Background
Carroll was born in Nashville, Tennessee to William Carroll, a general during the War of 1812 and multi-term Governor of Tennessee, and Cecilia M. (Bradford) Carroll.
Carroll was born in Nashville, Tennessee to William Carroll, a general during the War of 1812 and multi-term Governor of Tennessee, and Cecilia M. (Bradford) Carroll.
On 11 December 1861 Carroll, as the Confederate commander at Knoxville, issued a proclamation declaring martial law in the city. He then arrested all those who were openly opposed to the Confederate States before restoring the civil authority. He commanded the 2nd Brigade in George B. Crittenden"s force that engaged George H. Thomas"s Union forces at Mill Springs, Kentucky, on 19 January 1862.
Braxton Bragg, the Department commander, in his effort to rid his command of political generals had Carroll arrested for drunkenness, incompetence and neglect on 31 March 1862, as he was reported to have been drunk on duty in Iuka, Mississippi.
Bragg brought similar charges against Crittenden the following day. Like Crittenden before him, Carroll, after a court of inquiry, resigned on 1 February 1863.
With Nashville, the state capital, in Union hands, he moved to Montreal, Canada. In Montreal at the time, the city had was leaning with sympathies towards both sides of the Civil War.
The streets were filled with spies from both sides, exiled Confederates of high rank, sympathizers, arms dealers, Union detectives and saboteurs.
Carroll became a fixture at the luxurious Saint Lawrence Hall on Saint James Street (now Saint Jacques Street) which was where the more affluent Confederates in Canada stayed such as Jacob Thompson, Clement Claiborne Clay, James Westcott, Moses Montrose Pallen, Luke P. Blackburn, journalist and even John Wilkes Booth. After staying in Montreal for a time, Carroll sailed south and was captured off North Carolina. He was placed in prison in Fortress Monroe, and quickly was released and forced to return to Montreal.
They demanded to know whether he was using the alias James Watson Wallace the man who had spun the web of false testimony towards the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Carroll accepted the affidavit swearing his innocence, later explaining it in great detail to Andrew Johnson. He never returned to the United States.
He died in Montreal on 3 May 1868. He is buried in Lenow Circle, Lot 57, Space #1 at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.
Many plots were formed by the members of the group.