William F. Perry

William Flank Perry (March 12, 1823 – December 18, 1901) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. Before the war, he was a self-taught teacher and lawyer, but never practiced law. Perry was elected Alabama's first superintendent of public education and was twice re-elected. He was president of East Alabama Female College at Tuskegee, Alabama, between 1858 and 1862. He joined the 44th Alabama Infantry Regiment as a private but quickly was promoted to major, then colonel. After exercising brigade command for almost nine months in 1864 and early 1865, Perry was promoted to brigadier general near the end of the war. After returning to Alabama and working as a planter for two years, he moved to Kentucky, where he resumed teaching. For many years, he was professor of English and philosophy at Ogden College, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Early life William F. Perry was born on March 12, 1823, in Jackson County, Georgia. Perry moved with his family to Chambers County, Alabama, in 1833. Perry's brigade commander, Brigadier General Evander M. Law ordered his brigade, including Perry's 44th Alabama Infantry, to support the attack of Brigadier General Jerome B. Robertson's brigade by moving over Plum Rum toward Devil's Den. As they approached this objective, Law ordered Perry to seize four guns on the upslope behind Devil's Den as part of the assault. As Perry expressed concern about nearby artillery to Major Cary of his regiment, a shell landed near Perry's head, wounding him. After Georgia regiments from Brigadier General Henry Benning's brigade moved forward in support of the 44th Alabama Infantry and 48th Alabama Infantry, the Confederates cleared out the Fourth New York Artillery Battery under Captain James E. Smith and ultimately won control of Devil's Den and nearby woods. The 44th Alabama Infantry held this area while other regiments from Law's and Robertson's brigades unsuccessfully assaulted Little Round Top.

Between December 19, 1863, and April 1864 and between June 3, 1864, and August 9, 1865, Perry commanded Evander M. Law's former brigade.