W. H. Perry Jr. Esq.
Dr Sir
Your father writes me, that he had sent to our
care by Express, a box “containing things, that will spoil if left long this weather”
and requests us to send them to you as soon as possible – We have been at a
good deal of trouble to try & find a conveyance, without success, and write this
hopeing it may reach you, that you may embrace the first opportunity by
some wagon comeing into town, to get the box, which has arrived. If you
see an opportunity, have it sent for to our office, and in the mean time, we will
continue our efforts to send it out, if a chance opportunity occurs.
Yrs Respy etc
McKinney & Duprey
MSS 7786-d
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
1862 May 25 5 miles of R[ichmon]d.
My Dear Father
We are still hanging
around Richmond & to a superficial
observer both armies are in a
state of inactivity tho’ behind
the curtain I believe they are far
from being so. It’s true occasi-
onal skirmishes come off, but none
of any importance lately. Yesterday
some Yankees crossed the Chick-
ahominy, where we had no pickets,
^ ‘surprised’ & flanked a regiment of Louisianians
killing 20, wounding more. These
little disasters happen only from
the neglect of our officers. I
think every single disaster
which has happened to us
during the war could have
been avoided if our different
authorities had done their duty.
[page 2]
I have never thought Jefferson
Davis a great man- he has
proved a mean executive. I
have no doubt that New Orleans
Norfolk, Nashville all might
have been saved. Thro’ unpardon-
able neglect Richmond came
near being given up. But
for the city authorities I have
no doubt she would now be
in Yankee hands.
Our company ought to be very
grateful for the protection which
Providence has given it.
It has not lost a man by death
since the war began. At Willi-
amsburg a gun from another
battery fighting by our side
had 4 killed, 7 wounded. Our whole
company had 2 wounded. At
Dam No. 7 other batteries with us
[page 3]
suffered proportionately as much,
& we nothing. Those killed by
us at Wmsburg. were killed by
the enemys sharpshooters from
our own rifle pits, whi: a regiment
of cowardly south Carolinians
gave up at an early hour
in the day & thus left the ar-
tiller exposed to this heavy
fire all day. The S.C.’s have
shown their chivalry since
the war began by run-
ning whenever they had an
occasion to fight – save
Hampton’s Legion. That has
fought. They are looked
upon with great contempt
by some of our troops.
I do not think a fight will
be put off long – both sides I
suppose will soon be ready
[page 4]
for it & our soldiers think they
are sure of victory. Since
I wrote to you ^ ‘mother’ I have been
in camp one mile this (North
East side of Richmond, until
last evening when we
moved down here. I received
mother’s letter wh. she gave
to Frank Wms. several days
ago. Direct yr. letters as I told
her in my last to Rd. [Richmond] care of
Mr. Herring or not as you like, but
instead of 7th Brigade put
General Griffith’s Brigade. I
have been expecting every day
your promised letter, but it has
not yet come. It is possible I may have
to draw upon yr. generosity again soon & get
some money from McKinney & Duprey. Our company has
determined to change its uniform & a new one costs
43 dollars, but I intend to replace it as soon
[written upside down on the top of page 4]
as I draw from the confederacy what
she owes me – it will be amply suffi-
cient. Write me in your next letter how
[written upside down on the top of page 3]
John K. Jones is. Is Henry M. Neblett
still at home? Give my love to Mrs. Dunkum
[written upside down on the top of page 2]
& family. My Dear Father how much
I love you all at home you know.
[written upside down on the top of page 1]
With the deepest affection I am
Yr Son W. H. Perry Jr.
Perry is in Brig. General Richard Griffith’s Brigade. Griffith was mortally wounded on 29 June 1862 at the battle of Savage’s Station.
MSS 7786-d
We are still hanging
around Richmond & to a superficial
observer both armies are in a
state of inactivity tho’ behind
the curtain I believe they are far
from being so. It’s true occasi-
onal skirmishes come off, but none
of any importance lately. Yesterday
some Yankees crossed the Chick-
ahominy, where we had no pickets,
^ ‘surprised’ & flanked a regiment of Louisianians
killing 20, wounding more. These
little disasters happen only from
the neglect of our officers. I
think every single disaster
which has happened to us
during the war could have
been avoided if our different
authorities had done their duty.
[page 2]
I have never thought Jefferson
Davis a great man- he has
proved a mean executive. I
have no doubt that New Orleans
Norfolk, Nashville all might
have been saved. Thro’ unpardon-
able neglect Richmond came
near being given up. But
for the city authorities I have
no doubt she would now be
in Yankee hands.
Our company ought to be very
grateful for the protection which
Providence has given it.
