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Confederate (CSA)

Lieutenant Colonel

Benjamin F Carter

(1831 - 1863)

Home State:

Texas

Command Billet:

Commanding Regiment

Branch of Service:

Infantry

Unit:

4th Texas Infantry

see his

Battle Report

Before the Antietam Campaign:

Carter was a lawyer and the mayor of Austin Texas (1858-9) before the war.The Tom Green Rifles, led by Captain Carter, was the second company todepart Camp Van Dorn (Harrisburg, Texas) for Richmond, and officially becameCompany B of the Fourth Texas Volunteer Infantry on September 30, 1861.

In the Antietam Campaign:

LCol Carter's 4th Texas was part of the Texas Brigade's counterattack from theWest Woods through the Cornfield on the morning of Sept 17. It stoppedFederal General Hooker's I Corps attack, but wrecked the Brigade.

The remainder of the War:

At Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, the Fourth Texas participated in the attackagainst the Union left flank and in the fighting for Little Round Top, losing 140men (twenty-five killed, fifty-seven wounded, and fifty-eight captured), includingLieutenant Colonel Carter, who was mortally wounded and captured there.

Place of Birth:

Maury County, TN

Death Date:

7/21/1863

LCol Benjamin F Carter's OfficialReport

Report of September 23, 1862

[

author biography

]

September 22, 1862.

Lieutenant A. H. PATTON,Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

LIEUTENANT

: I have the honor to report the part taken by my regiment in thebattle of the 17th instant near Sharpsburg, Md. Owing to the severe illness ofColonel Key, I was in command of the regiment during the day and succeedingnight.Soon after daylight the brigade formed line of battle in regular order, the FifthTexas being on my right and First Texas on my left, and, about 7 a. m., wereordered to advance. I received no order as to which was the directing battalion,but, advancing diagonally to the right through the woods, we entered the openfield on the right of the turnpike road. Here the fire upon us became severe, and,owing to our troops being in front of us and the dance smoke pervading, we wereunable to return the fire or see the enemy clearly. Still advancing, I came directlybehind the Eleventh Mississippi, when I received the order from Captain Sellersfor the Texas Brigade to halt. Halting, I ordered the men to lie down. At the samemoment the Eleventh Mississippi was ordered to advance, and a portion of twocompanies on my right, mistaking the order, advanced with them. After a momentI received an order from General Hood to move to the left until the left of myregiment rested on the crest, in advance, next to the turnpike road. Moving left-oblique in double-quick, I occupied the position indicated, and was then orderedby General Hood to move directly up the hill on the left of the troops thenadvancing. The enemy then occupied the hill in strong force, which recededbefore our steady advance. Arriving on the top of the hill, at the intersection ofthe corn-field with the turnpike, I found the enemy not only in heavy force in thecorn-field in front, but occupying a ravine in the field on the left of the turnpike,from which position they poured a destructive fire upon us. I discovered at oncethat the position was untenable, but if I fell back the troops on my right who hadentered the corn-field would be surrounded; so, wheeling my regiment to the left,I posted the men along the fence on either side of the turnpike, and replied asbest we could to the tremendous fire of the enemy. We held this position forsome time, until the troops in the corn-field on my right were falling back, when Iordered the regiment to move along the line of fence by the left flank. Thismovement, however, exposed us so much that we fell back directly under the hill.Here I ordered the regiment to halt and form, but at the same moment receivedan order from General Hood to move by the left flank into the woods. Forminghere I advanced on the left of the turnpike up to the fence at the edge of the field,and rested in this position until I was ordered by Colonel Wofford to fall back to