View source for Joseph Carter Abbott

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name= Joseph Carter Abbott
|image= Joseph Carter Abbott - Brady-Handy.jpg
|jr/sr=old 
|state=[[North Carolina]]
|term_start=July 14, 1868
|term_end=March 4, 1871
|predecessor=[[Thomas Bragg]]
|successor=[[Matt Whitaker Ransom|Matthew W. Ransom]]
|birth_date= {{birth date|1825|7|15}}
|birth_place= [[Concord, New Hampshire|Concord]], [[New Hampshire]], U.S.
|death_date= {{death date and age|1881|10|8|1825|7|15}}
|death_place= [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]], [[North Carolina]], U.S.
|allegiance= [[United States|United States of America]]<br/>[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
|branch= [[United States Army]]<br/>[[Union Army]]
|serviceyears= 1861–1865
|rank= [[File:Union Army colonel rank insignia.png|35px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]<br />[[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Bvt.]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]]
|commands= 
|unit= 
|battles= 
{{collapsible list|title = {{nobold|''See list''}}|
{{tree list}}
* [[American Civil War]]
** [[Second Battle of Fort Wagner]]
** [[Battle of Olustee]]
** [[Bermuda Hundred campaign]]
** [[Richmond-Petersburg campaign]]
*** [[Battle of Chaffin's Farm]]
*** [[Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads]]
** [[Wilmington campaigns]]
*** [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher]]
*** [[Battle of Wilmington]]
{{tree list/end}}
|awards= 
}}
}}
'''Joseph Carter Abbott''' (July 15, 1825{{spaced ndash}}October 8, 1881) was a [[Union Army]] colonel during the [[American Civil War]] who was awarded the grade of [[brevet (military)|brevet]] [[brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] of volunteers and a [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] [[United States senator]] from the state of [[North Carolina]] between 1868 and 1871. During his career in private life he was a lawyer, newspaper editor and businessman. He also served as collector of the port of Wilmington, inspector of posts along the eastern line of the southern coast during the [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] Administration, and special agent of the [[United States Treasury Department]].

==Early life==
Abbott was born in [[Concord, New Hampshire]], to farmer Aaron Carter Abbott and Nancy Badger, and graduated from [[Phillips Academy]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts]], in 1846, having studied there and under private auspices.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0400002 |title=Abbott, Joseph Carter |last=Schlup |first=Leonard |website=American National Biography |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0400002 |access-date=August 22, 2022 |quote=Abbott, Joseph Carter (15 July 1825–08 October 1881), senator and journalist, was born in Concord, New Hampshire, the son of Aaron Carter Abbott, a farmer and laborer, and Nancy Badger.}}</ref> He studied law at Concord, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. From 1852 to 1857, Abbott was the owner and editor of the ''Daily American'' newspaper, in [[Manchester, New Hampshire]]. His success with it led to his being given the position of editor of the ''Boston Atlas and Bee,'' which he held from 1859 through 1861.<ref name="BDA1906">{{BDA1906 |wstitle= Abbott, Joseph Carter |volume= 1 |page=29 |short=}}</ref>

He served as [[Adjutant General of New Hampshire]] from 1855 to 1861, reorganizing the [[New Hampshire Militia|state militia]] during that time. He was also a member of the commission to adjust the boundary between New Hampshire and [[Canada]]. He early joined the [[Know Nothing Party]], and during all these years was a frequent contributor to the magazines, being particularly interested in historical matters.

==Civil War==
In December 1861, Abbott became the [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] of the [[7th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry|7th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] and participated in the battles of [[Battle of Port Royal|Port Royal Sound]], [[Battle of St. John's Bluff|St. John's Bluff]], [[Battle of Fort Pulaski|Fort Pulaski]] and [[Battle of Fort Wagner|Fort Wagner]].  In November 1863, he became [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] of the regiment and led it at the [[Battle of Olustee]] and during the subsequent [[Bermuda Hundred Campaign]] in [[Virginia]].

