William F. Perry

Who was William F. Perry?

William Flank Perry 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.