Abner Monroe Perrin

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Abner Monroe Perrin (February 2, 1827 – May 12, 1864) was a Confederate general in the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. He was killed at the Battle of Spotsylvania.

Perrin was born in the Edgfield District of South Carolina. He fought in the Mexican-American War as a lieutenant in the infantry. Upon his return home, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854. When the Civil War began, Perrin entered the Confederate service as a captain in the 14th South Carolina Infantry that was attached to Maxcy Gregg's brigade of the famous "Light Division" of A.P. Hill.

Perrin saw service with Gregg's Brigade through all of its major battles, including the Seven Days, Second Manassas, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. When Gregg's successor, Samuel McGowan, was wounded at Chancellorsville, Perrin took command of the brigade and led it at the subsequent Battle of Gettysburg. On September 10, 1863, Perrin was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Upon the return of McGowan, Perrin was transferred to command the Alabama brigade previously led by Cadmus Wilcox.

Perrin was conspiciously brave at the Wilderness in May 1864. In the next battle, Spotsylvania, Perrin declared "I shall come out of this fight a live major general or a dead brigadier." When the "Mule Shoe" (or "Bloody Angle") was over-run and most of General Edward Johnson's division was captured on May 12, 1864, units from the Third Corps were called in to help—including Perrin's brigade. Leading his troops in a spirited counterattack through a very heavy fire, with his sword in hand, Perrin fell from his horse pierced by seven bullets. He died instantly.

Perrin is buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

[edit] Reference

• Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5.