[Vision2020] Army honors highly decorated Civil War Soldier

[Janesta]

Great share, Tom! gave me goose bumps!

On Sat, Apr 6, 2013 at 11:13 AM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtesy of the U.S. Army at:
>
> http://www.army.mil/article/100410/
>
> -------------------------------------
> [image: size0.jpg]Army honors highly decorated Civil War Soldier
>
> WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 5, 2013) -- A Union Army war hero and
> Medal of Honor recipient was recognized recently by the Army for brave and
> honorable service, when a past injustice to his record was corrected.
>
> That Soldier's story begins in the early days of the Civil War.
>
> In May 1861, young John Darling Terry left home in Montville, Maine, for
> Boston where, on the 23rd, he joined the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer
> Regiment. He was only 15.
>
> Just a month before Terry enlisted, the Confederate guns had fired on
> Union defenders at Fort Sumter, S.C., signaling the opening volley of the
> Civil War.
>
> Terry's story is compelling, but the final chapter of his service remained
> to be completed nearly 150 years later.
>
> This year, the highest echelon of Army record reviewers, the Army Board
> for Corrections of Military Records, or ABCMR, heard Terry's case and
> completed that work.
>
> Robert "Bob" Haddon Terry, Terry's great grandson, was instrumental in
> providing critical documents, obtained from the National Archives, to the
> board for their review. Much of what follows is a result of his decade of
> diligent research.
>
> Terry's service with the 1st was short-lived. His father notified the Army
> that his son was underage; so on July 5, just two months after he enlisted,
> Terry was discharged.
>
> But he was persistent. On Sept. 5, 1861, just two days after turning 16,
> Terry joined the 23rd Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment despite Army policy
> that a young man needed to be at least 18 to don the uniform.
>
> Six months later, Terry would be tested in combat.
>
> NORTH CAROLINA BATTLES
>
> In March 1862, Terry arrived in North Carolina with the 23rd. Since many
> of his fellow Soldiers came from fishing towns along the New England coast,
> the Soldiers embarked on Union gunboats and attacked Confederate vessels
> and forts in a naval engagement and amphibious operation around Roanoke
> Island near the Virginia border.
>
> Terry's gunboat blew up and his clothing caught fire. He jumped into the
> water to quell the flames, but survived with minor injuries. The Union
> forces were victorious.
>
> On March 13, 1862, Brig. Gen. John G. Foster led the 23rd and sister
> regiments in battle against Confederate forces near the town of New Bern,
> in northeastern North Carolina.
>
> During that epic battle, Terry was shot in the lower left leg, which later
> had to be amputated below the knee.
>
> In 1882, Terry was interviewed by John S. Pierson for the book "Sabre and
> Bayonet: Stories of Heroism and Military Adventure." In one of the
> passages, Terry said:
>
> "On the 13th day of March, 1862, the 23rd Regiment Mass. Vols., landed
> some 15 miles below Newbern, N.C., my arm still very sore and lame from a
> contused wound received in the fight at Roanoke Island, some few weeks
> before. Company E, in which I was a sergeant, was recruited in the old
> historic town of Plymouth, Mass., strong, healthy, robust young fellows,
> all of whom were accustomed to the management of boats, and therefore we
> were detailed to man the boats and disembark the regiment.
>
> "I had charge of the vessel's 'cutter,' and worked very hard in order to
> make the most landings. After the regiment was all ashore we took up line
> of march by the right flank towards Newbern. It came on to rain very hard
> and the narrow road was in bad condition. Just before dark we went into
> bivouac in the woods, on the left of the road, having marched about 13
> miles that day, very hungry, cold, wet, sore, and tired. My arms became
> very painful, and to sleep was entirely out of the question, and to make a
> fire was contrary to orders."
