Benjamin Franklin Terry (February 18, 1821 – December 17, 1861) raised and commanded the 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment, popularly known as

Terry's Texas Rangers The 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment, (1861–1865), popularly known as Terry's Texas Rangers, was a light cavalry regiment of Texas volunteers for the Confederate States Army assembled by Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry in August 1861. Though lesser k ...

, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. An enslaver, planter and prominent citizen of

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...

, he organized the regiment for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. Terry was killed in the regiment's first action at Rowlett's Station near Woodsonville, Kentucky.

Family

Born on February 18, 1821, in

Russellville, Kentucky Russellville is a home rule-class city in Logan County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 6,960 at the time of the 2010 census. History Local historian Alex C. Finley has claimed the area was fir ...

, the son of Joseph R. and Sarah David (Smith) Terry. His grandfathers, Nathaniel Terry and David Smith, had been officers in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, and the latter also served under

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. His uncle, Benjamin Fort Smith, served on staff with

at the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

and later as adjutant for General Sam Houston during the Texas Revolution. Terry's family moved to

Brazoria County, Texas Brazoria County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton. Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan sta ...

when he was a boy. One brother

David S. Terry David Smith Terry (March 8, 1823 – August 14, 1889) was an American politician and jurist who served as the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court of California; he was an author of the state's 1879 Constitution. Terry won a duel aga ...

later moved to California and served on that state's Supreme Court. A second brother Clinton Terry became an attorney at Brazoria. In 1851–53, using slave labor, Terry participated in the building of Texas's first railroad, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway. With his business partner William F. Kyle, Terry bought the 2,500-acre Oakland plantation for $25 per acre in 1853. Paying off the debt by 1858, he successfully farmed cotton and sugar cane and raised a family at the plantation in

Sugar Land Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around ...

, Texas. In 1860, Terry and his 38-year-old wife Mary had six children, David, age 17, Mary, 12, Frank Jr., 10, Sally, 7, Kyle, 5 and Cornelia, 2. In 1862, his brother Clinton joined the Confederate Army and was killed at the Battle of Shiloh. His son Kyle later became deeply involved in the Jaybird-Woodpecker War and was shot to death in the

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

courthouse in 1890.Wharton (2001), p. 217

Career

By reason of his wealth, large physical size, and popularity, Frank Terry became a leader in Fort Bend County. On January 9, 1861, he was elected a delegate to the Secession Convention in Austin. Terry and two fellow delegates, Thomas S. Lubbock and John A. Wharton, conceived the idea of organizing at least one company of Texas cavalrymen for the new government. In February and March 1861 Terry was one of the senior officers aiding

John Salmon Ford John Salmon Ford (May 26, 1815 – November 3, 1897), better known as "Rip" Ford, was a member of the Republic of Texas Congress and later of the State Senate, and mayor of Brownsville, Texas. He was also a Texas Ranger, a Confederate colonel ...

and Ebenezar B. Nichols in the campaign to disarm the federal troops at

Brazos Santiago Brazos Island, also known as Brazos Santiago Island, is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States, south of the town of South Padre Island. The island is located in Cameron County. Brazos Santiago Pass partitions the bar ...

. In June 1861 Terry, Lubbock, Wharton, and perhaps as many as fifty other Texans sailed from Galveston to New Orleans and then caught the train to Richmond to offer their services to the Confederate Army. In Richmond Terry and Lubbock secured positions as volunteer aides to General James Longstreet. Both men were appointed colonel, a term attached as a courtesy for their volunteer service, and participated with distinction in the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

. Afterward, the

Confederate States War Department The Confederate States War Department was a cabinet-level department in Confederate States of America government responsible for the administration of the affairs of the Confederate States Army. The War Department was led by the Confederate States ...

granted the authority to organize a cavalry regiment. At Houston on August 12, 1861, Terry and Lubbock issued a call for volunteers that was answered by 1,170 men. The rangers were sworn into service in September, but Terry delayed their final organization until late November, when they were officially designated the Eighth Texas Cavalry. The regiment started immediately for Virginia but en route was diverted to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

and then later ordered to

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...

. On December 17, 1861, Terry led the regiment into the

Battle of Rowlett's Station The Battle of Rowlett's Station (also known as Battle of Woodsonville or Green River) was a land battle in the American Civil War, fought at the railroad whistle-stop of Rowlett's in Hart County, Kentucky, on December 17, 1861. The outcome was ...

near Woodsonville, Kentucky. While the battle ended in a Confederate victory, Colonel Terry was mortally wounded. His remains were sent by train to Nashville, where the state legislature adjourned and joined the procession escorting his body to lay in state at the Tennessee Capitol. Terry's body also lay in state in New Orleans and Houston, where the procession was described as "the most imposing ever seen in this state." Governor Lubbock praised Terry in the state senate, saying that "no braver man ever lived-no truer patriot ever died."

Tributes

Terry County, Texas Terry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,831. Its county seat is Brownfield. The county was demarked in 1876 and organized in 1904. It is named for Benjamin Franklin Terry, a colo ...

, is named after him, as is

B. F. Terry High School B. F. Terry High School is located in Rosenberg, Texas, United States, and is part of the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. Terry serves all of Beasley, and serves parts of Rosenberg, and the unincorporated communities of Booth a ...

Rosenberg, Texas Rosenberg is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Fort Bend County. The population was 38,282 at the 2020 census, up from 30,618 at the 2010 census. The community hol ...

References

TerrysTexasRangers.org

External links

Benjamin Franklin Terry
at '' Handbook of Texas Online'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Benjamin Franklin 1821 births 1861 deaths Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Houston, Texas) People from Russellville, Kentucky People from Sugar Land, Texas People of Kentucky in the American Civil War People of Texas in the American Civil War Confederate States Army officers Confederate States of America military personnel killed in the American Civil War American slave owners Terry County, Texas Military personnel from Texas