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Battle of Perryville

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Battle of Perryville

The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi initially won a tactical victory against primarily a single corps of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Union Army of the Ohio. The battle is considered a strategic Union victory, sometimes called the Battle for Kentucky, since Bragg withdrew to Tennessee soon thereafter. The Union retained control of the critical border state of Kentucky for the remainder of the war. On October 7, Buell's army, in pursuit of Bragg, converged on the small crossroads town of Perryville in three columns. Union forces first skirmished with Confederate cavalry on the Springfield Pike before the fighting became more general, on Peters Hill, when the Confederate infantry arrived. Both sides were desperate to get access to fresh water. The next day, at dawn, fighting began again around Peters Hill as a Union division advanced up the pike, halting just before the Confederate line. After noon, a Confederate division struck the Union left flank—the I Corps of Maj. Gen. Alexander M. McCook—and forced it to fall back. When more Confederate divisions joined the fray, the Union line made a stubborn stand, counterattacked, but finally fell back with some units routed. Buell, several miles behind the action, was unaware that a major battle was taking place and did not send any reserves to the front until late in the afternoon. The Union troops on the left flank, reinforced by two brigades, stabilized their line, and the Confederate attack sputtered to a halt. Later, three Confederate regiments assaulted the Union division on the Springfield Pike but were repulsed and fell back into Perryville. Union troops pursued, and skirmishing occurred in the streets until dark. By that time, Union reinforcements were threatening the Confederate left flank. Bragg, short of men and supplies, withdrew during the night, and continued the Confederate retreat by way of Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee. Considering the casualties relative to the engaged strengths of the armies, the Battle of Perryville was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in the state of Kentucky.

Infobox

Date
October 8, 1862 (1862-10-08)
Location
Near 37°40′31″N 84°58′16″W / 37.67528°N 84.97111°W / 37.67528; -84.97111
Result
See aftermath

Tables

· Opposing forces › Union
Maj. Gen.Don Carlos Buell, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.George H. Thomas Maj. Gen.Alexander M. McCook Maj. Gen.Charles C. Gilbert
Maj. Gen.Don Carlos Buell, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.George H. Thomas Maj. Gen.Alexander M. McCook Maj. Gen.Charles C. Gilbert
Key Union commanders
Maj. Gen.Don Carlos Buell, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.George H. Thomas Maj. Gen.Alexander M. McCook Maj. Gen.Charles C. Gilbert
Key Union commanders
Maj. Gen.Don Carlos Buell, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.George H. Thomas Maj. Gen.Alexander M. McCook Maj. Gen.Charles C. Gilbert
· Opposing forces › Confederate
Gen.Braxton Bragg, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.Leonidas Polk Maj. Gen.William J. Hardee
Gen.Braxton Bragg, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.Leonidas Polk Maj. Gen.William J. Hardee
Key Confederate commanders
Gen.Braxton Bragg, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.Leonidas Polk Maj. Gen.William J. Hardee
Key Confederate commanders
Gen.Braxton Bragg, (Commanding) Maj. Gen.Leonidas Polk Maj. Gen.William J. Hardee