>
> "Daylight, however, broke at last and with a little half cooked coffee and
> well soaked crackers, we were soon on our way to 'do or die,' and almost
> before we knew it, were under fire, shooting away for dear life. In going
> from the road into and up through a little ravine, column of fours, the
> Col. (John Kurtz) passed us and called to me to go with him. I had been
> acting as right general guide of the regiment. Soon afterwards the colonel
> ordered me to go down the rear line and find the lieutenant colonel."
>
> "In obeying this order I saw that the regimental line was very ragged;
> everybody seemed to be all mixed up with one another, and badly scattered
> from their own companies. I sought out Company E. and found the men brave
> as young lions, but in bad order and no officer in command, captain
> wounded. I immediately reported these facts to the colonel, whereupon to my
> great astonishment and delight, he ordered me to go back and take command
> of the company. I did so, and succeeded in getting the men well up and
> together, and they very soon became steady as old veterans."
>
> "We had been firing some little time when the lieutenant colonel came to
> me and asked if I saw a single gun (12 pounder) that the enemy had got out
> in front of Fort Thompson, this fort contained 12 guns. I answered him that
> I did. This single gun was doing our ranks great injury."
>
> "The lieutenant colonel then asked me if I thought we could charge and
> take it. We charged, we got the gun, the very last shot from which, before
> we reached it, got me with seven other comrades, including the lieutenant
> colonel, killed. My foot was gone, and we were left on the field in very
> nearly the same spot as where we fell. Our regiment claimed this gun, and
> (Maj. Gen. Ambrose) Burnside ordered that it should remain with the
> regiment. Some days after the fight (and my foot had been amputated) Col.
> Kurtz and Gen. Burnside visited the hospital and the colonel told me that I
> should have a commission. I got that, and the Congressional Medal of Honor
> besides."
>
> Terry's actual Medal of Honor citation is terse but telling: "In the
> thickest of the fight, where he lost his leg by a shot, still encouraged
> the men until carried off the field."
>
> That would have been the end of the war for many, but Terry had different
> ideas.
>
> He was sent to Lexington Army Hospital in New York City, where he was
> fitted with what was described as a wooden "peg leg." He remained in the
> hospital for rehabilitation, serving as the sergeant of arms until he was
> discharged as an "invalid" on March 20, 1863.
>
> DRAFT RIOTS
>
> While remaining in New York, Terry attempted to reenter "active service."
> In July 1863, the notorious draft riots broke out. The protestors were
> angry at Lincoln and Congress for initiating a Civil War draft, since the
> war at that time was unpopular in many areas of the North.
>
> Protestors took their anger out on African-Americans, killing an estimated
> 100. Police, augmented by Union Soldiers and volunteer militia, were called
> in to quell the riots.
>
> Terry, now classified as an "invalid" by the Army, volunteered for service
> with the outnumbered military forces in New York City, where he was ordered
> by Maj. Gen. Harvey Brown "to deliver the muskets and ammunition to the
> Custom House and Post Office authorities for their defense," Terry wrote in
> a letter.
>
> WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 5, 2013) -- A Union Army war hero and
> Medal of Honor recipient was recognized recently by the Army for brave and
> honorable service, when a past injustice to his record was corrected.
>
> That Soldier's story begins in the early days of the Civil War.
>
> In May 1861, young John Darling Terry left home in Montville, Maine, for
> Boston where, on the 23rd, he joined the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer
> Regiment. He was only 15.
>
> Just a month before Terry enlisted, the Confederate guns had fired on
> Union defenders at Fort Sumter, S.C., signaling the opening volley of the
> Civil War.
>
> Terry's story is compelling, but the final chapter of his service remained
> to be completed nearly 150 years later.
>
> This year, the highest echelon of Army record reviewers, the Army Board
> for Corrections of Military Records, or ABCMR, heard Terry's case and
> completed that work.
>
> Robert "Bob" Haddon Terry, Terry's great grandson, was instrumental in
> providing critical documents, obtained from the National Archives, to the
> board for their review. Much of what follows is a result of his decade of
> diligent research.
