Wartime diary of Corporal Wilkinson D. Perrin
Heritage Auctions (ha.com)
An Artillerist’s Diary Earns Well
The Artifact
Wartime diary of Corporal Wilkinson D. Perrin
Condition
Measuring 4-by-6 inches, with brown leather wrappers and 284 hand-numbered pages, the diary is in excellent condition.
Details
Wilkinson D. Perrin of Perrysburg, Ohio, enlisted as a private in Battery H, 1st Ohio Light Artillery, in November 1861. The 5-foot-5-inch teenager with dark hair and hazel eyes would serve in many of the war’s biggest and bloodiest campaigns, including Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, rising to the rank of corporal. Between April 29, 1862, and July 22, 1863, he kept a detailed diary, his near-daily entries shedding light on his life in camp and on the battlefield.
At Cold Harbor on June 1, 1864, Perrin and Battery H were positioned with the Army of the Potomac’s VI Corps on the left end of the Union line. According to an account by a comrade, Perrin, 20, “was killed at the beginning of the fight just as he had sighted his gun the 4th time. He was killed by a piece of shell that exploded in front of our battery, the piece striking his left shoulder and passing through his body, coming out just above his right hip bone. He was killed instantly….”
Extras
In addition to the diary, the collection included a sixth-plate tintype of Perrin seated in uniform, a carte de visite featuring men of Battery H gathered outside around a cannon, the Battery H commander’s inventory of Perrin’s personal effects at the time of his death (among them a forage cap, a uniform jacket, a watch, a revolver, and a pocket book that is undoubtedly the diary), and a framed dried rose captioned “Rose captured at Vicksburg July 4th 1863,” the origin and significance of which are unknown.
Quotable
Perrin’s description of the Battle of Gettysburg runs over several entries: On July 2, 1863, he wrote, “The enemy sharpshooters were very annoying we laid on the hill all night heavy musketry was going all afternoon our men repulsed the enemy and drove them with a heavy loss five of our battery was hurt.” On July 3, the battle’s final day, he wrote, “They opened all their artillery all along the line and the cannonading was awful we were not fine for a long time but after while move our guns up and opened on them the shells were flying in all directions…. [O]ur guns got so hot we could not work them got another gun and went in again….”
Value
$3,250 (realized at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, in 2017). “Besides the usual camp life observations, Perrin provides a first-hand narrative of four major battles, and specifically mentions Gettysburg three times,” a Heritage representative noted at the time.
