Robert G. Carter
United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1845-1936)
Robert Goldthwaite Carter (October 29, 1845 – January 4, 1936) was a US Cavalry officer who participated in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars, most notably against the Comanche during which he received the Medal of Honor for his role against a Comanche raiding party at Brazos River in Texas on October 10, 1871.
He became a successful author in his later years, writing several books based on his military career, including On the Border with Mackenzie (1935), as well as a series of booklets detailing his years as an Indian fighter on the Texas frontier. Only 100 of these were published for private distribution and are considered extremely rare, surviving only in selected excerpts included in On the Border with Mackenzie.
Biography
Born in Bridgton, Maine, Carter moved to Portland with his family in 1847, and again in 1857, to Massachusetts. He was preparing to enter Phillips Academy when Carter enlisted as a private in the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry at the start of the American Civil War and remained with the Army of the Potomac from August 5, 1862, until October 4, 1864. During the war, he took part in the Battle of Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and the siege of Petersburg as well as other minor engagements.
In July 1865, he began attending West Point and was eventually commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 4th U.S. Cavalry on June 15, 1870. During the next several years, Carter would participate in a number of expeditions against the Comanche and other tribes in the Texas-area.
It was during one of these campaigns that he was brevetted first lieutenant and awarded the Medal of Honor for his "most distinguished gallantry" against the Comanche in Blanco Canyon on a tributary of the Brazos River on October 10, 1871. Carter would suffer a severe injury during the battle, his left leg being shattered as his horse fell against a rock, which would eventually result in his early retirement.
The public source identifies “Robert G. Carter” as united States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1845-1936). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Robert, Carter and United.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7344601. VIAF identifies the subject as 1343881. The Library of Congress control number is n81146528. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1845, 1936, 1871 and 1935.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert G. Carter” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.