>
> Terry's service with the 1st was short-lived. His father notified the Army
> that his son was underage; so on July 5, just two months after he enlisted,
> Terry was discharged.
>
> But he was persistent. On Sept. 5, 1861, just two days after turning 16,
> Terry joined the 23rd Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment despite Army policy
> that a young man needed to be at least 18 to don the uniform.
>
> Six months later, Terry would be tested in combat.
>
> NORTH CAROLINA BATTLES
>
> In March 1862, Terry arrived in North Carolina with the 23rd. Since many
> of his fellow Soldiers came from fishing towns along the New England coast,
> the Soldiers embarked on Union gunboats and attacked Confederate vessels
> and forts in a naval engagement and amphibious operation around Roanoke
> Island near the Virginia border.
>
> Terry's gunboat blew up and his clothing caught fire. He jumped into the
> water to quell the flames, but survived with minor injuries. The Union
> forces were victorious.
>
> On March 13, 1862, Brig. Gen. John G. Foster led the 23rd and sister
> regiments in battle against Confederate forces near the town of New Bern,
> in northeastern North Carolina.
>
> During that epic battle, Terry was shot in the lower left leg, which later
> had to be amputated below the knee.
>
> In 1882, Terry was interviewed by John S. Pierson for the book "Sabre and
> Bayonet: Stories of Heroism and Military Adventure." In one of the
> passages, Terry said:
>
> "On the 13th day of March, 1862, the 23rd Regiment Mass. Vols., landed
> some 15 miles below Newbern, N.C., my arm still very sore and lame from a
> contused wound received in the fight at Roanoke Island, some few weeks
> before. Company E, in which I was a sergeant, was recruited in the old
> historic town of Plymouth, Mass., strong, healthy, robust young fellows,
> all of whom were accustomed to the management of boats, and therefore we
> were detailed to man the boats and disembark the regiment.
>
> "I had charge of the vessel's 'cutter,' and worked very hard in order to
> make the most landings. After the regiment was all ashore we took up line
> of march by the right flank towards Newbern. It came on to rain very hard
> and the narrow road was in bad condition. Just before dark we went into
> bivouac in the woods, on the left of the road, having marched about 13
> miles that day, very hungry, cold, wet, sore, and tired. My arms became
> very painful, and to sleep was entirely out of the question, and to make a
> fire was contrary to orders."
>
> "Daylight, however, broke at last and with a little half cooked coffee and
> well soaked crackers, we were soon on our way to 'do or die,' and almost
> before we knew it, were under fire, shooting away for dear life. In going
> from the road into and up through a little ravine, column of fours, the
> Col. (John Kurtz) passed us and called to me to go with him. I had been
> acting as right general guide of the regiment. Soon afterwards the colonel
> ordered me to go down the rear line and find the lieutenant colonel."
>
> "In obeying this order I saw that the regimental line was very ragged;
> everybody seemed to be all mixed up with one another, and badly scattered
> from their own companies. I sought out Company E. and found the men brave
> as young lions, but in bad order and no officer in command, captain
> wounded. I immediately reported these facts to the colonel, whereupon to my
> great astonishment and delight, he ordered me to go back and take command
> of the company. I did so, and succeeded in getting the men well up and
> together, and they very soon became steady as old veterans."
>
> "We had been firing some little time when the lieutenant colonel came to
> me and asked if I saw a single gun (12 pounder) that the enemy had got out
> in front of Fort Thompson, this fort contained 12 guns. I answered him that
> I did. This single gun was doing our ranks great injury."
>
> "The lieutenant colonel then asked me if I thought we could charge and
> take it. We charged, we got the gun, the very last shot from which, before
> we reached it, got me with seven other comrades, including the lieutenant
> colonel, killed. My foot was gone, and we were left on the field in very
> nearly the same spot as where we fell. Our regiment claimed this gun, and
> (Maj. Gen. Ambrose) Burnside ordered that it should remain with the
> regiment. Some days after the fight (and my foot had been amputated) Col.
