Miles Carr was born around 1820 in Albemarle County, Virginia. Prior to the war, Carr lived as a freeman, working as a carpenter in Ohio. He married his wife Martha Butler on June 29, 1856, in Ross County. Together they had four children: Jane Ann, born April 5, 1857; Zachariah, born December 17, 1860; Susan Ellen, born October 17, 1862; and Julia Frances, born August 10, 1864.
Carr enlisted at the age of 44 as a private on August 23, 1864, and mustered in a day later in Circleville, Ohio. His service record describes him as 5 feet, 10 1/2 inches tall, with black hair, black eyes, and dark complexion. He served in Company G of the 5th USCT Infantry Regiment. Carr served only about one month with the 5th USCT. On September 29 in action at Deep Bottom, Virginia, Carr was fatally wounded by a bombshell.
Following the war, his wife and children continued to live in Waverly in Pike County, and they later moved to Summit Hill in Ross County. In 1878, a John Daly, serving as guardian, successfully filed a pension for Carr's minor children. Daly took over as guardian, apparently due to Martha remarrying a Samuel Bayless on April 10, 1878. Martha's pension had started on September 29, 1864, at $8 plus $2 for each of her children a month. She reapplied for a widow's pension in 1891, after the end of her marriage to Bayless, but she was rejected due to Carr failing to serve a full ninety days.