It has not lost a man by death
since the war began. At Willi-
amsburg a gun from another
battery fighting by our side
had 4 killed, 7 wounded. Our whole
company had 2 wounded. At
Dam No. 7 other batteries with us
[page 3]
suffered proportionately as much,
& we nothing. Those killed by
us at Wmsburg. were killed by
the enemys sharpshooters from
our own rifle pits, whi: a regiment
of cowardly south Carolinians
gave up at an early hour
in the day & thus left the ar-
tiller exposed to this heavy
fire all day. The S.C.’s have
shown their chivalry since
the war began by run-
ning whenever they had an
occasion to fight – save
Hampton’s Legion. That has
fought. They are looked
upon with great contempt
by some of our troops.
I do not think a fight will
be put off long – both sides I
suppose will soon be ready
[page 4]
for it & our soldiers think they
are sure of victory. Since
I wrote to you ^ ‘mother’ I have been
in camp one mile this (North
East side of Richmond, until
last evening when we
moved down here. I received
mother’s letter wh. she gave
to Frank Wms. several days
ago. Direct yr. letters as I told
her in my last to Rd. [Richmond] care of
Mr. Herring or not as you like, but
instead of 7th Brigade put
General Griffith’s Brigade. I
have been expecting every day
your promised letter, but it has
not yet come. It is possible I may have
to draw upon yr. generosity again soon & get
some money from McKinney & Duprey. Our company has
determined to change its uniform & a new one costs
43 dollars, but I intend to replace it as soon
[written upside down on the top of page 4]
as I draw from the confederacy what
she owes me – it will be amply suffi-
cient. Write me in your next letter how
[written upside down on the top of page 3]
John K. Jones is. Is Henry M. Neblett
still at home? Give my love to Mrs. Dunkum
[written upside down on the top of page 2]
& family. My Dear Father how much
I love you all at home you know.
[written upside down on the top of page 1]
With the deepest affection I am
Yr Son W. H. Perry Jr.
Perry is in Brig. General Richard Griffith’s Brigade. Griffith was mortally wounded on 29 June 1862 at the battle of Savage’s Station.
MSS 7786-d
Thursday, May 19, 2011
1862 May 19 4 miles of Richmond
My Dearest Mother
I received to day yr. let-
ter of the 9th with a P. C. of the 10th
sent through Mc Kinney & Drefuss. In
my last I suggested you direct to
Richmond. Do so to care of George
J. Herring (alias fish). It will be my qui-
kest way of getting them. This I put
first lest I might forget to mention
it. You do not dear mother know
how sorry I feel at hearing of Dear
little George’s sickness. Give him
a warm kiss for me & tell him I
have always since in the army
wanted to see him a great
deal – but I had rather be with
him now when sick, than at
any other time. Oh! How I hope he
is now relieved from that
painful disease. Tell him I
have occupied all the ^ ‘spare’ time
[page 2]
I had to day, before our march
commenced & since until now
late in the evening, in cooking
It being my turn to day & one
cook having left us about
a month ago for fear of be-
ing cut off from his woman
who lives in Orange Co. We have
tho a prospect for getting another
in a very few days. I begin to
think I am one of the experts
in camp as to cooking. Tho’ you
^ ‘or’Julia would not consider
me so. I have written home, two
or three letters since the fight at
Williamsburg. I suppose you have
received them before now. I will
not say anything about it now – I
expect I talked too much about it then.
too much. We have fallen back to
this place or the vicinity of Rcd.[Richmond]
I see the enemy’s newspaper ac-
page 3]
counts state they had 20:000
men on the field & we fifty. I wrote
the no. we had and on the field.
Our brigade have marched a-
round Richmond & are now on
the Mechanichsville turnpike wh:
runs out towards Old Church
in Hanover county. I tell this that
you may have an idea of the move-
ments of our troops. Our Picketts
were run in to within 2 ½ miles of
us this morning, but were strength-
ened & returned to their position
about 7 miles down the Rd. I think
a battle will be somewhere about
Richmond before a very long
period of time has elaspsed, or
strategical moves on a most
gigantic scale. I did not know
until to day your mule had been
hurt – how was it done? It is
probable that the organi-
[page 4]
zation of our army compa-
ny will be revised & we will
have a new election. It is
possible Mc Carthy may be
beaten. I was quite glad
to hear of that . I think Jery [?]
is so much better off
than I thought. I sincerely
wish I was at home to see
the beautiful (the prettiest flo-
wers I have ever seen) & deli-
cate flower by Julia’s house)
in bloom, but more than
I might see my friends.
7 A.M 20th my Dear mother I could not fin-
ish this last night before dark. Nothing
active this morning seems to be trans-
piring. We got a cook (a slave) this mor-
ning, paying $10:00 a month for him. I
don’t see how General McClellan can claim
a victory at Wmsburg. We certainly had fewer men
a engaged – took more prisoners than they did –
killed & wounded more men than they did – took
every piece of artillery they had on the field.
[A fragment of a letter in this file may be the ending of this letter. See below.]
