'Thomas Carleton', (
c. 1735 –
2 February 1817), was born in
Ireland to Christoper Carleton and his wife Catherine Ball. He was the younger brother of
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester. As part of a military family, Thomas joined the
British Army at a young age. In 1753, he was an
ensign in the
20th Regiment of Foot and saw action with his regiment during the
Seven Years' War.
In 1776, now a Lt. Col., he arrived in
Quebec City to relieve his brother, Gen. Guy Carleton, the
Governor General of Canada, who was besieged in the city by the
Continental Army forces during the early days of the
American Revolutionary War. With the death of Lt. Col. Patrick Gordon on
July 25, 1776, Col. Carleton was promoted to command the
29th Regiment of Foot. In 1777, Thomas Carleton's nephew
Christopher Carleton joined the 29th regiment. as a major and served under his uncle's command for the rest of the war. Col. Thomas Carleton did not get along very well with his new commander,
Frederick Haldimand, who took over for Guy Carleton as Governor General of Canada so Thomas left for
England.
In 1784, with his brother's recommendation, Col. Thomas Carleton was appointed as the 1st
Lieutenant Governor of
New Brunswick. Here, he helped to re-settle the many
Loyalists leaving the
United States. Col. Thomas Carleton would serve as Governor of New Brunswick until his death on
February 2,
1817, though from 1805 he lived in
England.
Mount Carleton, the tallest mountain in New Brunswick, is named for him.
Sources
★ ''The American Journals of Lt. John Enys'',
John Enys and Elizabeth Cometti (editor), Syracuse Unin. Press 1976
★ ''Travels Through the Interior Parts of America 1776-1781 Volumes 1 and 2'', Thomas Anburey, Houghton Mifflin Company 1923
★ ''The Burning of the Valleys'', Gavin K. Watt, Dundurn Press 1997
★ ''Carleton's Raid'', Ida H. Washington and Paul A. Washington, Cherry Tree Books 1977
External links
★
Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''