Archive of letters, orders, and related items by or to Col. Henry B. Carrington during or shortly after the Civil War.

Approx.20 items. A few are on printed letterhead, most wholly manuscript. A few signed by Carrington, most from Carrington are likely secretarial, one item is on blue paper, one item is a mostly printed document. Some staining and other wear, a few tears at folds, generally good to very good. Revealing glimpse into the Civil War service of Henry B. Carrington, to gain later fame in the post-war "Indian Fighting Army."

Henry B. Carrington 1824-1912) was an army officer and author, was born in Wallingford, Connecticut. According to American National Biography Online (ANB), while Carrington had a strong interest in the military, poor health prevented him from entering West Point. Instead, he entered Yale College in 1840, and graduated in 1845. Carrington moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1848 and took up the practice of law. He enjoyed success in his legal career and also played an important role in founding the Republican party in Ohio. Friendship with prominent Republicans, notably Governors, brought him a position with the state militia and in 1857 he was appointed adjutant general.

The ANB indicates that at the outbreak of the Civil War, Carrington quickly organized nine regiments of Ohio militia and sent them across the Ohio River to help secure western Virginia against the secessionists. He was commissioned as colonel of the newly created Eighteenth U.S. Infantry. In November 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and, continuing in his role as recruiter and organizer of troops.

His most controversial duty was suppressing antiwar and Copperhead agitation in Ohio and Indiana, particularly an organization known as the "Sons of Liberty." The ANB states when the Civil War ended, "Carrington was ordered west, once again as colonel of the Eighteenth Infantry. He had apparently used his influence to secure such orders in pursuit of his dream of a combat command. His assignment was to build forts Reno, C. F. Smith, and Phil Kearny in central Wyoming as part of the army's effort to protect traffic on the Bozeman Trail. The trail, which led to the gold fields of Montana, also led through the heart of Sioux country, and its presence, as well as that of the forts, enraged the American Indians. Building and defending these forts in the midst of the resulting conflict, called Red Cloud's War, was no job for a bookish man who had never seen combat American National Biography Online.