Edward Carrington was born in Hartford, Conn., Feb. 15, 1838. As a child, he possessed marked individuality, and early exhibited many of the traits of character that afterwards distinguished him. At an early age he came to Colebrook with his parents, but eventually entered the preparatory school at East Windsor, where he excelled in scholarship and was chosen valedictorian of his class.
In the autumn of 1855 he entered Yale College, and through his college years was considered a young man of rare intellectual endowment. He was exceedingly popular with his classmates, and was considered the leading man in his class in literary and social fields. It is said that a noted educator at Yale University once said that Ned Carrington was the most promising student he had met during that period. The late Judge George M. Carrington of Winsted referred to him as being the most remarkable young man he ever met.
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During a summer vacation, two distinguished-appearing gentlemen arrived at the Carrington residence and requested a private conference with Edward, who at the time was engaged in the menial task of weeding onions. After an extended interview, they took their departure. Following the departure of the visitors, Edward divulged the nature of the interview to his sisters, stating that he had been offered an election to Scroll and Keys, a prominent senior society.
Eventually, Edward was initiated into the mysteries and became an honored member of that exclusive society. For many years after his death, the family retained his emblem, but prior to the death of his surviving sisters, it was returned to representatives of Scroll and Keys.
Edward graduated from Yale, class of 1859, with honors, and was chosen valedictorian of the class. The valedictory address was of such outstanding excellence it was published in pamphlet form and can be found listed in several libraries in Connecticut and adjoining states.
After a year spent teaching, Mr. Carrington entered Columbia College law school, and graduated from that institution, LL.B., in May 1862. While there, he won new laurels, gaining the highest prize for a legal essay and once more being chosen valedictorian of his class.
Professor Theodore W. Dwight of Columbia law school said of him: "Although I have familiarly known many thousands of young men coming from all parts of the country, I have never been acquainted with one who has so much impressed me by his native gifts as he."
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Immediately following graduation, he commenced the practice of law in the office of Bowdoin, Larocques & Barlow in New York City. Upon learning of the death of his classmate, Captain Hannahs, who fell in the service of the nation, he enlisted Oct. 15, 1862, in the 143rd Regiment, New York Infantry, and was commissioned second lieutenant. He was soon promoted to first lieutenant, and on April 24, 1863, was detached from his regiment and appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of Major General James Wadsworth, commanding the 1st division of the First Army Corps.
In the battle of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, Lt. Carrington served with distinction, especially at Gettysburg, where his horse was killed under him. In the report submitted by his commanding officer following the battles, he received well-deserved recognition for his gallantry in action.
When General Wadsworth was temporarily retired from active duty, his able aide-de-camp was assigned to the staff of Brigadier-General John Newton, and served with him in all the battles leading to the capture of Atlanta. At Kennesaw Mountain every member of General Newton’s staff was wounded except Lt. Carrington, who seemed to bear a charmed life. When General Newton was ordered to Key West, Lt. Carrington accompanied him, and was appointed assistant judge of the provost court, an assignment for which he was well qualified, due to an extensive knowledge of military law and practice.
During a respite from active duty, with three companions, he visited Cuba; which change proved a happy incident in contrast to strenuous service.
On returning to Key West, it was found that General Newton had departed on an expedition to St. Marks, Fla. While not under orders from his commanding officer to follow, he did so from choice, and on March 6, 1865, participated in the battle at Natural Bridge. On that fatal day he rode along the line of fire with General Newton as an encouragement to battle-weary and outnumbered troops. Later in the battle, while leading a desperate charge, the hissing bullet sang his sudden requiem, and he fell from his horse, mortally wounded. Soon after, in the presence of General Newton and several members of his staff, he passed from the field of conflict to a realm of peaceful rest.
"They saw in death his eyelids close,
Calmly as to a night’s repose,
Like flowers at set of sun."
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When the body of Lt. Carrington arrived in Colebrook for interment in the family plot in the Center Cemetery, funeral services were held Nov. 21, 1866, with Henry Hopkins, an intimate friend of the deceased, delivering the funeral eulogy. The large number assembled was a testimonial to the esteem and popularity of Ned Carrington in his hometown. Sorrowing friends also came from New York, New Haven, Hartford and nearby towns. The universal expression of sadness by those present seemed to say that a part of the sorrow was theirs to endure.
Doubtless some of those present remembered the address Lt. Carrington gave at a flag raising in 1861, when he said in part: "Proclamations will not save the Union; arguments won’t do it. The man who talks of nothing but peace while 185,000 bayonets are frowning ruin on our capitol and threatening to rend the flag of our glory into shreds, talks madness. There is only one way for us. Awful as war is, horrible as civil war is, we must fight."
Dr. Hopkins paid such tribute to the deceased as only a friend can pay to a friend. In closing, he said: "For my part, I acknowledge myself called to double duty for the friend whose life with my own was mingled, and as I read the inscription — aged 27 — I feel that I have not only my work to do in life, but his also."
Dr. Leonard Bacon of New Haven and Rev. Dean from Sandisfield, Mass., late captain in the Second Connecticut artillery, participated in the service. Following the service as the long funeral cortege wended its way to the cemetery on the hillside, the church bell seemed to toll with a new significance. Major-General John Newton, arriving in Winsted by the noon train, failed to reach Colebrook in time for the funeral service, but passed the evening with the Carrington family.
The bearers were from Yale, class of 1859, and Columbia Law School, class of 1862; namely, Lieutenant-Colonel H. Watkins, 143rd Regiment, New York Volunteers; Major Charles H. Hatch, 13th New York Cavalry; Rev. Joseph Twichell from the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford; John Jay Hannahs, Dean Sage, Eugene Smith, professional men from New York.
After the committal service, and the farewell bugle notes died away among the echoes, all that was mortal of Ned Carrington was returned to "Mother Earth," and the throng of relatives and friends in a spirit of mingled sadness and sorrow departed from the "silent city."
