Herman C. Carlton was appointed sergeant on November 1, 1861, and was discharged on May 11, 1862. He subsequently enlisted in Co. B, 5th (aka 8th) Arkansas Cavalry, and was elected second lieutenant on February 10, 1863, and was serving at that rank as late as February 29, 1864 (last muster roll of record). He was never a captain in the 9th Arkansas.
Abe Bresler's postwar recollection was faulty. There is no record of his ever having served in the 9th Arkansas Infantry, nor is there any record of the three mess-mates he mentioned. His recollection that the 9th Arkansas was stationed "20 miles above Memphis," presumably a reference to Fort Pillow, is also wrong. There were some Arkansas troops at Fort Pillow in 1861, but the 9th Arkansas was not one of them. The 9th Arkansas camped about 3 miles northeast of Memphis briefly before marching to Union City, but that was nowhere near Fort Pillow.
I wonder if he may instead have had a vague recollection of Capt. Charles H. Carlton, of the 15th Arkansas Infantry. The 15th Arkansas (then known as the 1st Regiment Arkansas State Troops) was stationed at Fort Pillow for a time, and Capt. John T. Trigg's battery seems to have had some affiliation with that regiment.
His pension application states that he served in Trigg's Arkansas Battery. Unfortunately, there are no surviving muster rolls from Trigg's Battery that I am aware of.