William Terry of Virginia

Great Seal of the Confederate States of America

Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia

University of Virginia Rotunda designed by Thomas Jefferson	William Terry 1824-1888 William Terry was born 14 August 1824 in Amherst County, Virginia.. He attended an “old field school” in Amherst County, receiving a "Classical education". and graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1848. Terry taught school; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1851 and commenced his practice in Wytheville, Virginia. He also engaged in newspaper work, editing the Wytheville Telegraph. He wed Emily Burton Wigginton (born November 1827 in Bedford, Virginia), on 25 October 1852. They had seven children: Benjamin W. Terry b: abt.1854 in Virginia, William Terry , Jr. b: August 1855 in Virginia, John Young Terry b: March 1858 in Virginia, Elizabeth E. Terry b: abt. 1864 in Virginia, Lacy B. Terry b: 14 September 1866 in Virginia, and Kate Waller Terry b: June 1870 in Virginia..	William Terry
Terry was lieutenant of the Wythe Grays at the time of the John Brown affair at Harper's Ferry, to which point he went with his company in 1859. In April, 1861, he was again at Harper's Ferry, and was assigned to the Fourth Virginia regiment, Jackson's brigade, as first lieutenant of his company. He participated in the service of his regiment at the first battle of Manassas, and in the spring of 1862 was promoted major, in which rank he served with credit on the fields of Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill. He was with Jackson's corps in the campaign against Pope, was wounded in the battle of Second Manassas, July 28th, and was mentioned for gallantry in the report of General Taliaferro. In the same rank he commanded the Fourth regiment in the battle of Fredericksburg, after the wounding of Colonel Gardner; also at Chancellorsville, where his command lost 140 men out of a total of 355; and at Gettysburg and Payne's Farm. Promotion rapidly followed, to colonel of the Fourth regiment to date from September, 1863, and to brigadier-general after the Wilderness and Spottsylvania campaign, in which he participated with credit. On May 2ist he was assigned to the command of a brigade formed from the survivors of the Stonewall brigade and the brigades of J. M. Jones and G. H. Steuart, who had escaped from the disaster of May 12th at the "bloody angle". In this capacity he took part in the fighting on the Cold Harbor line, and the defense of Petersburg, and commanded his brigade during Early's campaign in the Shenandoah valley, participating in the defeat of the Federals at Shepherdstown August 25th, and fighting gallantly at Winchester, where he was one of the seven distinguished Confederate generals who fell killed or wounded. He returned with his brigade to the Petersburg lines, and on March 25, 1865, was again wounded while leading his command in the sortie of Gordon's corps against Fort Stedman. During the retreat of the army to Appomattox, he was at home disabled by wounds, but when the news of the surrender reached him, he mounted his horse, with indomitable courage, and started out to join the army in North Carolina. After the war, he returned to his law practice and in 1868 was nominated to the US Congress, but could not make the race because of political disabilities. Upon removal of the disabilities he was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-second and Forty-fourth Congresses. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880.
Wulliam Terry monument East End Cemetery	On September 5, 1888, he drowned while attempting to ford Reed Creek, near Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia.. Interment was at East End Cemetery, in Wytheville, Virginia..	William Terry footstone East End Cemetery

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Resources for this project:
Units if the Confederate States Army By Joseph H. Crute, Jr 1987 Derwent Books Midlothian, Virginia
List of Field Officers Regiments and Battalions in the Confederate States Army 1861-1865 Claude Estes The J. W. Burkes Co. Macon, Georgia
Twenty- fourth Virginia Infantry By Ralph White Gunn 1987 H. E. Howard, Inc. Lynchburg, Virginia
Various Internet sources, including:
Virginia Civil War Biographies Page
University of Virginia
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Ancestry.com

Edited 18 January 2010