tod is the one about the time he and his younger brother, "Wad," decided to run away from home. "But where will we go?" Wad asked. "Let's go to Hell," Tod suggested. So they started out together. They went southward toward Columbia, Tennessee. They were found somewhere on the Columbia Turnpike, riding on top of a wagon-load of logs. Through the years sorrow came to the family of Fountain and Mary Carter. Four sons whom Tod never knew died young. One of these was a beloved little boy named Samuel Atkinson (b. 1833; d. 1837) who fell to his death through the balusters ofthe stairway in the front hall of the Carter House. If carelessness on someone's part caused the accident, Mary Carter harbored only forgiveness in her heart. On a slip of paper found in the family Bible there was found the quotation from Ephesians 4:31-32, in Mary's own handwriting: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." M.A.C. 1837 When Tod was only twelve years of age he experienced his first great personal sorrow, for on September 15, 1852, his beloved mother, Mary Armistead Atkinson Carter, died at the age of forty-six. Her gentle Christian spirit was ever an influence upon his life. At this time Tod's older brother, Moscow, was already married to Miss "Callie" Dobbyns; Mary Alice married Daniel McPhail in December 1853; James Fountain had married Sallie Dobbyns McKinney in January of that year and moved to Mississippi. Fountain became both father and mother to Tod, and to his four other young children: Sallie who was fifteen; Annie Vick who was fourteen; Francis Watkins ("Wad") who was ten; Fannie who was only eight. In a letter dated May 29, 1855, when Tod was fifteen, Fountain Carter wrote: "Theodrick is nearly grown, perfectly steady, learns very fast, and understands what he reads better than any boy I ever saw. Wad also learns fast, but Fanny thinks only of playing dolls." No doubt a strong influence upon Tod was the life of his older brother, so filled with ambition for learning and with adventure. Moscow, fifteen years his senior, interrupted his study of law to fight in the Mexican War; worked for the Illinois and Mississippi Telegraph Company in running the first telegraph line across the State of Illinois; crossed the State of Texas on horseback before railroads were built; crossed the State of New York on the new Erie Canal. Perhaps love of adventure was an inborn trait for Tod's younger brother, Francis Watkins, according to family tradition, ran away from home to join William Walker, the filibustier, in Nicaragua. Later he spent five years exploring the wilds of South America. In a box of old books bought at auction a few years ago the late Mr. Bob Jefferson of Franklin found an old Greek text-book inscribed: "The. Carter's book", with the date 1856. The frontice piece, translated from the Greek (by Mr. Charles Ford of Chattanooga) reads: "Major Collection of Greek Works, suitable for the use of Academic pupils, with explanatory notes, which were collected and partly written by Andrew Dalzel A. M., Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and formerly, Professor of Greek Literature in the Academy of James VI of the Scots." Fourth American Edition. In his writings Tod made frequent reference to the Classics, quoted well-known poets, quoted Latin phrases, and referred to memorable events in history such as the Great Crusades. Although written proof is lacking, it seems highly probable that Tod was educated at famous Harpeth Academy, as was his older brother, Moscow. Among the text-books approved by the Trustees for the use of students at Harpeth Academy were listed some dozen and a half books of Latin and Greek, others on geography, mathematics, navigation, surveying, natural, philosophy, moral philosophy, philosophy of the mind, logic, chronology, and English grammar. In the year 1856 Harpeth Academy was located in "New Town" or "Hincheyville" on what is now West Main Street. From 1848 until 1856 the Principals of the school were two distinguished educators from Scotland, who had been educated at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, Andrew and Patrick Campbell. A great favorite of Tod's was his sixteen-year-old cousin, Medora Taylor, a student at the well-known school for young ladies at Columbia, Tennessee, the Athenaeum. Among the treasures preserved by Medora's granddaughter, Miss Miriam Mason, of Pulaski, Tennessee, are no less than thirty fragile rag-content sheets of music, contained in three books and inscribed: "Presented to Miss Medora Taylor by her cousin, The. Carter." Among the selections are "Minnehaha of the Laughing Waters," published 