The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-02
GENERAL WIZ. PERRY AND SOMETHING
 OF HIS CAREER IN WAR AND PEACE

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 When . good man dies-one whose character and life work constitute . splendid example for the young men of afeiy reported and pubiisnsd to that end, and in justice to the memory of the de parted: that his true and noble deeds may live after him rather than to be inferred with his bones and soon forgotten. The which heads this sketch and who died ia hs $. a.Rs asss ss sssr Of k Ii: .ss. ~ss such
 man. He was born in Jackson County, the academic school over which the noted teacher. Otis Smith predded In 1SlS he emigrated to Alabama whither his par ents had preceded him and established which many young men were prepared for . life of usefulness and some subse- Quently became quite prominent in public affairs. While here in 1S51 he was mar fsS to Esn of nESwp 4S. whS wss as %sn
 lucky. He went to Tuskegee, read law undtr Judge Chiffon, was admitted to the bar. but never practiced. In 1854 the Lesislatvre estabnshed . ,ystsm of free
 Superintendent He was the first Su- Alabama, and indeed the first in any of the Cotton States. The law was a crude years and practically founded the system which has grown to such immense pro- portions that 1t has almost entirely crushed out or smothered all private schools throughout the State. Before I was grown and the first time I ever heard of Wm. F. Perry an address he had made which was printed in pamphlet advocating free public school education fell into my hands. I read 1t two or ftypnn tn oAH t, hoa e new and novel to me. couched in beauti-
 full language, howsry and imaginative, which won my admiration for the man though 1 had never seen him. In 1858 school system considerable impetus he was elected President of the East Ala
 bama Female College at Tuskegee in which position he remained until the dis
 aldson, and other reverses to the Con- federate arms in the West convinced him that 1t was his duty to give up his bomb proof position and go to the war. Ac- fantry Regiment which was organized in May. 1882. Perry was elected Major. 1t was first placed in a camp of instruction at Selma, where 1t remained few weeks,
 and was then ordered to Richmond. where 1t arrived in the latter part of June, but did not, as stated in the 7th Volume of the Confederate States Military History, engage in any of the seven days bat
 ties around Richmond in June and July. 1882. This Regiment, the 47th and 18th Alabama Regiments. were in camps near Richmond and would have participated, but they had no arms and could not fight until Lees army captured guns enough from the Yankees to arm them, which ferent brigades. the Ath in Wright's Geor- gta Brigade of R. H. Anderson's Division. When Pope's army invaded Virginia from
 Alexandria via Manassas Junction and
 
 Jackson attacked Pope's right wing un- dsr Banks at Cedar Run and handsomely repulsed him. A few days thereafter oth-
 CT divisions had arrived from Richmond and Lee began his advance, Pope who in his address to his army had boasted that he had never seen any rebels but by their backs. retreated eastward across the Rappahannock, thus showing his back
 through rnN N-oughfare Gap and reached his rear. Pop In falling back came in collision with sSSsoS Corps at and about Groveton N<NNe Henry House fought something overe Jar previously.
 The battle began late 6.1Thursday even
 ing. August 18th, and continued until Saturday evening. On that day Ander- ade was engaged for nearly an hour late that evening. This was the first battle
 In which the Ath was engaged. Oficers and men behaved well and fought bravsly I aS peO1m& AIaDAmlanS,
 About this time Colonel Kent resigned. and Lieutenant Colonel Derby was pro- | noted and Major Perry was made Lieu tenant Colonel. The regiment went
 through Lees Maryland campaign and | Shsrpsburg on September 17th. and suf- | fered many casualties. Colonel Derby was killed and Perry was at once pro-
 noted to the Colonelcy He was in com mand at Fredericksburg when the hard est fighting occurred. though the Regi- | ment was not engaged. It had previously been transferred from Anderson's to Hoods Division Early in January Laws | Alabama Brigade was formed and con | regiments of infantry.
 I was a Captain commanding the 18th Alabama, and here I made the personal acquaintance of Colonel Perry. but soon after I met him he obtained a furlough and went home. I did not see much of | him during the winter. Lieutenant Col | onel John A. Jones was in command of
 the regiment But early in the spring Colonel Perry returned and was present | for duty all of that year. In the latter part of January the Brigade. then a part of Longstreet's Corps. made five days march from Fredericksburg to Richmond cold weather and encamped on a creek about two miles south of Richmond. Here we remained In camps until the latter l part of March without Interruption ex-
 
 made a demonstration to cross the Rap pahannock. Hoods Division made a hard days march in snow a foot deep return ing to Fredericksburg, and then when | one-third the way were about-faced and marched back to the camp we had left. When we moved again it was south to Petersburg, where we were encamped for | a few days Early in April Longstreet | moved with Hood and Pickett's Divisions
 and Roger A. Pryor's Brigade. which | joined him on the way. upon his Suffolk
 campaign. We halted and rested a day l or two on Black River. He arrived at
 and beseiged Suffolk on the 9th day of April after having lain idly in camp un- | til the Yankees had fully fortified the place. He invested the town of Suffolk | and began his siege on the 1<th inst. With 5tribblings battery of long range | guns he blockaded the Nansemond River | so that boats could not passs the town | being the head of navigation. On the 18th | two companies. A and B, from Colonel | Perry's regiment, were deployed across | port the battery which was on the river
 near old Fort Huger. The fire of the en- emy's gunboats was so heavy on these | companies that they were ordered into | or sought protection in the old fort. The | Yankees at once threw two regiments across the neck of land in the rear oi | the fort, and jHst before dark they | charged the fort with 400 select men. The two companies did not aggregate more
 than 100 men, who repulsed the first as- l sault. but the captains knowing that they could not hold out long and that none | of the Confederate troops were within
 rendered. The guns were captured and | the bIocEada raised With no other