In 1857, Ferry was nominated to serve in the United States House of Representatives, but lost the election.

[2] At the outbreak of the American Civil War, and before regiments of Northern troops had arrived to defend Washington, there was a report of a plot to burn the capital.

On April 18, 1861, this report mobilized loyal citizens, including Ferry, and state senator A. Homer Byington, also of Norwalk, to form a militia.

[8] In early March 1862, Ferry led his troops across the Potomac River, and attacked the Confederates at Winchester, Virginia.

[7] He was then put under the command of General James Shields, whose division joined that of Gen. Irvin McDowell.

[9] Shortly after the First Battle of Winchester, Ferry and the 5th Connecticut Infantry were put under the command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks.

[10] On August 9, Ferry, under Banks, encountered Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.

[10] The Union troops attacked to gain early advantage, but a Confederate counterattack repulsed Banks's corps and won the day.

[14] Ferry was brevetted a major general of volunteers in recognition of his services during the Peninsula Campaign.

In 1866, he ran against Lafayette S. Foster, the incumbent of the Class III Connecticut Senate seat.

Ferry also served on the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

An investigation followed; its final report asked the Senate to expel Caldwell for not being "duly and legally elected".

[16] I see around me the life-long friends and neighbors of Senator Ferry, now no more; a man whom I cherished as a dear companion and associate, and to whom I looked up as one of the foremost men of the republic, in talent, integrity and patriotic spirit.

More than almost any one I knew did he possess those qualities of mind and character which just at this period of our history are so greatly needed for the guidance of public affairs ... Had his body been as strong as his mind and heart, he would beyond doubt have compelled universal recognition as one of the very first of statesmen in American history.

After speaking, Senator Charles Sumner, both a friend of Ferry's and the proposer of the bill, stood up and said, "Mr.

[3] The Civil Rights Act would eventually pass, but was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, on the basis that Congress did not have the power to regulate the conduct of individuals.

His last speech in Congress was considered an uncommonly eloquent dissertation on his former friend, William Alfred Buckingham.