1856, and "The Rainbow Schottish" 1852, both instrumental numbers. Among the vocal numbers are "When the Swallows Homeward Fly"; "What Is Home Without a Mother?"; and "Do they Miss Me at Home?" all published in 1853, and many others. Medora, it is said, often visited at the Carter House. Tod's scholastic ambition culminated in the study of law, which ambition his older brother, Moscow, had also entertained. Though we have no proof, it is quite possible that Tod read law in the office of that well-known Franklin Attorney, Mr. John Marshall, as did his brother, Moscow. In a letter which Tod wrote in 1862 we note that Tod requested the recipient to "Present my compliments to Mr. Marshall." Tod's law office was located on Third Avenue South. Though he had only recently begun the practice of law, by 1861 he was already being referred to as "brilliant young lawyer." Among the most treasured possessions of the author is the glass-doored book-case which was once in Tod Carter's law office, bequeathed to her in 1930 by Mrs. Lena Carter Gillespie, Tod's niece. But Tod's legal career was soon to be interupted. War clouds were gathering in the spring of 1861. On a April 4 Fort Sumpter fell to South Carolina state troops. President Lincoln called on all states still in the Union to furnish troops to force seceded states back into the Union, Tennessee being the very last to secede. Immediately after the War Between the States began, Mrs. Sallie Ewing Carter, whose sympathies were always strongly enlisted for the Confederate cause, made a Confederate flag and raised it over her house on Third Avenue North, the same day one was unfurled from the Capitol in Nashville. From a letter written by her daughter, Mrs. R. N. Richardson, of Franklin, it was learned that Tod Carter was among the young men who helped raise this, the first Confederate flag ever flown in Williamson County. (it is interesting to note also that it was Mrs. Carter who had given to Sam Davis the information found in his boot when he was captured, the source of which he refused to disclose. It was in the home of Mrs. Carter, who had by this date in 1895 become Mrs. S. A. Gaut, that Chapter No. 14 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was organized.) In the spring of 1861 there were often heard in the quiet village of Franklin the shrill sound of the fife, the clatter of horses's hoofs, the muffled roll of drums, and the electrifying notes of the bugle. They were heard on May 18, for another military company was being formed down in front of Rainey's store near the railroad. The tall fellow who was organizing the group was thirty-five-year-old Moscow Carter, Tod Carter's older brother, who was chosen Captain. Fifteen years before he had served one year as a Private in the United States Army during our war with Mexico. One of the recruits that day was Tod Carter who had turned the key, locking the door to the bookcase that held his law books, closing his promising career as a young lawyer. Ten days later the company which was given the designation "H", was sworn into service and sent to Camp Trousdale on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. But on May 1, shortly before Company "H" left for camp, both Tod and Moscow Carter became Master Masons, as shown by the report of the Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. Many soldiers became Master Masons under a special dispensation that permitted the Lodge to confer all three degrees at once, without the twenty-eight day waiting period usually required. The solemn ceremony took place on the second floor of the Masonic Hall on Second Avenue, then called Cameron Street, the home of Hiram Lodge No. 7, from 1823 to the present. Tod's Masonic Manual which he carried all through the War has been preserved. When ten companies had arrived at Camp Trousdale, the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, Confederate States Army, was organized, and Tod's older brother, Moscow, was elected Lt. Colonel. Tod's younger brother, Francis Watkins or "Wad" Carter, eighteen and a half years of age, who had enlisted earlier on May 9 in company "D" of the First Tennessee Regiment, was transferred to the Twentieth as soon as possible. The regiment spent several weeks at Camp Trousdale, drilling, marching..... and having measles. In August 1861, before the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment had seen its first action, which was to occur September 19, at Barboursville, Kentucky, a Captain of the United States Navy, accused of being a spy,was apprehended in East Tennessee. On orders from the Confederate War Department, the suspected spy was taken to Richmond, Virginia, by Capt. W. M. Clark of Company "B" Zollicoffer Guards, and delivered to Mr. