Litchfield enquirer., 1868-05-28
FORT FISHER AND GEN! TERRY,

undeserved reproaches were thrown out
 against the Academy for failing to accom- plish impossibihties, and the country seem-
 ed ignorant of the familiar principle, of
 which General Oullum here reminds us.
 that for great commanders, ability, knowl-
 edge, and experience all three-are essen-
 tlal. In 1861 there was no military expe-
 rlence in the country at all proportioned
 to the necessary scale of operations; there
 was, no doubt. more military ability among the men whose tastes had impelled them to
 seek West Point, than among the same
 number In civil life; and military knowl- edge was confired to the regular army and to the graduates Under these circum- stances, It would seem to have been clear where our leaders should have been sought exclusively at the outset. The assembled
 wisdom of the nation thought differently. and it is an instructive study to conpare the places held by political generals in the Union army early in the war with the re
 suits they had accomplished at it's close.y
 General Cullum, with the modesty of a vet
 eran, does not refer to this; but the Arr,
 Register for 1866, shows, that, of the
 enteen general officers of the regular
 at the end of the war, all but one%
 graduates at West! Point; and witho
 trachng from General TerryIs ;glor.
 Just to Say that his promotion was
 due to the enthusiasm for one valual
 tory, than for well-established gener. and that this victory was of straio
 ward sort that depends more on thes
 of troops than on their head. 9
 | Thus says the No'zb American Reo;s
 an appreciatiye and justly commenda
 article on General Cullum s excellent A
 grapical Register of the Officers and Gras
 ustes Of West Point. In passing, let once more aid m correcting popular ti apprehension concerning that institutios The General shows that it was by far most loyal branch of the public servic. There were four ex-presidents Tyler, FilR more, Pierce and Buchanan-living when the war broke out. How. much did they do towards sustaining the Union? There were four southern judges of the Supreme Court, two of whom remained loyal. Of the Sem ators ln Congress from the seeding states, but one, and of the Representatives, but ueree remained loyal. Of army officers who were appointed from civil life, nearly one half, count both North and South, left the service and joined the rebels. Of the West Point graduates, @ fraction over one fifth only entered into the rebellion General Cnllum says, with an honorable pride in his Alma Mater:-,;i s3--s .a ro'>!o,Ia,
 The statistics show that the West Point part of the army has been by far the most loyal branch of the public sa.-r;:-.4t-A Cnat one halfo of those from the South stood firm by the stars and stripes; and in the battles for the Union, that one tJM of those engaged laid down their lives, more than one hbird, and proba- bly, one half, were wounded, and the snrvi- vors can point with manly pride to their services here recorded for the preservation of the nations ut l!n caugoE5b oW IL aa The Revie,o well says, ss with these facts stated, the Academy needs no eulogy, and can securely rest her honor on her loyal children" Ee- afuE t-l. g.@s '24- lE C1
 But we made the extract at the head of this article for the purpose of correcting with which the -Reoiew rather fiippantly closes the paragraph. It serves a rhetori- cal purpose in strengthening the general that those who entered the war with West Point education had a great advantage, but, had the writer known the facts, he would have used General Terry's success to show that even he is not an ex- ception to the rule that the odds arc in fa- vor, in that business, as in all others, of the man who has been educated for it.
 From his youth General Terry took deep interest in military studies. He be- gan as Q private in the New Haven Grays and rose by fair promotion to be Colonel of the Second Regiment of the State Mili- tia, a position he held at the outbreak of the rebellion. Even in those days of the lamentable decadence of the military spir- it, it was very creditable organization. It was not a mere holiday amusement with the General. He understood thoroughly the duties of each grade. Though not 8 collegiah, in his wide range. of thorough reading, in general requirements and ac- complishmen ts he was the superior of most graduates. He was a, we'll read and logical lawyer, though by reason of his willing ness to take a .remunerative clerkship he did not do himself justice in that regard. He was an excellent mathematician and capable civil engineer, having had some practice in the field. Many West Pointers, like other collegians, practically treat their education as finished when they enter up- on active life and do very little at reading and studying the works for which their un- dergraduate studies are intended as an el- ementary preparation. General Terry not only studied military science in the En- glistl language, but purstied it zealously in French works which have never been pre- sented in English H6ehtered the service in 1861, abundantly qnalified to handle regiment, which can be said of very few of the ''politicaI generals" whom the Recie,O refers to, who were not contentito begin as Terry did, and even Grant and Sherman, as regimental comman5l lRrs, and who, con sequently, at the cldS5 of the war, even, were not we'll qualified to take good care of a company. And Terry studied all The
 more when lie entered the service. S IS
 not uncommon, but it is. still 2 superticial view to take. that the capture of Fort Fish. er was the result of 8 'sstraight, forward
 nnreasoning, savage charge, requiring chief iv r n,vsicsl courage and brief blaze of en- tbns;asm. It was one of the most skiiful- W and scientifically fought battles, or sie-
 3es rather, of the whole war: It would re- 9nire some columns of this sheet to do it
 even approximate justice, and we can spare
 but a paragraph or two. .7as 7l,,
 In approaching 8 fortified place, the gem
 eral in command must select the line upon
 which he will advance. He must take his position as nearly as possible and avail
 himself of all natural obstacles for his own protection. Then follow the lines of cir- cumyallation by which he seeks to hold of the allies or reinforcements of the beseig- led. Next, at the same time, his lines of connte allation, by which he seeks to en- close the beseiged. Then his gradual ap-