James Henry Carleton

James Henry Carleton
James Henry Carleton
Born	(1814-12-27)December 27, 1814 Lubec, Maine
Died	January 7, 1873(1873-01-07) (aged 58) San Antonio, Texas
Place of burial	Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1839 - 1873
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel Brigadier General Brevet Major General
Unit	1st U.S. Dragoons
Commands held	1st California Infantry District of Southern California California Column Department of New Mexico
Battles/wars	Aroostook War Mexican-American War Battle of Buena Vista Indian Wars Bitter Spring Expedition American Civil War Battle of Picacho Pass Capture of Tucson Indian Wars Apache Wars Battle of Apache Pass Navaho Wars Long Walk of the Navajo Texas–Indian wars Battle of Adobe Walls

Aroostook War
Mexican-American War

Indian Wars

American Civil War

Indian Wars

James Henry Carleton (December 27, 1814 – January 7, 1873) was an officer in the U.S. Army and a Union general during the American Civil War. Carleton is best known as an Indian fighter in the southwestern United States.

Carleton was born in Lubec, Maine. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1839, during the Aroostook War, and took part in the Mexican-American War. He served in the 1st U.S. Dragoons in the American West, participating as a lieutenant in an 1844 expedition to the Pawnee and the Oto. One of Carleton's children, Henry Guy Carleton (1852–1910) was a journalist, playwright, and inventor.

In May 1859, Maj. Carleton and K Company of the 1st Dragoons out of Fort Tejon, California, were detailed to escort Maj. Henry Prince, a paymaster with government funds, to the Southern Utah Territory. Arriving at Mountain Meadows, the command rendezvoused with the Santa Clara Expedition of the Department of Utah from Camp Floyd under the command of Capt. Ruben Campbell. With orders from Gen. Newman S. Clarke, commander of the Department of California, to bury the victims of the September 1857 massacre, the dragoons gathered and buried the remains of 34 in a mass grave. A crude monument was constructed of rocks, with a cedar cross and an engraved marker. Assistant Surgeon Charles Brewer of the Santa Clara Expedition was in charge of a burial detail that had interred the remains of 39 in three mass graves a few days before the arrival of K Company.