Michael  Carr

CARR, MICHAEL "Mickie" (1825 ~ 1901). Michael "Mickie" Carr was born in the town of Gartlong, County of Meath, Ireland in 1825. He arrived in the United States in 1848 and worked on the railroads traveling in New England and the Midwest.

He came to Texas in 1856 and continued working with the railroads. He was a member of Company F, Cook's Texas Artillery and participated in every engagement that Cook's Texas Artillery was involved with during the War including the Battle of Sabine Pass.

The following letter concerning the Battle of Sabine Pass was written by Carr and was printed in Confederate Veteran, Vol. 1, July 1893, No. 7: "In the June number of the Veteran inaccuracies appear about the battle of Sabine Pass which should be altered. In the first place, the old fort where the cannon did such havoc with the Federal gunboats was called Fort Grigsby, and after the battle a new and substantial fort was erected call Fort Griffin, after Gen. Griffin, commander of the post. As to Jack White firing the shot that disabled the Sachem, he and a crowd of others were about a mile and a half from the fort at a grocery, and the private who fired the shot that disabled the steamer was Tom McKernon, nicknamed by the boys, 'Smasher.' I was in the battle, and know personally every member of the company that participated in it, and I emphatically assert that the above statement is true. A large number of newspaper accounts are erroneous."

Following the War, he went back to working the railroads until he was severely disabled in an accident.

Carr was admitted to the Confederate Men's Home on February 8, 1888. He died on February 26, 1901 and was buried in the Texas State Cemetery.

The following is an excerpt of an article about Carr featured in Confederate Veteran that ran in Vol. IX in 1901: "Michael Carr was born in the town of Gartlong, County of Meath, Ireland. As he relates, he was of a roaming disposition, loving to follow from place to place the ballad singers, catching the new airs and delighting in reciting patriotic poems filled with the sorrows of Ireland. He came to America in 1848, and began to work on the railroads, first in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia. The war between the North and South found him in Texas, and in 1861 he joined the famous company of the Davis Guards, and remained with them to the end of the war. 'Mickie,' as he was called by the company, was a man in his prime at that time, full of droll humor, with a touch of pathos in his nature which made him loved by all who ever knew him. Methodical in his habits, industrious, faithful, and true, he found his way to the hearts of his friends in any position... We may learn patience from this grand old veteran, who is now in his eighty-fifth year, silent as to complaint, faithful to his friends, trusting in his good God. He was never married."

Information taken from Confederate Veteran, Confederate Home Roster, and biographical information provided by Ann Caraway Ivins. Further information is available in Carr's Texas State Cemetery file in the research department.