Richard Henry Carter (April 21, 1817 – April 17, 1880) was a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

planter and politician, and a Confederate officer during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Born to planter Edward Carter (1788–1845) and his wife Frances Toy Carter (1798–1864) at Meadow Grove near

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

in Fauquier County, Richard had several brothers and sisters. He married Mary Welby DeButts (1819–1885) and they had eleven children, many of whom died in childhood. One of his daughters, Fanny, married

R. Taylor Scott Robert Taylor Scott (1834 – August 5, 1897) was a Virginia lawyer, politician and Confederate officer. Elected three times as Attorney General of Virginia, Scott also served one term in the Virginia House of Delegates and several terms as ma ...

. Carter served as Fauquier County's delegate in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

from 1853 until 1856 (winning re-election once).Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978: A Bicentennial Register (Virginia State Library 1978) p. 454, 459 After Virginia declared its secession, Carter recruited the

8th Virginia Infantry The 8th Virginia Infantry Regiment was a Confederate infantry regiment raised by Colonel Eppa Hunton in Leesburg, Virginia on May 8, 1861. The unit comprised six companies from Loudoun, two companies from Fauquier, one company from Fairfax and ...

and was commissioned captain of its Company B. He served throughout the war, was wounded at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

and mustered out at

Appomattox Court House Appomattox Court House could refer to: * The village of Appomattox Court House, now the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, in central Virginia (U.S.), where Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union commander Ulyss ...

with the rank of Major. His brothers Winston Fitzhugh Carter and William Fitzhugh Carter also became Confederate officers (Winston dying in 1862), as did his son Edward C. Carter (1843–1928). Carter died in Panama on April 17, 1880. His corpse was returned for burial in Fauquier County.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Richard Henry 1817 births 1880 deaths People from Marshall, Virginia Confederate States Army officers People of Virginia in the American Civil War Members of the Virginia House of Delegates 19th-century American legislators 19th-century Virginia politicians