Lt. Col. Moscow Branch Carter

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Lt. Col. Moscow Branch Carter

Birth
Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, USA
Death
29 Aug 1913 (aged 87)
Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, USA
Burial
Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, USA
Plot
I14
Memorial ID
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A veteran of two armies: the U.S. Army in the war with Mexico, and the C.S.A. During the Civil War, he was captured and held at Ft. Warren in Boston Harbor. After he signed the oath of allegiance to the United States, he was paroled in a prisoner exchange. He was home at the Carter House during the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864. He was married three times and fathered eleven children. His children and grandchildren adored him and always spoke of his jovial, youthful spirit with great affection, until they too joined him in the greater life.

In reflecting on war, late in life Moscow wrote the following to his youngest son, Frank Fair Carter: "I have had a good deal of war experience, and know it is bad for the individual, and often ruinous to the public. Keep out! Keep out! Having not to do with war. The stirring music of the drum and fife are truly inspiring; but after all what have you gained? Your losses are plainly visible, but your gains are hard to reckon. You may lose your life, you may lose a limb that would disqualify you for the ordinary duties of life, and the "clap-trap" called glory is of a negligible quality that don't pay anything towards the support of a family. Fuss and feathers may do for an occasional parade, but bread and butter are as far away as ever.
My advice is; Keep out of the Army! And as far out as honor will admit."
-Moscow B. Carter to his son Frank Fair Carter, December 1912, written about a year before Moscow passed away and about a year and a half before World War I. (Originally posted on the Carter House Facebook page.)
A veteran of two armies: the U.S. Army in the war with Mexico, and the C.S.A. During the Civil War, he was captured and held at Ft. Warren in Boston Harbor. After he signed the oath of allegiance to the United States, he was paroled in a prisoner exchange. He was home at the Carter House during the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864. He was married three times and fathered eleven children. His children and grandchildren adored him and always spoke of his jovial, youthful spirit with great affection, until they too joined him in the greater life.

In reflecting on war, late in life Moscow wrote the following to his youngest son, Frank Fair Carter: "I have had a good deal of war experience, and know it is bad for the individual, and often ruinous to the public. Keep out! Keep out! Having not to do with war. The stirring music of the drum and fife are truly inspiring; but after all what have you gained? Your losses are plainly visible, but your gains are hard to reckon. You may lose your life, you may lose a limb that would disqualify you for the ordinary duties of life, and the "clap-trap" called glory is of a negligible quality that don't pay anything towards the support of a family. Fuss and feathers may do for an occasional parade, but bread and butter are as far away as ever.
My advice is; Keep out of the Army! And as far out as honor will admit."
-Moscow B. Carter to his son Frank Fair Carter, December 1912, written about a year before Moscow passed away and about a year and a half before World War I. (Originally posted on the Carter House Facebook page.)

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