When the Civil War began William E.W."Bill" PERDUE son of Lee PERDUE and Mary WYATT was 25 years old. He had been born and raised in "Upper Sumner County" near Perdue, Tennessee. Bill had married his cousin Harriet Leavinia BARBER in 1857. William enlisted the 22nd of November 1861 at Tyree Springs under Colonel John HEAD. He received the rank of Private in Company I of the 30th Tennessee Infantry. Several of Bill's relatives and neighbors enlisted at the same time including the soon to be notorious Ellis HARPER.

William received orders in December to proceed to Fort Donelson. He brought his own weapon which was probably inadequate. No uniform was furnished - the only military insignia might have been a black stripe sewed on his civilian pants. A blanket, quilt or piece of carpet was the only protection most could afford against the winter's cold.

On the 5th of February 1862 Union gunboats and steamboats loaded with troops made their way up the Tennessee River toward Fort Henry - the following day it fell. Union forces now turned toward Fort Donelson - Colonel HEAD and his men were ordered to protect the Fort. Federals firepower began wreaking havoc on the Rebels. Colonel Head withdraw his troops to Dover to argue the fate of his men. The decision was made - escape was impossible. They returned to their rifle pits. Fort Donelson surrendered on the 16th of February 1862.

The last days of battle had been fought in a snow storm and now they were going to prison on an open deck prison boat. In Cairo, Illinois they were put in cattle or box cars and sent via St. Louis to Camp Butler near Springfield, Illinois. A report from Camp Butler declared "they were the hardest looking set of men ever brought together". The death rate was one per day and the majority of the regiment took the "oath of allegiance" in order to get away. An exchange was arranged and the prisoners taken by steamboat down the Mississippi to Vicksburg and released the 30th of September 1862.

A notation on Bill PERDUE's record headed "Roll of Prisoners of War" reads "name canceled by lines". What exactly that meant is unclear but it could tie in with the tradition that Bill had escaped prior to the exchange and made his way home. After the fall of Fort Donelson, Sumner County was occupied by the Union Army. This did not sit well with most of the residents. Different tales of Bill's "close calls" with the Union Army were passed down in every branch of his family. Circumstantial evidence points to a grain of truth to the various accounts. Ellis HARPER was given a Captain's Commission by General MORGAN and recruited a company to operate behind Union lines in and around Sumner County. A muster roll of his company was never kept for obvious reasons. Most of Harper's recruites were former soldiers of the Southern Army.

William PERDUE died August of 1866 leaving a pregnant widow and two children. He was not thirty years old. His estate was small and Harriet was forced to sell part of it to settle debts. Bill's coffin cost $8.00 and his funeral $11.00. He was buried in Shanklin (formerly BARBER) Cemetary in Sumner Co., TN - his grave unmarked.

Harriet remarried September 1880 to her first cousin William Allen BARBER son of Allen and Malinda BARBER. William BARBER was a widower with four children and had served with Bill PERDUE in the War. William Allen BARBER had been arrested and jailed for his part in Ellis HARPER's company. William BARBER died in 1917 and Harriet went to live with her daughter Mary. She remained there til her death in 1931 - the last years of her life she spent in bed due to crippling arthritis. She was buried in Shanklin Cemetary - her grave unmarked.

1-- William PERDUE (1835-1866) Sumner Co., Tn
  sp-Harriet Leavinia BARBER (1838-1931) Sumner Co., TN
     2-- Mary Ellender PERDUE (1858-1940) Sumner Co., TN
      sp- Asa B. PERDUE (1858-1881) Sumner Co., TN
      sp- Granville Jackson BRACKIN (1860-1900) Sumner Co., TN
     2-- William Henry PERDUE (1862- 1949) Sumner Co., TN
      sp-Dora Belle CLENDENNING (1875-1910) Sumner Co., TN
      sp-Izora CLENDENNING MINNIS (1871-1938) Sumner Co., TN
     2-- George Washington PERDUE (1866-1938) Sumner Co., TN
      sp-Susan COCHRAN (1869-1904) Sumner Co., TN
      sp-Rosetta GARRETT (1884-1914) Sumner Co., TN
      sp-Nettie Jane SHIRLEY (1889-1951) Tennessee