James
Barbour Terrill was the son of William H and Elizabeth (Pitzer) Terrill and was
born February 20th 1838 in Bath County, Virginia. He was an 1858 graduate of the Virginia
Military Institute ranking 16th in his class of 19. After graduation Terrill moved to Lexington,
Virginia to study law at Washington College with Judge John W Brockenbrough. Virginia Governor Henry A Wise gave him an
appointment to the state militia as Major of the cavalry. He began practicing law in Warm Springs,
Virginia in 1860.
Terrill was
elected Major of the 13th Virginia Infantry in May 1861 when the
Civil War started. He served under the
then Colonel AP Hill. Terrill's first action at
the Battle of First Manassas, in Jackson’s Valley Campaign, and all the other
major battles in the Eastern Theater.
Following the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 15th 1863
Terrill was promoted to Colonel of the 13th Virginia.
Terrill was
killed in action May 30th 1864 at the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek
[aka the Battle of Bethesda Church].
Union troops buried Terrill at Bethesda Church, Hanover, Virginia near
the battlefield. He had been nominated
for promotion to brigadier general, and the appointment was confirmed the next
day.
No comments:
Post a Comment