> Kurtz and Gen. Burnside visited the hospital and the colonel told me that I
> should have a commission. I got that, and the Congressional Medal of Honor
> besides."
>
> Terry's actual Medal of Honor citation is terse but telling: "In the
> thickest of the fight, where he lost his leg by a shot, still encouraged
> the men until carried off the field."
>
> That would have been the end of the war for many, but Terry had different
> ideas.
>
> He was sent to Lexington Army Hospital in New York City, where he was
> fitted with what was described as a wooden "peg leg." He remained in the
> hospital for rehabilitation, serving as the sergeant of arms until he was
> discharged as an "invalid" on March 20, 1863.
>
> DRAFT RIOTS
>
> While remaining in New York, Terry attempted to reenter "active service."
> In July 1863, the notorious draft riots broke out. The protestors were
> angry at Lincoln and Congress for initiating a Civil War draft, since the
> war at that time was unpopular in many areas of the North.
>
> Protestors took their anger out on African-Americans, killing an estimated
> 100. Police, augmented by Union Soldiers and volunteer militia, were called
> in to quell the riots.
>
> Terry, now classified as an "invalid" by the Army, volunteered for service
> with the outnumbered military forces in New York City, where he was ordered
> by Maj. Gen. Harvey Brown "to deliver the muskets and ammunition to the
> Custom House and Post Office authorities for their defense," Terry wrote in
> a letter.
>
> He continued: "I was assigned to command a body of convalescent Soldiers
> and ordered on guard duty in Gramercy Park by order of Gen. Brown, where,
> on the corner of 21st Street and Third Avenue, I was struck a severe blow
> over the left eye with a club by a rioter and was badly hurt. I was
> mentioned in orders issued by Gen. John A. Wool, for the 'Very signal
> service rendered.'"
>
> It was on day three of the riots while reinforcements were arriving from
> the Battle of Gettysburg that Terry got word of his appointment as a
> lieutenant in the 1st North Carolina Colored Volunteers.
>
> Terry headed back south to New Berne to join with his new regiment.
>
> The Army welcomed him back. Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild did the honors of
> promoting Terry to first lieutenant in the 1st North Carolina, which was
> later renamed the 35th U.S. Colored Troops in February 1864.
>
> The 1st North Carolina enlistees were former slaves from coastal Virginia
> and the Carolinas.
>
> Wild too was an amputee, having lost his left arm at the Battle of South
> Mountain in Maryland.
>
> Incidentally, Col. James Beecher, commander of the 1st North Carolina, was
> the half-brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the famous abolitionist and
> author of the influential novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a depiction of the
> lives of African-Americans slaves.
>
> BATTLE OF OLUSTEE
>
> In February 1864, the 1st North Carolina participated in the Battle of
> Olustee, just to the west of Jacksonville, Fla. Fighting alongside them
> were African-American Soldiers from the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer
> Infantry, who had previously fought in the Battle of Antietam.
>
> As an aside, men of the 54th were portrayed in the 1989 movie "Glory,"
> based on the true story. The film, starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel
> Washington, Cary Elwes and Morgan Freeman, was nominated for five academy
> awards.
>
> Once again, the fighting was intense and Terry was in the thick of it. And
> once again a bullet struck his leg. Fortunately, the leg that was shattered
> was his peg leg.
>
> On March 2, 1864, the Hartford Evening Press in Connecticut reported the
> engagement and Terry's ordeal:
>
> "A lieutenant of the same regiment, who had lost a leg in an engagement in
> North Carolina, and who had supplied in its place with an artificial member
> consisting of a stout oaken peg, was present at this fight, and, a rebel
> sharpshooter put a bullet through his trousers leg and his wooden peg. He
> felt the blow but escaped the twinge of pain that generally accompanies the
> passage of a pellet through genuine flesh and muscle, and enjoying a keen
> sense of the ludicrous, he forgot the battle and its dangers, and gave way
> to the heartiest and most explosive laughter.
