Joseph Carter Abbott (July 15, 1825 – October 8, 1881) was a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War who was awarded the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers and a Republican United States senator from the state of North Carolina between 1868 and 1871. During his career in private life he was a lawyer, newspaper editor and businessman. He also served as collector of the port of Wilmington, inspector of posts along the eastern line of the southern coast during the Rutherford B. Hayes Administration, and special agent of the United States Treasury Department.

Abbott was born in Concord, New Hampshire on July 15, 1825, to farmer Aaron Carter Abbott and Nancy Badger. He attended public schools in Concord and attended Phillips Academy Andover, Massachusetts to prepare for college attendance, graduating in 1846. Instead of pursing a college education, he read law in Concord and Manchester, and was admitted to the bar in 1853 and opened a practice in Concord.

In April 1851, Abbott became editor of the Manchester American. Six months later he became editor of the New Hampshire Statesman published at Concord. In May 1852, he moved to Manchester and became editor and owner of the Manchester American. He sold his interest in the newspaper in 1857. From May 1859 to May 1861, he served as an editor and part owner of the Boston Atlas and Bee.

Abbott was an active member of the Whig Party and supported its ideas of American nationalism and economic growth. He chaired the committee on resolutions at the party's state convention in 1852 and served on its state executive committee for two years. Following the collapse of the Whig Party, Abbott joined the Know Nothing Party, which later collapsed and was partly subsumed by the Republican Party. In July 1855, Abbott was appointed Adjutant General of New Hampshire. In 1857, he authored and successfully lobbied the passage of a bill which reorganized the state militia.

Amidst a sectional crisis in the United States, South Carolina forces launched an attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, beginning the American Civil War. In response, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for the states to raise their militias to suppress the fledging insurrection. Governor of New Hampshire Ichabod Goodwin ordered Abbott in his capacity as adjutant general to assemble 10 companies of volunteers from the state militia for federal service. Abbott opened enlistment offices across New Hampshire and fielded reports from recruiting officers on their progress.

Abbott resigned his adjutant generalship in July and was dispatched to Washington D.C. to serve as a liaison between New Hampshire and the federal government. U.S. Secretary of War Simon Cameron authorized him to raise a federal regiment in New Hampshire on September 2. On October 2, Abbott became the lieutenant colonel of the fledging regiment and took charge of its mustering camp in Manchester. Insisting that an officer with formal military education be given charge of the unit, at his suggestion the governor commissioned Haldimand S. Putnam as colonel. Other officers were commissioned at Abbott's preference. Organization of the 7th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment was completed on December 14.

Abbott participated in the battles of Port Royal Sound, St. John's Bluff, Fort Pulaski and Fort Wagner. In November 1863, he became colonel of the regiment and led it at the Battle of Olustee and during the subsequent Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia.

During the siege of Petersburg, he commanded the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, X Corps at Chaffin's Farm and the subsequent actions along the Darbytown and New Market Roads. The Army of the James was then reorganized and his command became the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XXIV Corps which was attached to the Fort Fisher Expeditionary Corps under Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry and participated in the second battle of Fort Fisher and the capture of Wilmington. Although Abbott was not appointed as a full, substantive rank general, on January 25, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Abbott for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from January 15, 1865 for gallant services in the capture of Fort Fisher and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on February 14, 1865. During the final stages of the war, he was stationed in Wilmington, North Carolina.