The Carpenter Boys from Southeast Chatham County
Like many other families, the Carpenters responded when their country called almost 140 years ago, and their valor almost cost the family an entire generation.
Private Thomas Carpenter, now buried at Christian Chapel Church near Corinth, left his Chatham County home in August, 1862, enlisting in Co. D, 61st Regiment, North Carolina Troops. He was sent east to Smithville and served with his unit in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia before landing in a Confederate hospital in Virginia. After serving in the Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, Va., and later becoming unable to serve, Thomas was discharged and returned home.
His brothers were not as lucky. Privates Wyatt and James Carpenter, who served with brother Thomas in the same company, both died soon after enlisting--falling victim to a barefoot march through a November snow in eastern North Carolina. While in Tarboro, according to records, officers concerned for the health of their barefooted soldiers decided to leave behind those suffering the most. But rather than being taken prisoner, the Carpenters chose to march on. James died just days later and four days before his brother, Wyatt, who also suffered from wounds received during the march.
Another brother managed to survive the march, but not much longer. Also serving in the same company, Private Elbert Carpenter lasted until December. There, he became a note in history as the first soldier killed in the Battle of Kinston. He was buried where he fell, wrapped in his soldier's blanket.
Yet a fourth brother, Robert, lived in Moore County when the war began and enlisted in the 3rd Regiment, North Carolina Troops. Private Robert Carpenter served until August, 1863, when he was killed in a railroad accident near Louisa Courthouse, Va.
