Major General Alfred Terry

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Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 - December 16, 1890) was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 1886. In 1865, Terry led Union troops to victory at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher in North Carolina. Terry sent Custer on a reconnaissance mission along the Rosebud, while he and Col. John Gibbon proceeded up the Little Bighorn, with the intent to encircle an area where a native camp was thought to be (but had not been located with certainty). Custer's orders allowed him some flexibility of action, if he saw "sufficient reason." Custer thought his troops had been discovered, giving him reason to attack the native camp. He also did not accept the reports of his scouts, particularly Mitch Bouyer, which indicated the size of the native camp was much larger than assumed. Custer decided to attack on June 25th, before the native force broke into small bands that would then have to be hunted down. It was the force led by Terry and Gibbon who discovered Custer's fate on 27 June, and rescued the remaining men under Reno and Benteen's command. After regrouping and receiving reinforcements, the Army finally attacked the Indians in August.Document Signed, "Alfred H. Terry", June 1869, Abstract of Payments, Maj. J.W. Nicholls, Paymaster. With "Examined and Approved. Alfred H. Terry. Bvt. Maj. General USA. Comdg Dept. South" at bottom of recto.

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