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Perryville
Kentucky
October 8, 1862
Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's autumn 1862 invasion of Kentucky
had reached the outskirts of Louisville and Cincinnati, but he
was forced to retreat and regroup. On October 7, the Federal army
of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, numbering nearly 55,000, converged
on the small crossroads town of Perryville, Kentucky, in three
columns. Union forces first skirmished with Rebel cavalry on the
Springfield Pike before the fighting became more general, on Peters
Hill, as the grayclad infantry arrived. 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. The fighting
then stopped for a time. After noon, a Confederate division struck
the Union left flank 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 troops routed.
Buell did not know of the happenings on the field, or he would
have sent forward some reserves. Even so, the Union troops on
the left flank, reinforced by two brigades, stabilized their line,
and the Rebel attack sputtered to a halt. Later, a Rebel brigade
assaulted the Union division on the Springfield Pike but was repulsed
and fell back into Perryville. The Yankees pursued, and skirmishing
occurred in the streets in the evening before dark. Union reinforcements
were threatening the Rebel left flank by now. Bragg, short of
men and supplies, withdrew during the night, and, after pausing
at Harrodsburg, continued the Confederate retrograde by way of
Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee. The Confederate offensive
was over, and the Union controlled Kentucky.
Result(s):
Union strategic victory
Location:
Boyle County
Campaign:
Confederate Heartland Offensive (1862)
Date(s):
October 8, 1862
Principal
Commanders: Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell [US]; Gen. Braxton
Bragg [CS]
Forces
Engaged: Army of the Ohio [US]; Army of the Mississippi [CS]
Estimated
Casualties: 7,407 total (US 4,211; CS 3,196)
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