Tho’ the mud prevented us from bringing it ^ ‘all’ off; we did
bring the most of it away. At the close of the day our
position was exactly the same as in the morning
when the battle began. We were on the retreat or
the defensive, yet succeeded in making the
battle ground beyond the enemies lines. And
only resumed our retreat, according to original
intentions, when we felt disposed & when the
enemy did not see fit to molest us. It
seems we drove the enemy’s gun boats
back on James river. There has both in
Richmond & in the army great fear been felt
[Next page]
lest gun boats should reach it. The people
of Richmond are very violent against Mr. Presi-
dent Davis for his criminal neglect of its
defence; until within [?] a very short period. Do
not forget to direct to Richmond care of George
& Herring. I am sorry Tom & Patsy are sick.
Give again my love to little George. How long
has Diphtheria been prevailing in our
neighborhood.[?] Is it the same that
was prevalent in the upper end of
Lunenburg before I left home.[?] I must
close. Dear Mother farewell
Yr. Affly W.H. Perry Jr.
I received to day yr. let-
ter of the 9th with a P. C. of the 10th
sent through Mc Kinney & Drefuss. In
my last I suggested you direct to
Richmond. Do so to care of George
J. Herring (alias fish). It will be my qui-
kest way of getting them. This I put
first lest I might forget to mention
it. You do not dear mother know
how sorry I feel at hearing of Dear
little George’s sickness. Give him
a warm kiss for me & tell him I
have always since in the army
wanted to see him a great
deal – but I had rather be with
him now when sick, than at
any other time. Oh! How I hope he
is now relieved from that
painful disease. Tell him I
have occupied all the ^ ‘spare’ time
[page 2]
I had to day, before our march
commenced & since until now
late in the evening, in cooking
It being my turn to day & one
cook having left us about
a month ago for fear of be-
ing cut off from his woman
who lives in Orange Co. We have
tho a prospect for getting another
in a very few days. I begin to
think I am one of the experts
in camp as to cooking. Tho’ you
^ ‘or’Julia would not consider
me so. I have written home, two
or three letters since the fight at
Williamsburg. I suppose you have
received them before now. I will
not say anything about it now – I
expect I talked too much about it then.
too much. We have fallen back to
this place or the vicinity of Rcd.[Richmond]
I see the enemy’s newspaper ac-
page 3]
counts state they had 20:000
men on the field & we fifty. I wrote
the no. we had and on the field.
Our brigade have marched a-
round Richmond & are now on
the Mechanichsville turnpike wh:
runs out towards Old Church
in Hanover county. I tell this that
you may have an idea of the move-
ments of our troops. Our Picketts
were run in to within 2 ½ miles of
us this morning, but were strength-
ened & returned to their position
about 7 miles down the Rd. I think
a battle will be somewhere about
Richmond before a very long
period of time has elaspsed, or
strategical moves on a most
gigantic scale. I did not know
until to day your mule had been
hurt – how was it done? It is
probable that the organi-
[page 4]
zation of our army compa-
ny will be revised & we will
have a new election. It is
possible Mc Carthy may be
beaten. I was quite glad
to hear of that . I think Jery [?]
is so much better off
than I thought. I sincerely
wish I was at home to see
the beautiful (the prettiest flo-
wers I have ever seen) & deli-
cate flower by Julia’s house)
in bloom, but more than
I might see my friends.
7 A.M 20th my Dear mother I could not fin-
ish this last night before dark. Nothing
active this morning seems to be trans-
piring. We got a cook (a slave) this mor-
ning, paying $10:00 a month for him. I
don’t see how General McClellan can claim
a victory at Wmsburg. We certainly had fewer men
a engaged – took more prisoners than they did –
killed & wounded more men than they did – took
every piece of artillery they had on the field.
[A fragment of a letter in this file may be the ending of this letter. See below.]
Tho’ the mud prevented us from bringing it ^ ‘all’ off; we did
bring the most of it away. At the close of the day our
position was exactly the same as in the morning
when the battle began. We were on the retreat or
the defensive, yet succeeded in making the
battle ground beyond the enemies lines. And
only resumed our retreat, according to original
intentions, when we felt disposed & when the
enemy did not see fit to molest us. It
seems we drove the enemy’s gun boats
back on James river. There has both in
Richmond & in the army great fear been felt
[Next page]
lest gun boats should reach it. The people
of Richmond are very violent against Mr. Presi-
dent Davis for his criminal neglect of its
defence; until within [?] a very short period. Do
not forget to direct to Richmond care of George
& Herring. I am sorry Tom & Patsy are sick.
Give again my love to little George. How long
has Diphtheria been prevailing in our
neighborhood.[?] Is it the same that
was prevalent in the upper end of
Lunenburg before I left home.[?] I must
close. Dear Mother farewell
Yr. Affly W.H. Perry Jr.
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