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy. Among the companions selected to accompany Capt. Clark were Tod Carter, W. H. Matthews, and W. S. Battle. The whole Regiment, it is said, wanted to go! Capt. Clark wrote a letter to his wife from Richmond, which was in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly dated March 1952. From this letter we learn how greatly impressed these young soldiers were with the magnificence of the Exchange Hotel in Richmond, with its immense mirrors, marble floors, and gurgling fountains. In the dining room of the hotel one evening the soldiers spotted Ex-President Tyler. They imagined every important-looking person they saw to be a celebrity. They visited the Virginia State Capitol where they saw the bronze equestrian statue of George Washington by Crawford. They toured the armory where cannon, cannon balls, and muskets were being manufactured. Then they walked down to the Navy Yard to get their first view of a real ship. After their prisoner was delivered to Mr. Mallory, the men re-joined their Regiment which was no longer at Camp Trousdale. From the diary kept by Tod's brother, Lt. Col. Moscow Branch Carter, we learn something of the life in an army camp for the three Carter boys. He traces the army's line of march in East Tennessee and Kentucky. An entry dated November 30, 1861 mentions cold winds, freezing rain and snow, with soldiers being compelled to sleep on the bare earth, with scanty covering, beneath gauzy tents. By December 2 a position for a new camp had been reached at Mill Springs, Wayne County, Kentucky, a hamlet on the south side of the Cumberland River. Sleeping on the frozen ground, the men of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment, and others, camped until enough flat boats could be built to take them across the River. As Christmas neared Moscow described the exciting preparations being made for a cock-fight and a big feast! But an entry on December 14 states that on that day Tod, now a Provost Marshal, had started to Nashville in command of a lot of Union prisoners, accompanied by Dr. Dan Cliffe, Regimental Surgeon. Thus Tod missed the celebration of his first Christmas in the Army. He returned to camp on January 3, 1862. It was from Camp Beech Grove, across the river, on January 9,1862, that Tod wrote a letter to his good friend, Dick Bostick, who lived at "Everbright," as the Bostick place was called, just one-half mile from the Carter House. (As far as is known this is the only letter written by Tod which has been preserved, and for its preservation we are indebted to his great niece, the late Mrs. Mary Britt of Franklin. It is deeply hoped that other letters may someday be found.) Camp Beech Grove, (Ky.) January 9, 1862 Dear Dick: (Bostick) Without the weakness of expecting a reply, I intend writing to you, and for no other purpose in the world but to kill time. I have just eaten a hearty supper, the second one tonight, and can't sleep for some time yet. I am in Cliff's tent. Our Regiment has not finished their winter quarters yet, and if there is not a material change in line of policy they will not until spring sets in, for they are sent out on every little expedition that is made. We have had some bitter cold weather for the last two weeks, interlarded with rain, sleet, snow, and hail, and with freezing wind howling through the ragged cloths. You may imagine that we are at times not as comfortable as we would like to be. We are encamped in the bend of the Cumberland and the ground is a perfect marsh ... the muddiest hole I ever saw. The enemy, about 8,000 strong, are encamped near Somerset, fifteen miles distant. Our pickets fight every day but have had no general engagement. The enemy marched out in force to attack us about ten days ago. Gen. Zollicoffer had a council of war last night but have not learned what policy was adopted. Lt. McNairy of our Regiment stole out of camp yesterday and went to a little town called Harris and captured the U.S. Mail. Gen. Zollicoffer had a huge time reading letters, two-thirds of which were devoted to him. I suppose you have heard of Alec Vaughn's death. The cowards that murdered him will be hung, court martialed at the Gap (Cumberland Gap). Gen. George Crittenden has been drunk nearly all the time. He dresses and looks like a dashing French rogue and has impressed the entire army with the belief that he is trifling and worthless. He appears in public but little, and exercises but little authority. He has a guard around his quarters and a guard