Background

Henry Beebee Carrington was born on March 2, 1824 at Wallingford, Connecticut, United States; the son of Miles M. and Mary (Beebee) Carrington. His grandfather, James Carrington, was a partner of Eli Whitney from 1800 to 1825, superintendent of the manufacture of arms for the United States at Whitneyville, Connecticut, and inspector of work at the arsenals of Springfield and Harper's Ferry. His maternal grandfather and great-grandfather were graduates of Yale College.

Education

In his twelfth year Carrington commenced classical studies under Rev. Epaphras Goodman and Dr. Erasmus D. Hudson. Owing to a chance address by John Brown he became an ardent abolitionist. From his early youth military affairs interested him, and, had his constitution been more rugged, he doubtless would have entered West Point. He entered Yale College in the fall of 1840, and after a temporary absence because of ill health, was graduated with the class of 1845.

Career

For a year and a half after graduation Carrington taught in Irving Institute at Tarrytown, N. Y. , where he was encouraged by Washington Irving to pursue a line of research which afterward led him to write his Battles of the American Revolution. Later he became a professor in the New Haven Collegiate Institute, at the same time pursuing a course of study in the Yale Law School. In 1848 he moved to Columbus, Ohio, and entered upon the practise of the law, first with Hon. Aaron F. Perry and afterward for nine years with Hon. William Dennison, subsequently governor of Ohio. In his twelve years of law practise in Columbus he was attorney for manufacturing, banking, and railroad corporations. He was locally prominent in the organizing of the Republican party, serving with Rufus P. Spalding and other eminent leaders on the committee on resolutions in the convention of July 13, 1854, which denounced the Kansas-Nebraska policy of the national administration. He was the personal friend and supporter of Gov. Salmon P. Chase, and in 1857, at the earnest request of the latter, accepted a position on his staff to take charge of the reorganization of the militia of the state. This work was so well done that it led to Carrington's appointment as adjutant-general, a position which he held under Chase and his successor, Gov. Dennison. When President Lincoln issued his first call for troops, before the United States volunteers could be organized and mustered, nine regiments of Ohio militia were hurried across the Ohio River to save West Virginia for the Union. For this service Carrington received the thanks of the Secretary of War and of Generals Scott and Wool. Shortly afterward he was commissioned colonel of the 18th United States Infantry and placed in command of the regular army camp near Columbus, while still acting as adjutant-general of Ohio. Upon the request of Gov. Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, he was ordered to that state to organize its levies for the service. In 1862 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He was especially active in organizing and forwarding troops to the field. From Indiana alone he superintended the recruiting of more than one hundred thousand men. Under his direction the Sons of Liberty and other disloyal orders were exposed. His course in the trial of these conspirators was bitterly denounced by the opponents of the Lincoln administration, but it was sustained by the army and by the loyal sentiment of the country. The cases were ultimately carried to the Supreme Court of the United States, where a majority of the judges held that the military court of Carrington had been illegal because held in a state that was not in rebellion. When he was mustered out of the service as brigadier-general of volunteers, Carrington rejoined his regiment in the Army of the Cumberland; was president of the commission that tried the guerrillas at Louisville in 1865, and later in the fall of the same year was ordered to the Indian service in Nebraska; built Fort Phil Kearny in the Rocky Mountain district; participated in the Red Cloud War; in 1867 established friendly relations with Spotted Tail and other Indian chiefs; was granted a year's leave of absence because of a severe wound received in the line of duty; protected the Union Pacific Railroad from Indian interruption; in 1869 was detailed as professor of military science at Wabash College (Indiana); in 1889 negotiated a treaty with the Flathead Indians of Montana and two years later moved Indians to Joco reservation, western Montana. He was a frequent contributor to periodicals and published several books, of which the following are the more important: American Classics (1849); Russia Among the Nations (1851); Hints to Soldiers Taking the Field (1862); Mineral Resources of Indiana; Crisis Thoughts (1878); Battles of the American Revolution (1876); Battle Maps and Charts of the American Revolution (1881); The Six Nations (1892); Washington, the Soldier (1898). Ab-sa-ra-ka, Home of the Crows; or the Experience of an Officer's Wife on the Plains (1868) was written by Carrington's first wife and in subsequent editions enlarged by Carrington himself.

Achievements

• A noted engineer, he constructed a series of forts to protect the Bozeman Trail, but suffered a major defeat at the hands of the warchief Red Cloud.

Works

More photos

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  • Ab-Sa-Ra-Ka Land of Massacre

    (The Shelf2life History of the American West Collection is...)

  • Crisis Thoughts

    (Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)

  • Beacon Lights on Patriotism

    (This book an EXACT reproduction of the original book publ...)

  • Washington The Soldier (Expanded edition, annotated)

    (A veteran officer of the Civil War and the Indian Wars, G...)

  • Battle Maps and Charts of the American Revolution

    (Originally published in 1881. This volume from the Cornel...)

  • The Six Nations of New York: The 1892 United States Extra Census Bulletin (Documents in American Social History)

    (In 1892 the U.S. Census Printing Office published a repor...)

  • Battles of the American Revolution 1775-1781; Including Battle Maps and Charts o

Connections

Carrington was twice married: first, to Margaret Irvin Sullivant, daughter of Joseph Sullivant of Columbus, Ohio; and, second, on April 3, 1871, to Fannie, widow of Col. G. W. Grummond, and daughter of Robert Courtney.

Father:

Miles M. Carrington

Mother:

Mary (Beebee) Carrington

1st wife:

Margaret Irvin Sullivant

Grandfather:

James Carrington

2nd wife:

Fannie Grummond

Friend:

Gov. Salmon P. Chase