Joseph Bradford Carr (August 16, 1828 – February 24, 1895)[1] was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Early life
Carr was born in Albany, New York, the son of Irish immigrants, and worked as a tobacconist. While living in Troy, New York, he became interested in military affairs and by 1861 was a colonel in the New York militia.[2]
Carr was promoted to brigadier general on September 7, 1862, for gallantry at Malvern Hill, but this promotion was plagued by procedural difficulties. His first appointment was returned to the president on February 12, 1863. He was reappointed on March 30, 1863, but the United States Senate failed to confirm the commission in the session in which he was nominated and it expired on March 30, 1864. He was renominated on April 9, 1864, and confirmed on June 30, 1864, with a date of rank of March 30, 1863.[3]
He was distinguished for gallantry at Gettysburg, where he was wounded and his men stubbornly held their ground near the Peach Orchard. He commanded the 3rd Division of III Corps in the autumn campaigns of 1863. Because of the difficulties with his brigadier general appointment, he was technically junior to his own subordinate brigade commanders and on May 2, 1864, Lt. Gen.Ulysses S. Grant reassigned Carr to the Army of the James under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler. Carr commanded a division of African-American soldiers in the XVIII Corps and briefly commanded the Defenses of Yorktown in the Department of Virginia and North Carolina.[2] On March 13, 1865, Carr was appointed a brevetmajor general of volunteers, and he was mustered out of the volunteer service on August 24.[1]