References

  1. This army, at times known by the names Army of the West or Army of the Mississippi (the latter particularly at Shiloh),
  2. The Army of Mississippi was also sometimes referred to as the Army of the West. The army was activated on March 5, 1862,
  3. All of the references for this article spell his name "Powell". The Official Records spell it variously as Powel and Pow
  4. Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XVI, Part 2, pages 562-564.
    https://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;idno=waro0023;node=waro0023%3A3;view=image;seq=564;size=100;page=root
  5. Kennedy, p. 127. The entire Army of the Ohio (present for duty) was approximately 55,000 men (Cameron, p. 197, cites 55,
  6. Kennedy, p. 127.
  7. Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XVI, Part 1, pages 1033-1036.
    https://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar&cc=moawar&idno=waro0022&node=waro0022%3A8&view=image&seq=1047&size=100
  8. Noe, p. 373, cites 4,276 (894 killed; 2,911 wounded; 471 captured/missing)
  9. Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XVI, Part 1, page 1112.
    https://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar&cc=moawar&idno=waro0022&node=waro0022%3A8&view=image&seq=1126&size=100
  10. Noe, p. 369, cites 3,401 (532 killed; 2,641 wounded; 228 captured/missing).
  11. NPS.
    https://home.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battles-detail.htm?battleCode=ky009
  12. Eicher, p. 367.
  13. Unit actions from Esposito, map 76.
  14. Noe, p. 6.
  15. McPherson, pp. 296–97.
  16. Noe, pp. 9–10.
  17. Woodworth, p. 135; Noe, pp. 29–31.
  18. Woodworth, pp. 135–36; Noe, pp. 25–30, 33.
  19. "Booneville, Mississippi Civil War sites"
    http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc21/booneville1.htm
  20. Noe, pp. 31–32; Woodworth, pp. 136–37.
  21. Noe, p. 33.
  22. Noe, pp. 34–35; Woodworth, pp. 137–38.
  23. Esposito, text for map 75.
  24. McPherson, p. 524.
  25. Woodworth, p. 140.
  26. Breiner, Invasion, np.; McDonough, p. 200; Noe, p. 129.
  27. Cameron, p. 97; Noe, pp. 130–32.
  28. Unit actions from Noe, p. 194.
  29. Geology
    https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000Geo....28..291W
  30. "The Drought That Changed the War"
    https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/the-drought-that-changed-the-war/
  31. Noe, pp. 110–11; Prokopowicz, p. 161.
  32. Noe, pp. 136–39.
  33. Cameron, p. 98.
  34. Kennedy, p. 124; Noe, pp. 133–34.
  35. Noe, p. 140.
  36. Official Records, Series I, Vol. XVI, Part 1, pp. 1023–24.
  37. Esposito, text for map 76; Noe, pp. 94–95; McDonough, pp. 196–97.
  38. Noe, pp. 373–74; Eicher, p. 367.
  39. Noe, pp. 375–77; Eicher, p. 367.
  40. Noe, pp. 97, 377–80; Eicher, p. 367.
  41. Noe, pp. 369–72; Eicher, pp. 367–68.
  42. Noe, pp. 144–59; McDonough, pp. 220–23.
  43. Noe, pp. 169–71; McDonough, pp. 226–28.
  44. McDonough, pp. 232–33; Noe, pp. 173–76; Cameron, p. 117; Breiner, Battle, np.; Street, pp. 60–61.
  45. Kennedy, p. 126; Noe, p. 194; Cameron, pp. 114, 184; McPherson, p. 520.
  46. Unit actions from Noe, p. 201.
  47. Noe, pp. 186–88; Cameron, p. 117.
  48. McDonough, pp. 243–45; Street, p. 64.
  49. McDonough, pp. 245–49; Noe, pp. 193–204; Cameron, pp. 123–26.
  50. Noe, pp. 204–11; McDonough, pp. 249–55; Cameron, pp. 128–35.
  51. Noe, pp. 250–56; McDonough, pp. 273–75; Cameron, pp. 136–44.
  52. Unit actions from Noe, p. 227.
  53. Watkins, p. 82.
  54. Unit actions from Noe, p. 249.
  55. McDonough, pp. 275–80; Noe, pp. 256–60; Cameron, pp. 145–50; Hafendorfer, pp. 386, 445.
  56. Noe, pp. 260–61; Breiner, Battle, np.
  57. Noe, pp. 215–18, 238–41; McDonough, pp. 259–60, 265–66; Cameron, pp. 163–64.
  58. Noe, pp. 219–29; McDonough, pp. 260–62; Cameron, pp. 174–75; History of 42nd Indiana.
    https://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~indiana42nd/42nd_History_Perryville.htm
  59. Noe, pp. 263–66; McDonough, pp. 265–72; Breiner, Battle, np.; Cameron, pp. 176–77.
  60. McDonough, p. 271.
  61. McDonough, pp. 267–71.
  62. Unit actions from Noe, p. 279.
  63. Noe, pp. 277–83; Cameron, p. 184.
  64. Noe, pp. 284–86, 291–92.
  65. Noe, p. 285.
  66. Unit actions from Noe, p. 299.
  67. Noe, pp. 292; Cameron, pp. 178–80.
  68. Noe, pp. 272–74; 292–98; McDonough, pp. 283–84; Cameron, pp. 181–83.
  69. Cameron, pp. 183–84; Prokopowicz, pp. 166, 180–81; Noe, p. 290.
  70. Noe, pp. 301–305; McDonough, pp. 285–286; Cameron, pp. 184–86. Noe, p. 302, cites the 65.3% casualty rate of the 22nd In
    https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units.htm
  71. Noe, pp. 369, 373.
  72. Watkins, pp. 80–81.
  73. Noe, pp. 313–15.
  74. McDonough, pp. 304–14.
  75. McDonough, pp. 317–18; Prokopowicz, pp. 186–87; Noe, pp. 339–43; Eicher, p. 371.
  76. Prokopowicz, p. 179.
  77. McPherson, p. 858.
  78. "Kentucky Climate Center"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20220308222639/http://kyclimate.org/News/thbattleperryville.html
  79. Kentucky State Parks Perryville Battlefield Archived October 8, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 8, 2017.
    http://parks.ky.gov/parks/historicsites/perryville-battlefield/
  80. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places - Nomination Form Perryville Kentucky Historic District Retri
    https://web.archive.org/web/20211008164431/https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/73000792.pdfU.S.
  81. American Battlefield Trust
    https://web.archive.org/web/20171125084922/https://www.civilwar.org/preserve/saved-land
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