Carlin, William Passmore, 1829-1903

William P. Carlin was born at Rich Woods in Greene County, Illinois, and educated in the local schools. His parents were William B. Carlin (1804-1850) and Mary Carlin (née Goode, 1805-1888). His uncle Thomas Carlin, a Jacksonian Democrat and veteran of the War of 1812 served as Illinois' governor when William was a boy. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and graduated in 1850, ranking 20th out of 44. Among his classmates were future six Civil War generals, including Gouverneur K. Warren and William L. Cabell.

Carlin was appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the 6th U.S. Infantry and assigned to duty on the Western frontier at Fort Snelling and other subsequent posts. He spent much of the next decade on garrison duty, although he participated in several minor campaigns and expeditions to quell warring Plains Indians, including William S. Harney's 1855 campaign against the Sioux (for which he was promoted to first lieutenant) and the 1857 expedition of Edwin V. Sumner against the Cheyenne tribe. He then was involved in the Utah War in 1858 in a U.S. Army force led by Albert Sidney Johnston, a future Confederate general. Carlin rose to the rank of captain in the Regular Army.

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