The Richmond palladium., 1865-02-23
Frora the Gazette
The Hero of Fort Fisher.


do so with an approximating accuracy,
He is the eldest son of ten living chill
dren; five brothers and five sisters three
of TIE sons are in the army.
He comes from good ancestry.
Among these was the intrepid Captain
Wadsworth. who on 3 day in spring. la6
wears ago, made hollow oak at Hart
ford famous by secreting within it, and
so saving the charter OF Connecticut
from usurping hands. Both of his
grandfathers, General Nathaniel Ferry
and Gen. Hezekiah Howe, of New Ha-
ven, were identified with the military
history of the State in the war of lsl2.-
The former at that era commanded that
ancient company the Governors Guard,
which still preserves its revolutionary
costume and Baron Steuben drill: for
arrayed in scarlet and gold, short breech
es, powdered hair and cooked hats, it
marches the streets of Hartford town,
with slow and solemn tread, in the full
dignity and magnifcence of war, in an
age so calm and leisurely that one mere
glance back is sedative. The latter
commanded the troops on the Groton
side of the Thames when the fleet of
Decatur, was blockaded by that of
Hardy. Moreover, as military com
mander of New Haven, at an alarm that
! .'the red coats were coming, he ordered
the meeting house bells to be rung. No
immense matter this to the readers OF
( the CINCINNATI GAZETTE in 1865, but
7 big thing to the New Haven folks in 1913.
Long lines of dust cloud on the roads
/ out of town marked the hegira of a
! startled, fleeing people. Frightened wo
I men dug pits in garden and cellars,
and buried feather beds and crockery
> \ ct We have no tradition that anS off
them in these excavations stru"'-'Go, 10 |
ing fountains of PetroleupSTaRT t.,s re /
served to a later era for grease crazy [
populations to be nursed, Graded, school /
ed, and then sent whirling on unctious
travels in start before breakfast lightning 7
trains.
Thirty seven years since November /
last, Alfred Howe Terry was born in
Hartford. The family soon removed to
New Haven, where he was educated at
the law school. Thereafter for many
years he was Clerk of the Superior
Court of Connecticut, and "a born
soldier out of line Long before I
the rebellion he became an amateur
student of military science. Works up
on engineering. fortifcation, strategy I
and gunnery were his delight. His Ii /
brary was stocked with them, and in va
rious languages. Under his vacated pill I
low in the morning was often found alb
struse treatises on the ar. of war-the
last thing read at night. On the tables
were military maps. To increase his
knowledge he frequently visited West
Point and formed friendships with its
Professors In 1860 he was in Europe
and examined fortifcations and the re
cent battlefields of Italy with zeal that
astonished his peacefully inclined fellow
stS % ho1 -nrlti iytaay laf
his country would some day have use for
him. So proficient did he become in
simple tactics that he would maneuver
regiment readily the Grst day he took
command as ever after.
He possessed n natural aptitude for
quickly discerning the most intricate
evolutions of a complicated machinery.
The military mind and that of the me
chanism must be near akin. Such a
spirit West Point could neither make
nor unma1e, especially when we consid-
er that until recently the higher branch
es of military science were but begun
there. In some of these, few graduates
were more proficient than he. A few
months of war had passed when he was
appointed member Of a board for ex-
amining newly created officers-an honor
probably not ever before bestowed upon
a non graduate.
Connecticut raised two regiments of
three months volunteers. Gen. Daniel I
Tyler commanded the lst; Terry the ID {
Both were at Bull Bun. Terrvs was /
one of the few regiments honorably |
mentioned in the record of that battle ,
He brought them off unbroken from the .
panic stricken field, and in their leisure
ly retreat they stopped and took down -
the tents of a heels exhibiting regiment,
and carried them into Washington
Soon after he was appointed to the com I
mand of the eth Connecticut At the a
reduction of the forts at Hilton Head his |
was the first to land Terry himself be t
ing the first man of all the land and sea
forces to press his foot upon the soil of ,,
the supercilious slave barons. The 7th
Connecticut garrisoned Fort Pulaski for
distinguished service during that memor-
able siege.
\ pleasant anecdote is told of him q
here. As Col. Olmstead, the rebel com |
mandant, was about EN- barking for new ,
quarters at Fort Lafayette. Terry OBJ
served to him that probably his funds
would not be current where he was
going, at the same time delicately ten
derng him the loan of $50 in greenbacks
This unexpected generosity in an enc
my, affected Olmstead to tears.
An incident occurred to him while {
Military Governor at St Augustine, OF a
different nature. \ woman came before
him and complained that her slave,
whom she had brought from the West
Indies, had been enticed from her. and
arrogantly demanded his restoration.
Terry, an original Republican, and anti t
slavery in all his instincts, thereupon in {
quired: .
When did you bring him from the :
West Indies -
In 1886" she replied
Madame" rejoined Terry, sternly,
Were you not aware that by law of
the United States, passed in 1880, that to .
bring a person into this country for the
purpose OF enslaving him, is adjudged to !.
be Piracy punishable with death.' !
In the fail of 1861, Terry was offered {