During the [[siege of Petersburg]], he commanded the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, [[X Corps (ACW)|X Corps]] at [[Battle of Chaffin's Farm|Chaffin's Farm]] and the subsequent [[Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads|actions along the Darbytown and New Market Roads]].  The [[Army of the James]] was then reorganized and his command became the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, [[XXIV Corps (ACW)|XXIV Corps]] which was attached to the Fort Fisher Expeditionary Corps under [[Brigadier General|Brig. Gen.]] [[Alfred Terry|Alfred H. Terry]] and participated in the [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher|second battle of Fort Fisher]] and the capture of [[Battle of Wilmington|Wilmington]]. Although Abbott was not appointed as a full, substantive rank general, on January 25, 1865, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] nominated Abbott for appointment to the grade of [[brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] of volunteers, to rank from January 15, 1865 for gallant services in the capture of Fort Fisher<ref>Hunt and Brown, 1990, p. 2</ref> and the [[U.S. Senate]] confirmed the award on February 14, 1865.<ref>Eicher and Eicher, 2001, p. 748</ref> During the final stages of the war, he was stationed in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]].

==Postbellum==
Following the war, Abbott remained in North Carolina. He was active in state politics, serving as a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1868. During this time, his political strength came primarily through the black population.  He believed in their capacity and assisted in organization and politically counseling them in ways which brought him blunt warnings from the white population.  He was elected to the [[United States Senate]] that same year, representing North Carolina in that body for the first time since July 1861, when the state's two senators were expelled following the North Carolina's [[secession]] from the Union.  He served as a senator from July 14, 1868 to March 4, 1871.

He also served as a member of the [[Republican National Committee]] from North Carolina from 1870 through 1872.  During this period, he was also found to be in the pay of a "ring" whose major interests seemed substantially similar to Abbott's own political positions. During his tenure in the Senate, he spoke in orthodox terms on matters of [[suffrage]], and was helpful in handling the details of army administration.  He devoted a good deal of time to improve the harbor of Wilmington, and hoped that the railroads of the Carolinas would be consolidated and made part of a southern transcontinental system.  However, for all his efforts, his single greatest achievement was the imposition of a duty on peanuts. He was not nominated for a second term to the Senate.

Upon leaving the Senate, he conducted a lumber manufacturing business and served as editor of the ''Wilmington Post.'' He also received federal offices from both Presidents [[Rutherford Hayes]] and [[Ulysses S. Grant]], including serving as collector of the port of Wilmington, inspector of posts along the eastern line of the southern coast during the [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] Administration, and special agent of the [[United States Treasury Department]]. From August 1869, he served as editor of the ''Wilmington Post'', a Republican organ of good quality for the era.  However, he never again achieved any real status as a party leader. He established the town of [[Abbottsburg, North Carolina]].

He was originally buried in the National Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was reinterred in 1887 at [[Valley Cemetery]] in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Despite three marriages, he died childless.  His political legacy is not much better, with the ''Dictionary of American Biography'' writing that "The historians of the state even now mention him only to condemn him."<ref>Johnson, Volume 1, page 24.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
*[[List of American Civil War Generals (Union)]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989: Bicentennial Edition.'' United States: Government Printing Office, 1989. {{ISBN|0-16-006384-1}}.
*Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J. ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}.
*Hunt, Roger D. and Brown, Jack R. ''Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue.'' Gaithersburg, MD: Olde Soldier Books, Inc., 1990. {{ISBN|1-56013-002-4}}.
*Johnson, Allen. ''Dictionary of American Biography.'' New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1964.
*{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Abbott, Joseph Carter|year=1900}}

==External links==
*{{CongBio|A000006}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
|state=North Carolina
|class=2
|before=vacant<sup>(1)</sup>
|after=[[Matt Whitaker Ransom|Matt W. Ransom]]
|alongside=[[John Pool]]
|years=1868–1871}}
{{s-ref|Because of North Carolina's secession from the Union, the seat was vacant from 1861-1868 when [[Thomas Bragg]] was expelled from the Senate.}}

{{USSenNC}}
{{Authority control}}

{{commons category}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Joseph Carter}}
[[Category:1825 births]]
[[Category:1881 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Concord, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from North Carolina]]
[[Category:North Carolina Republicans]]
[[Category:19th-century American newspaper editors]]
[[Category:Politicians from Wilmington, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Politicians from Manchester, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Boston]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:19th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:People of New Hampshire in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Union army colonels]]
[[Category:People of the Six Years' War]]
[[Category:Burials at Valley Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]