>
> "He pushed along the line and approached the colonel, to whom, after a
> severe effort, he was able to communicate the cause of his mirth. Almost
> convulsed with laughter, he exclaimed, 'colonel! By George! The dammed
> rebels have shot me through the wooden leg! Ha! Ha! Devilish good joke on
> the fellows!' and he hobbled back to his position on the line, and chuckled
> to himself immensely over the sell [sic]."
>
> Terry left the Battle of Olustee with his regiment in the trailing troops,
> who along with the survivors from the 54th, had to push a disabled train by
> hand for more than 10 miles back to Jacksonville. In the months that
> followed Terry was fitted with two new prosthetics in order to remain in
> the active service.
>
> A week after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on
> Palm Sunday 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated. Then on May 9, 1865,
> the war was officially declared over and on May 23, Terry accepted a
> promotion to captain by Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton.
>
> On Sept. 19, 1865, the Army withdrew Terry's promotion to captain, citing
> his disability and that a captain of a company is expected to march with
> his command and perform duty on foot with his men.
>
> RECONSTRUCTION
>
> On Sept. 23, 1865, Terry was assigned to Saxton's staff at the Freedmen's
> Bureau in Charleston, S.C. Creation of the Freedman's Bureau was initiated
> by Lincoln in March 1865, with the purpose of assisting freed slaves. The
> bureau was under the Department of War and played a major role in
> post-Civil War Reconstruction until it was disbanded in 1872.
>
> In January 1865, Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman was said to have
> directed Saxton to provide families of freed slaves "40 acres and a mule"
> by order of the president.
>
> In October 1865, Terry wrote a letter to a family friend, former New York
> state Sen. Preston King, asking that he look into restoring his rank to
> captain. Maj. Gen. John G. Foster, who heard the case, denied the senator's
> petition. King could not reply because he died shortly after receiving
> Foster's letter.
>
> On Nov. 25, 1865, Terry submitted a letter of resignation, saying he
> didn't want to serve as a first lieutenant after having served as a
> captain. On Dec. 16, 1865, Terry had second thoughts about leaving the Army
> and withdrew his letter of resignation.
>
> Terry was given a brevet promotion to captain on Feb. 21, 1866.
>
> A brevet rank comes without the additional pay of the higher rank and
> exercise of authority is limited. The practice was common during the Civil
> War. For example, George Armstrong Custer was promoted to brevet major
> general but after the war his rank reverted to captain. He was later
> promoted to major and then lieutenant colonel and was later killed at the
> Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876.
>
> On Jan. 23, 1866, Terry was transferred to Headquarters, Department of the
> South, in Charleston, under command of Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles, who was
> still serving within the Freedman's Bureau.
>
> Like Terry, Sickles lost a leg. It was shattered by a cannonball during
> the Battle of Gettysburg.
>
> Terry was mustered out of the service on June 6, 1866, with the rank of
> first lieutenant. On June 22, 1867, the Army officially recognized Terry as
> a brevet major but his final rank remained first lieutenant.
>
> After the war, Terry had a 50-year career at the Customs House in New York
> City as a deputy collector in the audit department and he also served as a
> clerk.
>
> Terry, who was born in 1845, died on March 4, 1919 and was buried in
> Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York, Plot: Section 141, Butternut Plot,
> Lot 14454.
>
> POSTSCRIPT
>
> Donald Terry MacLeod Jr., the great, great grandson of Terry and also Bob
> Terry's cousin, has a special interest in Terry. He said his grandmother
> shared memories with him about Terry, since she had conversations with him.
> She was 18 when he died.
