Hubert Carpenter was born on February 8, 1837, in DeWitt, New York, to William Carpenter and Mary Hollister. His father was a farmer who owned $5,000 of real estate and $1,350 of personal property by 1860. The family moved to Dryden, New York, sometime before 1850. Carpenter grew up and attended school there before enrolling at Ithaca Academy. When the Civil War broke out, one friend later recalled, Carpenter’s “love of country led him to share the toils and perils of a soldier. He resolved that his country should first be saved, then, if he survived the conflict with treason, he would again return to his favorite studies—Greek, Latin, French and German.”

 

He enlisted in the Union army on September 16, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company F of the 76^th New York Infantry on October 4. The regiment took part in the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Battle of the Wilderness. Carpenter earned a promotion to 2^nd lieutenant on November 25, 1862, and then to 1^st lieutenant on February 20, 1863. He was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg but eventually recovered and rejoined his regiment. He was promoted to adjutant on January 21, 1864. He was fatally wounded on May 6, 1864, in the Battle of the Wilderness, and he died two days later, on May 8, 1864.

 

Image: Hubert Carpenter (A. P. Smith, History of the Seventy-Sixth Regiment, New York Volunteers)

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