William R. Terry

William R. Terry was born in rural Liberty in Bedford County, to William Terry and Lettie Johnson Terry. He entered the Virginia Military Institute in July 1846 and graduated on July 4, 1850, ranking 15th in a class of 17 cadets. He then became a merchant and farmer. In 1856, Terry married Mary Adelaide Pemberton (died 1910). The couple had eight children together.[2] He moved with his family to Chesterfield County around 1880.

After Virginia seceded from the Union in early 1861, Terry raised a company of cavalry in Bedford County. His performance at the First Battle of Manassas garnered attention, praise, and a promotion in September to colonel of the 24th Virginia Infantry, replacing Jubal A. Early, who had been promoted to brigade command.[3] Leading a charge at the Battle of Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign, Terry suffered the worst of his several combat wounds during the Civil War. He was shot in the face and never fully recovered from it. He missed the Seven Days Battles, but returned to duty for the Northern Virginia Campaign in August. Later that year, he assumed temporary command of Kemper's Brigade of infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia before returning to his regimental command.

Terry was wounded during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, and later assumed command of the severely wounded James Kemper's brigade. Pickett's rebuilt division was assigned later that year to duty in North Carolina, where it participated in the attacks on New Bern.

On May 31, 1864, Terry was promoted to brigadier general and led his depleted troops during the Battle of Cold Harbor and throughout the Siege of Petersburg. He suffered his seventh battle wound on March 31, 1865, at the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House.

Following the war, Terry returned to Bedford County and was elected to the Virginia Senate, serving for a total of eight years, beginning in the first session after adoption of the Virginia Constitution of 1868.[4] He was also Master of the Liberty Masonic Lodge (1871-1872).[5] Terry also served briefly as a prison superintendent of the State Penitentiary. He was in charge of the Robert E. Lee Camp of Confederate Soldiers' Home in Richmond, Virginia, from 1886 until 1893.

Terry died in Chesterfield County, Virginia, and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.[6]

In 1902, the Bedford Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was started and named after him. They recently put a highway marker up at his childhood home of Oakwood in the town of Bedford, VA.

• List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)

• Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
• Evans, Clement A., ed. Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History. 12 vols. Volume 3. Hotchkiss, Jed. Virginia. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899. OCLC 833588. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
• Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
• Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
• VMI archives

• generalsandbrevets.com photo gallery of W. R. Terry at the Wayback Machine (archived February 8, 2008)
• Antietam on the Web - brief biography of Terry and his role at Antietam
• Virginia Civil War Biographies
•  "Terry, William Richard" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1889.