The collection is open for research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Alfred Henry Dashiell Perkins Memoir, Ms2021-035, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
This collection was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in August 1999.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Alfred Henry Dashiell Perkins Memoir was completed in September 2021.
Alfred Henry Dashiell Perkins (1845-1928) fought in Company E of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry for the Confederacy during the Civil War. While his mother was a devout Unionist, Perkins felt that it was his right as a Southern man to fight for the south. He enlisted at Jackson, Tennessee, before his 16th birthday with the "Southern Guards" under the command of Lieutant Colonel Pick Jones. He joined the 7th Cavarly in 1862. Throughout his career as a soldier, he was involved in numerous battles, some small skirmishes in town and some bigger battles involving his whole regiment. His foot and leg were injured in one of the battles, which incapicipated him for a while. He was also keeper of the Confederate Flag for these battles, guarding it with his life. Perkins was captured by the Union Army but was able to escape back to his regiment in Memphis, Tennessee. Before his regiment surrendered to the Union Army, one of his last acts as a Confederate soldier was to shred the flag into pieces, handing one piece to each of the soldiers, in order not to surrender the flag to the enemy.
The collection contains an undated typescript copy of Alfred Henry Dashiell Perkins's memoir, covering his experiences in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry of the Confederacy in the American Civil War from 1861-1865. The memoir includes thoughts on the Southern War effort and the "rebel" Union soldiers.
The guide to the Alfred Henry Dashiell Perkins Memoir by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (