I’ve Hit a Wall

[Whitfield's Legion]

This is an old family photo I inherited.

He looks like a confederate soldier to me, the back says Charles Carpenter (which there is not one in my family) but there is a Robert Carpenter who I think this is a picture of. Can anyone help find what regiment he was in? I've used up all my free resources

 

[Nathan Stuart]

The pictured Confederate private displayed does not look (to me) he's aged 30 to 35 years (which would have been the age during the CW of the shown Robert Carpenter, whose year of birth is given as 1831).

 

[Whitfield's Legion]

The pictured Confederate private displayed does not look (to me) he's aged 30 to 35 years (which would have been the age during the CW of the shown Robert Carpenter, whose year of birth is given as 1831)

It seems you're right. I'd never considered that

 

[Whitfield's Legion]

The pictured Confederate private displayed does not look (to me) he's aged 30 to 35 years (which would have been the age during the CW of the shown Robert Carpenter, whose year of birth is given as 1831).

Maybe this guy fits?

 

[RedRover]

The uniform could be Union...a blue "schuylkill" jacket (the small buttons). Something of like these Union soldiers...

But as you mention not certainly clear.



The only Charles E. Carpenter's that come up in a basic search are Union soldiers...

The Chas. E above with the 19th Iowa, born ca. 1837, died in service in 1863:

CPL Charles E Carpenter (1837-1863) - Find a Grave...

Civil War - Enlisted from Oakland, Pottawattamie County, Iowa on 16 August 1862; mustered in on 29 August 1862, Company F, 19th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a Private; promoted to 7th Corporal (sic.) on 18 December 1862; promoted to 6th Corporal on 30 March 1863; promoted to 3rd Corporal...

www.findagrave.com

His outfit served in Missouri. He was a farmer according to his comrades' regimental history...

The Chas. E. above in the 11th Indiana was a recruit in March, 1865.

The Chas. E. with 1st NY Light artillery was killed in action on the Rappahannock in Virginia in May, 1863...

...

The Chas. E. of the 9th Rhode Island... b. 1845, doesn't look like a match...

No Robert L. Carpenter pops up on the civil war indexes from Missouri. However, Mr. Robert L. Carpenter, citizen, of Cooper County, Missouri took the oath of allegiance to the USA, subscribed January 23, 1862...

Loading…

catalog.archives.gov

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Maybe this guy fits?

Thought the middle initial written on the back of the picture displayed in the OP looks more like a 'E', than a 'G'.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

The only Charles E. Carpenter's that come up in a basic search are Union soldiers...

Thought you might be on the right track here - he's a Union soldier named 'Charles E. Carpenter'. Judging by the outfit and most notably hat worn in the picture, thought he could have been the soldier from the 19th IA Infantry (see https://suvcw.org/past-photos-19iowareunion ) as shown in the basic search of five Union soldiers compiled above by RedRover.

The details of Pvte. Charles E. Carpenter, Co. F, 19th IA Infantry, found at https://iagenweb.org/civilwar/books/logan/mil503.htm
are reproduced below:-

Carpenter, Charles E. Age 25. Residence Oakland,nativity New York. Enlisted Aug. 16, 1862. Mustered Aug. 29, 1862. Promoted Seventh Corporal Dec. 18,1862; Sixth Corporal March 30, 1863; Third Corporal June 1, 1863; Second Corporal Aug.26, 1863. Wounded severely Sept. 29, 1863, Atchafalaya, La. Died of wounds Oct. 12, 1863, New Orleans, La.

 

[lupaglupa]

I agree with those who say that middle initial is an E. Charles may be a relative of yours, though not in your direct line. People did exchange these pictures with family and friends.

 

[Booner]

Regarding the parole paper of Robert L Carpenter given above--

According to "THIS CRUEL AND UNNATURAL WAR" by James F. Thoma, (a history of Cooper Co. Mo. during the Civil War), "Robert L. Carpenter, of Cooper Co, Mo. took the oath of Allegiance on Jan. 23, 1863. He was first arrested and swore that he was 31 years old and had a 120-acre farm. He claimed to have never belonged to any secession company."

I think Mr. Thoma has the date wrong by a year. It sure looks like 1862 on the parole papers. If the age is correct (31), then he was born around 1831, and I think the OP's picture is of a younger man, maybe born around 1840.