Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-20
N HONoRED CONNECTICUT so1
Interesting "Reminiscences of General
 Alfred HI. Terry.


 Interesting "Reminiscences of General
 Alfred HI. Terry.
 The Cincinnati Commercial Gazette in a recent issue has the following contribution from our townsman Henry Howe, who is now in Ono, as before stated, and returns to this city next autumn:
 MT. Henry Howe, author of Historical Collections of Ohio," who is now travelling again, after 6 lapse of forty years, over this State collecting material for 8 second edition of that work, is an uncle of General Alfred H. Terry and has kindly supplied some paragraphs concerning him. MT. Howe says: As a near relative and lifelong acquaint ance of General Terry, recently appointed as successor of General Hancock, can supply a few items that may be of some public inter- est His full name is Alfred Howe Terry. He was born in Hartford, Conn.,, in Novem- Der, 1898, direct descendant of the Captain Wadsworth who, by his choice of place for se- creting the charter of Connecticut, made an oak tree famous. He is of military stock, after the militia order; each of his grand fathers, Hezekiah Howe of New Haven and Nathaniel Terry of Hartford were generals of Connecticut br1gades about the time ot the war of 1S12.
 When he was four years of age the family removed to New Haven, where he lived until | the outbreak of the rebellion. He was nev- CT student at Yale, but graduated at it's | Law school, and for years after he was clerk | of the Superior court.
 He was hard student and made the sci l ence of war a special study. He felt there would be use for it and in connection with 1 the slave question, which he thought in his day would come to bloody issue. His l- l brary was filled with works of this character, | including military maps and abstruse treatises He was often visitor at West Point, and the year before the war he was in Europe, where he visited battlefelds and in- spected Notifications, all in accordance with his favorite study.
 Of the thrill of horror and indignation which ran through the North on the fall of Sumpter none of this generation can con- ceive. On the morning of the receipt of the news he and his intimate friend, Harry B. Harrison, now Governor of Connecticut, both then young men, were walking arm-in arm and passed amid the indignant throng to witness the raising of the flag on the Green. ''Never," said Harrison, in 8 speech flag look so glorious and as it's bright folds futtered under the pure blue of heaven, when Terry looked up and with streaming eyes exclaimed: I am going into this war, and, so help me God, I'll never sheath my sword until that flag again waves over the last revolted State"
 Connecticut raised two regiments at Lin coln's call for 75,000 men. The first was commanded by Daniel Tyler, an old West Point graduate; the second by Alfred Howe Terry. Both were at the defeat of Bull Run. Terry met with some loss, but brought off his regiment in perfect order.
 On the disbandment of the 75,000 men, Terry was appointed in the fall to the com mand of the Seventh Connecticut and was assigned to the department of the South, headquarters at Hilton Head, in which re- zion he was engaged in various military ope- rations, already a matter of public knowI- edge.
 Before the attack on Fort Fisher Terry visited Admiral Porter on board his flagship and arranged with him his plan of attack. In this Porter was to direct the fire of the squadron upon certain parts of the fort ac- cording to flag signals from Terry. This was the first time in the war that such an arrangement was made. By it certain parts of the walls were cleared of its defenders so that the storming party were enabled to sur mount them and effected lodgment within. There the struggle was continued for hours, the enemy being driven from easement to easement in 8 severe bloody hand to hand fight This was the first earthwork of that character that had been successfully stormed.
 When the news of the fall of the fort reached Washington General Butler was in the act of testifying, before f'the committee of Congress on the conduct of the war" that the fort was impregnable, 8 veritable Gibral- tar-that it could not be taken. Suddenly their attention was arrested by the cries of the newsboys under the window: "Fort Fisher takenl Fort Fisher taken" The e1- citement coming so close on ''the heels' of Buffers failure was tremendous. Congress at once, by unanimous vote, returned Ter " their thanks and commissioned him brig adler general in the regular army. This was the first, and l believe the only instance in the course of the war in which an officer in the volunteer force, and not West Point al in the regular army.
 Great as was the capture of Fort Fisher, Gen. Terry prided himself more upon the management of some minor actions before Richmond than even in that success. Of one of these Gen. Grant was an eye witness, and he said it was impossible for one better to handle troops. It was on the occasion when Terry advanced to within sight of Richmond and could have entered had his orders al- lowed. Grants knowledge obtained of Terry then led him to put him in command of the Fisher expedition, after the failure of Butler.
 While during the war Washington city was thronged with generals away from their com mands, Terry was not among them; So that it was not until it's close that he met Lincoln. "Why," said the President, 'have we not seen you before!" Because" he replied 'my duties have kept me at the fort"
 General Terry IS 1n person very tall, six feet three inches in stature, slender, weigh ing two hundred pounds. He is a blonde, looking" as General Sherman years ago said, "more like scholar than soldier, but is every inch a soldier, and we in the army thought the world of him." His head is large, especially full in the region of the temples. He is reticent in habit, mod est, unobtrusive and of a strong, kindly, generous nature. He is especially fond of and bends down to children. though he has none of his own, never having married.
 General Terry's name is rarely seen in con- nection with public gatherings of army men or as present public occasions of any sort. With innate modesty he shrinks from notoriety. But he never fails when possible to be present at the reunions of the surviving members of his old regiment, the Seventh Connecticut, few score of whom are yet lingering in New Ha- ven and adjacent counties. They come to- gether largely grey and grizz,ed veterans to revive holy memories of the times in the long past when young and hopeful they marched with solid tramp under their greatly beloved commander to do battle for the dear old flag Union and Liberty. H. H.
 Hunts Hotel, Cincinnati, March 13.