Ms. Littrell

I concur with Steve Mayeux and Mike that Lawrence M. Carpenter was more likely a member of the 1st Regular Louisiana Infantry (Strawbridge's). I had looked at Strawbridge's before I sent my message to you, but LMC was not listed in Strawbridge's 1st LA Regulars on any roster. Mike made a great catch on this association.

LMC is shown in Booth (1920), NPS-CWSS, and NARA-CSR M320 as a member of Co. D, 1st Louisiana Volunteer Infantry (Nelligan's), which served in the Army of North Virginia. Since Carpenter was captured at Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), TN, it is very probable that he served in the 1st Regular Louisiana infantry (Strawbridges) instead, as Mike suggested.

I did find three POW records for him (NARA-POW M598_54, NARA-POW M598_56 and NARA-POW M598_57) which indicated that he was captured at Pittsburg Landing on 8 April 1862 - he was probably captured on the 6th or 7th, and his name recorded on the 8th. As a footnote, NARA-POW M598_57 is a POW Roll for Camp Douglas, Illinois and is dated as 01 August 1862. Amazingly, he survived as Camp Douglas was a hellhole, more of a concentration camp than a POW prison. I think it likely he was paroled or exchanged and sent home at some point in 1862 or early 1863, but I do not find an readily available record. I suggest you try one of the National Archive regional facilities, or arrange for a Washington DC researcher to check the Archives for Camp Douglas information and POW rosters. There is almost certainly a Camp Douglas document that tells where Lawrence Carpenter ended up, or when he was released. I believe there is a contact listed on the top of the LA CW Message Board page which offers to do such searches.

Interestingly enough, he was 44 when he enlisted in 1861 (probably 1861) and was a native of Louisiana. I found 1850, 1860 and 1880 US Census documents for he and his family. Family trees on Ancestry.com indicated death in Amite, LA about 1910, but I found a grave listing for L M Carpenter, who died on 18 Jan 1885 and is buried at Gunn Cemetery, about 4 miles northeast of Amite, and I strongly believe that this is his grave. He would have been 93 years old in 1910. After the physical stress of his military service and POW experience, the 1885 death date would indicate an age at death of 67-68 - much more likely.

If you are interested, I have prepared an information summary sheet on Lawrence M Carpenter for my personal files and I would be happy to send you a copy. If interest, you can contact me at don.gayle@frontier.com and I will e-mail you a copy.

Hope this helps

Don Parker