Henry C. Carter was the brother of the first husband of Richard White's father's father's mother.

Henry C. Carter was born in Duplin County, North Carolina, on 15 September 1823 and resided near Boston, Thomas County, Georgia, before the war.  He was enrolled in the Florida Leon Light Artillery, also known as Gamble's Artillery because it was commanded by Captain Robert H. Gamble, near Tallahassee at Camp Leon, in Leon County, Florida.  His enrollment occurred in the "Spring of 1862," according to his pension application; but his Compiled Confederate Service Record indicates that the actual date was 28 February 1863.  In mid-1863, Gamble's company was split and from its ranks was created the Florida Kilcrease Light Artillery, under the command of Fred Villepigue, who subsequently resigned to assume a state political office.  Command of the Kilcrease Light Artillery then devolved upon Patrick Houstoun (or Houston), and the unit was commonly referred to as Houstoun's Artillery, especially with regard to the Battle of Natural Bridge which occurred in Leon County, Florida, on 6 March 1865.  For more on the Battle of Natural Bridge and the role of the Kilcrease Light Artillery in it, see the Battle of Natural Bridge web site.

Henry C. Carter served as an artificer for the Kilcrease Light Artillery, with his date of appointment to that rank being 27 May 1863.  Artillery units were mounted.  The guns and caissons were horse-drawn.  To keep mounts, draft animals, and various items of equipage functioning, the services of a skilled blacksmith were called for.  That was the artificer.

Henry C. Carter surrendered and was paroled at Tallahassee, Florida, on 20 May 1865.  His Union parole record indicates that his height was 5 feet 10 inches, that his complexion was dark, that his eyes were gray, and that his hair was dark.  Carter family genealogists believe that their direct line of ancestorty included a slave in Virginia in the late 1600s, a deputy marshall in colonial North Carolina, and an Indian Agent in colonial Georgia... and through the wife of the Indian Agent, a Native American.  [Note: In the 17th and 18th Centuries many of the Indian Nations were powerful and independent of any direct control by the colonies or the early states and U.S. national government.  They could at best be influenced.  An Indian Agent in those days was closer to a diplomat in role than to an administrator, and also tended to be an integral part of the defense establishment as it existed at that time.]

Henry C. Carter filed a Georgia Confederate pension application in Campbell County, Georgia, in 1895.  In that application he stated that his left shoulder blade had been broken in service and that he had paralysis and had been ruptured.  He also stated that he had lived in Cowetta County, Georgia, the previous year, and that he had been a resident of the state of Georgia for "about 40 years."  In his initial pension application, he stated that since 1865 his occupation had been "mechanic and farmer" and in a later affidavit he said that his occupation had been "work in shop."  By 10 January 1901 he had moved to Fulton County, Georgia, and because pension records were filed by county, he had to provide an additional affidavit.  In it, he stated that his wife was living and that he had seven children:  "Boy 35 years old; Girl 32; Girl 28; Girl 25; Girl 23; Girl 20; Boy 18."  His pension record ends with the 1901 application, so it can be presumed that he died shortly thereafter. However, the move to Fulton County in 1901 coincided with the opening of the Georgia Confederate Veterans Home in Atlanta (Fulton County) and especially if his wife died in 1901, he may have become a resident of the Home and possibly lived quite awhile longer. As a general indicator that Henry may have outlived his second wife, no widow's pension application was ever filed for her.

Henry C. Carter was married twice.  By Mary Ann Roddenberry (married in Thomas County, Georgia, on 21 May 1849) he had a son, Josiah, born about July 1850.  By Jane Perry (married in Thomas County, Georgia, on 31 July 1873) he had sons Tucker about 1857, S. Earnest about 1860, Henry M. about 1861, Cass B. about 1870, and Ben Hill about 1877; as well as daughters Rosa L. about 1863, Gertrude about 1865, Laura about 1870, and Marsha about 1876.

LINK:
                 Kilcrease Light Artillery Roster