over his horses. You will imagine that he will not take like Zollicoffer with the boys. I have five more Yankees but hope that I will not be required to take them to Nashville, for my last trip wore me out completely. If I keep my health and am not ordered down the river, I will not come home any more until the expiration of my term of service, and will then re-enlist if the War continues. My prisoners say an impression prevails among officers and privates of the Northern Army that the War will continue but little longer. Whether this impression is based upon the expectation of whipping the South into submission or not I cannot say. Nearly all the Brigade are willing to enlist again at the close of the year and I doubt very much whether the present organization is disturbed. If an appeal is made to that effect I have not doubt of its success. I am going in for thirty years, or the war, when my term expires. Dick, I am building me a shanty on the south side of the river. A Provost Marshal needs quarters. When I finish my house you must come up and spend several weeks with me. You can easily come up the river in a few weeks, with but little fatigue and expense. Phil (Eelbeck) will come with you, I wrote him to resign. If he does not receive my letter, tell him that Cliffe (Dr. Dan Cliffe) says he ought to do so. He could not live here a month with such weather as we have had for several days. Present my best wishes to Miss Fanny Park and tell her not to accept Phil until I come, for she will certainly have a chance at me. I brought with me many memories of her, fragrant as spring blossoms with perennial freshness. If you should be stricken with the miraculous idea of replying to this, do so before the first of June, for perhaps I shall not be here then. Direct your reply in care of Gen. Zollicoffer, Mill Springs, Kentucky, via Knoxville. I will write Phil tomorrow. Present my compliments to Mr. Cummings and Mr. Marshall. Yours, The. Carter. Phil Eelbeck was Tod's first cousin. Dr. Dan Cliffe was Regimental Surgeon. Mr. Cummings was a tailor in Franklin. It is thought Mr. Marshall was Mr. John Marshall. Miss Fanny Park was the daughter of Dr. John Park. In 1866 she married Dr. James Duvall Wallis. Just ten days later, on January 19, 1862, at the Battle of Mill Springs or Fishing Creek, Lt. Col. Moscow Carter was captured. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer, Commander of the Brigade to which the Carter boys belonged, was killed. Twelve pieces of artillery, wagons, ambulances, and about one thousand horses and mules had to be abandoned by the Confederates. Without rations or shelter, in the dead of winter, they retreated about ninety miles across the mountains to Gainsboro, Tennessee, being forced to live mainly on parched corn for about ten days. From Col. Carter's diary we learn that Tod Carter was among a deputation of sixteen Confederates sent to Mill Springs with a flag of truce for the purpose of arranging with the Federals concerning the body of Gen. Zollicoffer. A month later Forts Henry and Donelson had fallen. The Confederates at Gainesboro, under command of Gen. George B. Crittenden were ordered to Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. Col. Carter had already reached Ft. Warren, the Federal Prison in Boston Harbor. In a letter written by his sister, Sally on April 16, 1862 we learn that Tod's brother, "Wad" was wounded. Tod's fate was unknown. She also mentioned that Tod had been made an aide to Gen. Crittenden. Appointed Assistant Quartermaster On May 1, 1862 Tod was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Quartermaster Department, according to records found in the National Archives in Washington. On October 24 he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster. By July 8, 1863 the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment and others had been forced out of Middle Tennessee, and were ordered near Chattanooga, the gateway to East Tennessee and Northern Georgia. September 18-20, 1863, the three days' Battle of Chickamauga,called "the great death struggle of the ages," took place. The tired Confederates, who had had a bad year in the west, were cheered by the brief glory of this Battle. But the Army of Tennessee, triumphant and bloody, seethed with discord over the lethargy and alleged ineptitude of Gen. Braxton Bragg, its Commander. The Federals retreated into Rossville, Georgia, and on through the mountain gap to Chattanooga, spared by the tardiness of Bragg's pursuit. On September 24 the two-month siege of Chattanooga ensued, ending October 27. |
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