[2] A later historian and military biographer, Carter wrote several books including From Yorktown to Santiago with the 6th Cavalry (1900), Old Army Sketches (1906) and The Life of Lieutenant General Chaffee (1917) as well as a number articles and academic papers for professional and learned journals.

[2] After a year of scouting in the Arizona and New Mexico territories as well as the Mexican state of Sonora during early 1878, Carter won promotion to first lieutenant on April 14, 1879, and took part in the final stages of the campaign against Victorio from June to October 1880.

The following summer, he took part in the Comanche Campaign as an adjutant general to Colonel Eugene Asa Carr and was awarded the Medal of Honor "for distinguished bravery in action against the Apache Indians" when he and two others rescued wounded soldiers under heavy fire during the Battle of Cibecue Creek on August 30, 1881.

[2] Following the United States entry into the war, he was recalled to duty at the age of 65 and appointed commander of the Central Department of Chicago from August 1917 to February 1918 and was later awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

Suffering from serious respiratory problems in his later years, likely related to heart disease, he died at his home in Washington, D.C., on May 24, 1925, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.