JAMES B. TERRILL, OF BATH COUNTY, VIRGINIA;
BRIGADIER-GENERAL, A. N. V.
James Barbour Terrill, fourth son of William H. Terrill, was born near the Warm Springs, in Bath County, Virginia, on the 20th of February, 1838. His early education was such as was then usually obtained at the best primary schools of his county. In the year 1854 he was admitted as a cadet into the Virginia* Military Institute, where he graduated in 1858; immediately after which he entered the Law School of the Hon. John W. Brockenbrough, in the town of Lexington, and in the summer of i860 commenced the practice of law in the courts of his native county. In 1859 the Hon. Henry A. Wise, who was then Governor of Virginia, conferred upon him the appointment of major of cavalry. Whilst on a visit to his relations in the eastern part of the State, in April, 1861, the Convention of Virginia passed the ordinance of secession, whereupon he immediately dashed off to Harper's Ferry and joined the little army of Virginia which so promptly took possession of that important post. He was occupied there in drilling both officers and privates for several weeks; after which he proceeded to Richmond, and tendered his services in the military department to His Excellency Governor John Letcher, then the patriotic, able, and efficient Executive of the State, who without unnecessary delay delivered to him the commission of major, and assigned him to duty in the 13th Regiment Virginia Infantry, of which Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill was the colonel, General James A. Walker, lieutenant-colonel.

Major Terrill, immediately after his appointment, proceeded to join his regiment, which numbered at that time upwards of a thousand men. He soon, by his gallantry and general deportment, won the esteem and confidence of both officers and men of the command to which he was attached, and this feeling strengthened among them until the day of his untimely death. He acquired the reputation of being one of the bravest of the brave. His clarion voice, encouraging his men, was frequently heard above the din of battle; and when asked by his friends (as he frequently was) how it was that he acted so fearlessly in time of action, his reply invariably was, " I never think on such occasions of being killed." He was with his brave regiment at the first and second Manassas fights; first and second Fredericksburg; at Cross Keys and Port Republic; at Cedar Run and Slaughter's Mountain, in Culpeper County, Virginia.
When General Lee invaded Maryland, Colonel Terrill (for he had held this rank since the promotion of Generals Hill and Walker) was left in charge of the post at Winchester. In this as well as in all the constant and active service in which he was engaged, during the whole course of his military career, he showed distinguished ability. So numerous were the engagements in which he and his gallant " old Thirteenth" took part, that it would be next to impossible to specify them; but it can be said with perfect truth that, whenever he and they appeared on the field of battle, there was no " child's play," and little or no ammunition wasted; and just here it may be proper to state that the writer was informed by a gentleman who was present that the brave and gallant General Early, on the day of the first battle of Fredericksburg, remarked that "the 13th Regiment Virginia Infantry was never required to take a position that they did not take, or to hold one that they did not hold."

We come now to the closing campaign of Colonel Terrill's life. In the winter of 1863-4 General Lee's army was in winter quarters on the south side of Rapidan River, in Orange County, the Federal army, under Grant, holding the opposite bank, immediately in General Lee's front. In April, 1864, began the great campaign of the war. In this campaign Colonel TERRILL and the invincible 13th were destined to immortalize themselves. At the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania Court-House they crowned themselves with glory, as did many others of our "boys in gray." After the first-mentioned battle, they were in the front rank in the assault made upon the enemy to retake the position lost by the capture of General Edward Johnston's Division. Colonel Terrill was among the first to mount the breastworks abandoned by the enemy.

Grant moving from Spottsylvania Court-House in the direction of Richmond, General Lee, taking an inner line, threw himself in Grant's front, and offered battle at Hanover Junction, which was declined. The Federal army continuing its move, General Lee forced them into battle at Cold Harbor, inflicting upon them terrible punishment. The general result of this notable battle belongs to history. We give only what relates to the last day in the life of the brave soldier whose name stands at the head of this sketch.
There is a place in Hanover County called Bethesda Church, some three or four miles below Mechanicsville, and probably about the same distance north of Cold Harbor. Near this church a detachment of Grant's army had taken position, and intrenched themselves. It was deemed expedient to dislodge them from these breastworks, in pursuing the plan of General Lee's movements, and General Ramseur was intrusted with the duty. He, with Pegram's Brigade and some other Confederate forces, in the afternoon of the 31st of May, 1864, commenced the assault, and was met by a tremendous and deadly fire from the enemy. The "old Thirteenth" held their own in the charge, but their colonel fell mortally wounded at the first or second fire. Two other officers commanding in succession Pegram's Brigade, to which the 13th was attached, being shot down in the course of a few minutes, the adjutant-general discovering Colonel Terrill upon his hands and feet struggling to rise, informed him that the brigade was without a commander, whereupon he rose to his feet, staggered along the line, took his position as commander of the brigade, waved his sword, and gave the command, "Forward!" A moment more, and he fell dead, shot through the brain within a few feet of the enemy's breastworks. Immediately the attacking forces gave way, and retreated, after a fearful slaughter on their part. A detachment of the 13th, sent in after nightfall to recover General Terrill's body, were captured by the enemy, and it remained on the field for six days, with a slight covering of loose sand. When recovered, taken to the field hospital, and carefully examined by the surgeons, they were all of the opinion that the first wound (that in the body) would have been necessarily mortal. What a thrilling yet melancholy spectacle was exhibited by him in his last moments,—a dying man leading a forlorn hope in battle!

It so happened that on the same day, and perhaps while General Terrill was engaged in that last of his many conflicts with the enemies of his State and country, his nomination as brigadier-general by the .President was unanimously confirmed by the Senate of the Confederate States Congress; but it is sad to think that he died without being aware of the tardy honor conferred upon him by a Government whose cause and whose existence he had so often periled his life to sustain.
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

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