We have a belated #harbordefensehappybirthday to celebrate!today, we honor U.S. Army Major General Alfred Howe Terry, born (Sat) November 10th, 1827 in Hartford, CT. He graduated from Yale Law in 1848, and became a clerk for the New Haven County Superior Court.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Terry raised his own Regiment, the 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. They were immediately engaged at First Bull Run. He then raised a new unit, the 7th CT Volunteer Infantry. They went to South Carolina, fighting around Charleston where they captured Fort Wagner in September 1863, before proceeding to Virginia through 1864, where they fought at Petersburg.

Terry led his men into the teeth of the Confederate defenses at Fort Fisher, NC in January, 1865, then drove on Wilmington. Following the end of the war, he helped broker a treaty with the Indians in Wyoming in 1868 before serving as Military Governor in Atlanta. Returning to The West, his men were first on the scene after Custer’s massacre at Little Big Horn in 1876. He negotiated with Sitting Bull, and fought in the Nez Perce War in 1877.

His final command was the Military Division Of The Missouri, from which he retired in 1888. Sadly, he passed away just two years later on December 16th, 1890, aged 63. He was buried in New Haven.

However, his legacy of service would not be allowed to end there. With War Department General Order No. 134 on July 22nd, 1899, he became the namesake to Fort Terry on Plum Island at the entrance of Long Island Sound. It would form part of the defensive chain in conjunction with adjacent Forts Michie and H.G. Wright. Fort Terry would be armed to the teeth, with no less than 13 gun batteries between 1897 and 1946.

Today, the Fort exists in a bizarre limbo. Rather than public sale or transition to a park, Fort Terry and Plum Island were transferred to the Department of Agriculture, and since 1954, has been home to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Here, top secret testing on the threats and countermeasures to livestock is undertaken. The island is heavy guarded by the Department of Homeland Security. Many of the Fort buildings and nearly all the batteries sit in quiet isolation, neglected, but preserved from vandalism.

Not to brag or anything, but I am one of the very few people who can say they have been to Fort Terry. That was the “add-on” trip to the 2011 Coast Defense Study Group Conference in Narragansett Bay & New Bedford. We had to undergo a background check, a pat-down, and hawk-like security while we were there (not even allowed to go INTO the Batteries) but boy, was it worth it.

As of late 2023, there are talks of moving the Disease Lab to the mid-west, and preserving the island as a natural resource site, as opposed to private sale – and development. Our fingers are crossed, and we will keep you posted if we learn anything.

Today, we remember and honor Major General Terry’s incredible service. Hopefully, one day, all of us will be able to travel freely to Plum Island to enjoy it as a natural and cultural resource. In the meantime, however, General Terry’s legacy, that of the Fort that carries his name, and most importantly, the Soldiers who manned it, is in safe hands, here.

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