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He led his green troops into their first combat action at the Battle of
Perryville. Around 4:00 PM, a Confederate artillery shell exploded near Terrill, driving a piece of shrapnel into his upper chest and ripping through his left lung. Taken to the rear, he died that night. The previous night,
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telegraphing the War
Department and General Winfield Scott from Poughkeepsie, New York, on April 29, 1861, that "I am now and ever will be true to my oath and my country. No one has any authority to tender my resignation. I will be in Washington as soon as possible." Terrill was commissioned a
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Even though many regular army officers from the south had been opposed to secession, the
Confederate attack on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's subsequent call for volunteers caused many southern-born officers to resign their commissions. Terrill, however, left no doubt about where his loyalties lay,
243:. The encounter caused a one-year suspension for Sheridan from the academy, though the two renewed their acquaintance while serving under Don Carlos Buell in the Civil War. Terrill graduated 16th in his class of 1853. After graduation, he was assigned to the 3rd U.S.
302:. The elder Terrill wrote his son a scathing letter of disapproval saying "Can you be so recreant and unnatural as to aid in the mad attempt to impose tyranny upon your kith and kin? Do so and your name shall be stricken from the family records."
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manufactured a fitting legend that their grieving father later erected a memorial stone for both brothers, which reads "This monument erected by their father. God alone knows which was right."
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and buried on the battlefield. He was posthumously promoted to brigadier general. Another younger brother, Philip
Mallory Terrill of the 12th Virginia Cavalry, was killed near
255:; and the U. S. Coast Survey from 1858 - 1861. In 1856 he was promoted to first lieutenant. On May 14, 1861, he was appointed captain of the 5th Regular Artillery in
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in August 1861. He was one of sixteen
Virginia-born officers in the regular army to tender his services to the Union. His younger brother
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was also killed during the same war, making the
Terrills one of the few sets of American brothers killed in action while commanding
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George
Webster were discussing the improbability of being killed in action. All three would be killed in the following battle.
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William Henry
Terrill, was a Virginia lawyer and member of the Virginia Legislature prior to the war. He became a cadet at
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William R. Terrill to
Headquarters of the Army, April 29, 1861, National Archives, RG 108, E22, M1635
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481:"God Alone Knows Which Was Right": The Blue and Gray Terrill Family of Virginia in the Civil War
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in 1849 and graduated in 1853. While a cadet, he was involved in a fist-fight with classmate
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Terrills: "God Alone Knows Which Was Right", American Civil War Magazine, September 2006
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commander, survived the Civil War. An unscrupulous war correspondent from
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William R. Terrill was interred at West Point National Cemetery.
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of volunteers and took command of the 33rd Brigade in the
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Union military personnel killed in the American Civil War
462:"Cornell University Library Making of America Collection"
441:. New York: D. Appleton & Company. 1863. p. 677.
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187:(April 21, 1834 – October 8, 1862) was a
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321:. On September 9, 1862, he was promoted to
399:List of American Civil War generals (Union)
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391:American Civil War portal
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493:Encyclopedia Virginia
333:Generals Terrill and
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185:William Rufus Terrill
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108:Union Army
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262:Civil War
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