Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/88

66 Virginia campaign of 1864, and at times the corps itself. He was brevetted major-general of volun- teers on 20 Aug., 1864, became permanent com- mander of the 10th corps in October, and held that place until the corps was merged in the 24th in the following December, when he was assigned to lead the 1st division of the new corps. He com- manded at the action of Chester Station, and was engaged at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, the various combats in front of the Bermuda Hundred lines, the battle of Fussell's Mills, the action at Deep Bottom, the siege of Petersburg, the actions at Newmarket heights on the Newmarket road, the Darbytown road, and the Williamsburg road. On 2 Jan., 1865, after the failure of the first attempt to take Fort Fisher, which commanded the sea- approaches to Wilmington, N. C, Gen. Terry was ordered to renew the attack with a force number- ing a little over 8,000 men. On the 13th he de- barked his troops about five miles above the fort, and, finding himself confronted by Gen. Robert F. Hoke's Confederate division, proceeded to throw a line of strong intrenchments across the peninsula between the sea and Cape Fear river, facing toward Wilmington, and about two miles north of the fort. After the landing of the troops, the co-operating fleet, under Admiral David D. Porter, numbering 44 vessels and mounting upward of 500 guns, opened fire upon the work, and from 4.30 to 6 p. m. four shots a second, or 20,000 in all, were fired. This was the heaviest bombardment of the war. On the 14th the line of intrenchment was com- pleted, and Gen. Charles J. Paine's division of in- fantry was placed upon it. While this was in progress. Gen. Terry made a reconnoissance of the fort, and, in view of the difficulty of landing sup- plies for his troops and the materials for a siege upon an open, unprotected beach in midwinter, he determined to carry the work by assault the next day, and the plan of attack was arranged with Ad- miral Porter. At 11 a. m. on the 15th tiie entire fleet opened fire, silencing nearly every gun in the fort. Gen. Newton M. Curtis's brigade of Gen. Adelbert Ames's division was then pushed forward by regiments to a point 200 yards from the fort, where it sheltered itself in shallow trenches, and the remainder of the division was brought up with- in supporting distance. Admiral Porter had landed 2,000 sailors and marines, and their commander pushed a line of skirmishers up within 200 yards of the eastern extremity of the northern face of the work, the attack of the troops being upon the western extremity of that face. At 3.30 p. m., on a signal from Gen. Terry to Admiral Porter, the fire of the fleet was diverted from the points of attack, and the leading brigade rushed upon the work and gained a foothold upon the parapet. The column of sailors and marines followed the exam- ple of the troops, but. having to advance for a dis- tance of about 600 yards along the open beach, they were unable to stem the fire of the work. Some of them reached the foot of the parapet, but the mass of them, after a display of great gallantry, was forced to fall back. After Gen. Curtis had gained the parapet, Gen. Ames ordered forward in succes- sion the second and third brigades of his division, and they entered the fort. This was constructed with a series of traverses, each of which was stub- bornly held. Hand-to-hand fighting of the most obstinate character ensued, the traverses being used successively as breastworks, over the tops of which the opposing parties fired into one another's faces. By five o'clock nine of these traverses had been car- ried. Gen. Terry then ordered up re-enforcements, consisting of a brigade and an additional regiment from the intrenched line, the sailors and marines taking their places there ; by nine o'clock two more traverses were carried, and an hour later the occu- pation of the work was complete. The Confeder- ate force fell back disorganized to a small work near the point of the peninsula, where, being- im- mediately pursued, it surrendered unconditionally. The garrison originally numbered 2,500 men, of whom 1,971 men, with 112 officers, were captured; the others were killed or wounded. The fall of the fort was followed by the abandonment of Fort Caswell and the other defences of the Cape Fear river. In these works were captured 169 pieces of artillery, 2,000 small arms, and a considerable quan- tity of ammunition and commissary stores. The National loss was 681 men, of whom 88 were killed. For this Gen. Terry was promoted to be brigadier- general in the regular army and major-general of volunteers, and congress passed a vote of thanks " to Brevet Maj.-Gen. A. H. Terry and the officers and soldiers under his command for the unsur- passed gallantry and skill exhibited by them in the attack upon Fort Fisher, and the brilliant and de- cisive victory by which that important work has been captured from the rebel forces and placed in the possession and under the authority of the United States, and for their long and faithful ser- vice and unwavering devotion to the cause of the country in the midst of the greatest difficulties and dangers." Gen. Terry was engaged in the capture of Wilmington, N. C, and commanded at the com- bat at Northeast creek, which followed. In April, 1865, the 10th army corps was reconstituted, and Gen. Terry was assigned to its command, and with it took part in the subsequent operations under Gen. William T. Sherman in North Carolina. He was brevetted major-general in the regular army on 13 March, 1865, for his services at the capture of Wilmington. Since the close of the war he has commanded in succession the Departments of Vir- ginia, Dakota, and the South, and again the De- partment of Dakota. He was promoted to the rank of major-general, 3 March, 1886, and was in charge of the division of the Missouri, with head- quarters at Chicago, until his voluntary retirement from the armv in April, 1888.

TERRY, Eli, clock-maker, b. in East Windsor, Conn., 13 April, 1772 ; d. in Terryville, Conn., 24 Feb., 1852. He was apprenticed to Thomas Harland, a maker of brass clocks in Norwich, Conn., and there acquired the rudiments of his trade. In 1792 he made his first wooden clock, which is still preserved in the family, and is one of the first that was made in this country. A year later he settled in Plymouth, Conn., and there began the manufacture of wooden and brass clocks, but soon ceased to make the latter, as the former, being much cheaper than the metal ones and quite as good time - keepers, proved far more salable. About 1797 Mr. Terry invented a clock that registered the difference between mean and apparent time, but its cost prevented it from becoming popular. Mr. Terry worked alone until 1800, when he hired two men to assist him, and then for several years frequently travelled on horseback through the country selling his clocks. The business increased, and in 1807 he contracted to deliver 4,000 movements to a Waterbury firm, which order took him three years to complete. The success of this undertaking marks the beginning of the making of wooden clocks as an industry. Mr. Terry had in his employ at this time Silas Hoadley and Seth Thomas, who in 1810 purchased his business, then the largest of its kind in the United States. In 1814 he produced the Terry shelf-clock, also of