>
> "My grandmother told me that when they were children he would sit on the
> porch of their home in Westchester County, N.Y., and take off the wooden
> prosthesis and show it to them," said MacLeod. "He would also apparently
> bang it on the front steps and make them laugh. He supposedly joked that
> the South had bad aim because when they shot him in the leg the second time
> they hit the wooden leg."
>
> MacLeod also shared his thoughts on America's evolving attitudes toward
> race.
>
> "We do feel strongly that his rank of captain was withdrawn due to the
> change in attitude after Lincoln's death about the officers who were close
> to the former slaves and working for their good, masked of course by the
> premise that he couldn't function as a captain with his disability. This is
> a larger story that is only exemplified by what happened to John D,"
> MacLeod said.
>
> Bob Terry shared his thoughts as well, in a letter to the ABCMR.
>
> "In a twist of irony, officers who became amputees such as Gens. Wild and
> Sickles were allowed to remain in service, but enlisted personnel were
> not," Terry's letter read. "Additionally, Maj. Gen. Foster obfuscated the
> issue because he not did attempt to revoke my great grandfather's
> commission, but decided simply to demote him from captain back to first
> lieutenant on the basis that my great grandfather could not possibly
> perform the duties of a captain with only one leg."
>
> "Extensive records in the National Archives provide clear evidence that my
> great grandfather's commission was not fraudulent, that he was already
> serving honorably as a permanent captain at the time of his demotion, and
> that he performed admirably as a brevetted major after his demotion.
> Documentation also shows there was no attempt to hide his disability at the
> time of his permanent promotion to captain."
>
> During an interview with Bob Terry, he echoed his cousin's thoughts on
> race as a factor, although Terry himself was not an African-American:
>
> "The idea of correcting the record was his family carrying on a fight that
> we found he waged up until his death in 1919 to gain justice. The injustice
> was because John Darling associated with officers like Maj. (Martin)
> Delaney, the highest ranking black officer in the war and John's commander
> of the 104th U.S. Colored Troops; Maj. Gen. (David) Hunter and Wild, who
> recruited former slaves in South Carolina and North Carolina respectively
> for the Union Army; Saxton and Sickles, the latter who on Grant's
> recommendation replaced Saxton after President Johnson fired him for
> refusing to take back land grants awarded to freed slaves."
>
> "My great grandfather and all these officers suffered greatly for the
> stands they took," he said. "But they stood for what was right and fought
> the war after the war in spite of having to sacrifice rank, position, and
> peace."
>
> Bob Terry said as a result of his research, he feels for combat veterans
> today who are struggling from losses of limbs, other physical injuries, and
> mental wounds suffered years after.
>
> "Terry lost his limb because he was left on the battlefield for five days
> and gangrene set in," Bob Terry said. "At the time, there was no ambulatory
> service and medical care that was provided was appalling by today's
> standards."
>
> "Also, there was a stigma associated with being an invalid," he said. "But
> Terry refused to be labeled as such. He was offered positions in the
> artillery, home guard and even in the newly formed Invalid Corps. But he
> turned them all down, wanting instead to go back into the field where he
> would have to move about on his feet."
>
> "I hope Terry's story will be an inspiration for vets who were injured and
> are struggling today."
>
> ARMY REOPENS CASE
>
> Based on evidence that Bob Terry, the great grandson obtained from the
> National Archives and elsewhere, the ABCMR ruled in favor of Terry.
>
> "Our board has substantial authority and equity and we made the decision
> that Terry did in fact prove he could serve and lead from the front as a
> captain, even with the peg leg. Our board felt revocation of his promotion
> was unjust," said Conrad V. Meyer, director, ABCMR.
>
> "Therefore the board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient
> to warrant relief and recommended all Army records be corrected by
> reinstating his permanent rank to captain."
> -------------------------------------
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
> http://www.MoscowCares.com
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "There's room at the top they are telling you still
> But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
> If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
>
> - John Lennon
>
>
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