Perryville, Ky.,
Oct. 8, 1862.


Army of the Ohio.

Early in August 1862, the Confederate forces under Gens. Bragg
and E. Kirby Smith united for an invasion of Kentucky, in the
hope of forcing the state to secede from the Union. Smith
entered Kentucky via of Cumberland gap and moved toward
Lexington.

Bragg's column crossed the Tennessee river at Chattanooga,
moved rapidly through middle Tennessee, and on Sept. 13 was at
Glasgow, Ky., the objective point being Louisville. If
Louisville could be seized and held the states north of the
Ohio river would be in danger of invasion. Leaving a
sufficient force to hold Nashville, Buell pushed forward with
the remainder of his army in a race with Bragg for Louisville,
where the Federal advance arrived on Sept. 25, and the rear
division four days later.

At Louisville Buell found a large number of raw recruits from
the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and immediately set
about the reorganization of his army by intermixing the new
troops with the old without changing the old organization.
When reorganized the Army of the Ohio numbered about 60,000
men.

It was composed of the 1st, 2nd and 3d army corps respectively
commanded by Maj.-Gens. A. McD. McCook, T. L. Crittenden and C.
C. Gilbert. McCook's corps embraced the 3d and 10th divisions,
commanded by Brig.-Gen. L. H. Rousseau and Brig.-Gen. J. S.
Jackson; Crittenden's corps was composed of the 4th and 6th
divisions, commanded by Brig.-Gens. W. S. Smith and T. J. Wood,
Gilbert's corps consisted of the 1st, 9th and 11th divisions,
commanded by Brig.-Gens. Albert Schoepf, R. B. Mitchell and P.
H. Sheridan.

Opposed to this force was the Confederate Army of the
Mississippi under Gen. Braxton Bragg, the estimated strength of
which was about 68,000 men. The right wing, under Maj.-Gen.
Leonidas Polk, consisted of Cheatham's division and the cavalry
brigade of Col. J. A. Wharton. The left wing, commapded by
Maj.-Gen. W. J. Hardee, was made up of the infantry divisions
of Brig.-Gen. J. P. Anderson and Maj.-Gen. S. B. Buckner, and
the cavalry brigade of Col. Joseph Wheeler.

It was Buell's intention to start from Louisville on the last
day of September and move against Bragg, who was then at
Bardstown, about 45 miles south, but an order was received
relieving him of the command of the army and turning it over to
Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas. The latter declined to accept,
however, and was made second in command.

This proceeding delayed the movement of the army for one day,
and on Oct. 1, it marched out in five columns. The left moved
toward Frankfort to hold in check the Confederates in that
vicinity, and the other four moved over the roads leading via
Shepherdsville, Mount Washington, Fairfeld and Bloomfield to
Bardstown. Each column encountered Confederate detachments a
few miles out from Louisville and the delay occasioned by the
almost constant skirmishing gave Bragg an opportunity to get
away from Bardstown, the last of his infantry retiring about
eight hours before Buell's advance entered the town.

A sharp skirmish occurred between the cavalry and artillery,
the pursuit of the Confederate rear-guard continuing for some
distance in the direction of Springfield. Believing that the
enemy would concentrate his forces about Danville, Buell
ordered McCook to move toward that point via Harrodsburg while
Crittenden proceeded on the Lebanon and Danville road and
Gilbert took the direct road to Perryville.

Shortly after leaving Bardstown Buell received information that
Kirby Smith had crossed the Kentucky river near Salvisa and was
moving to effect a junction with Bragg at Harrodsburg or
Perryville. Orders were therefore sent to McCook to move
directly to the latter place. Gilbert's corps arrived within 3
miles of Perryville on the afternoon of the 7th and was drawn
up in line of battle, as the enemy appeared to be in
considerable force and an attack was apprehended.

Capt. Gay pushed forward with his brigade of cavalry and a
battery, driving the Confederate rear-guard back about a mile
and developing the enemy's position, which was such that it
indicated he intended to make a stand at Perryville. As water
had been somewhat scarce during the last three days, Buell's
first step was to gain possession of Doctor's creek, a
tributary of the Chaplin river, and to accomplish this Col.
Daniel McCook's brigade of Sheridan's division was ordered to
seize and hold a position commanding the creek.

The enemy tried to prevent this, but McCook carried out the
order just before daylight on the morning of the 8th. Orders
were sent to commanders of the 1st and 2nd corps to move at 3
a. m. on the 8th and take positions on the right and left of
Gilbert. These orders did not reach McCook and Crittenden
until after 2 o'clock in the morning. The former marched at 5
o'clock and reached the field at 10:30 a. m., and the latter's
command was not in the engagement at all.

The battle on the 8th began with the attempt of the
Confederates to drive McCook from his position covering
Doctor's creek, and was opened with artillery. McCook ordered
Barnett's battery to the right of his line to reply, and after
about three-fourths of an hour Barnett succeeded in silencing
the enemy's guns. Buckner then commenced massing his troops in
the edge of the woods in which McCook had placed his
skirmishers.

Gay's cavalry started toward Perryville, but was stopped by
Buckner. Dismounting part of his command, Gay joined the
skirmishers of the 54th Ohio and soon became engaged with
Buckner's force, consisting of two brigades of infantry. The
2nd Mo. and 44th Ill. were then sent forward to the support of
the skirmish line, driving the enemy from the woods and back
across an open field.

In the meantime the divisions of Mitchell and Sheridan had been
moved to a position where they could come quickly to McCook's
support, with orders to hold their ground until the army was
prepared to attack in force. About the time that Buckner was
driven back across the field Rouscseau's division came up on
the Mackville road and formed in an open field on the left of
Gilbert, but with considerable space between the two commands.

At 2 p. m. the enemy made an attack on the skirmishers of the
33d Ohio. The remainder of that regiment and the 2nd Ohio were
sent to the support of the skirmish line and in a short time
the action became general, the heaviest assault falling on the
left of the line, where it was gallantly repulsed by
Starkweather's brigade.

Gen. Jackson was killed at the first fire, and this caused a
portion of his division to give way in some confusion. Brig.-
Gen. W. R. Terrill, commanding the 33d brigade lost his life
while trying to rally the men, and 1O pieces of his artillery
were left on the ground, though 8 of these were afterward
recovered.

The Confederates next took advantage of the gap between
Rousseau's right and Gilbert's left, pressing the attack at
that point with an overwhelming force. Rousseau's right was
turned and his line was being forced back, when Gooding's and
Steedman's brigades of Gilbert's corps came to his assistance,
driving back the enemy and reoccupying the ground near the
Russell house. Steedman posted his battery along with that of
Pinney's near the Russell house and opened a terrific fire on
the Confederate lines, while the batteries of Sheridan's
division caught the enemy on the left flank and poured in a
heavy enfilading fire from that direction.

Carlin's brigade of Mitchell's division now reinforced
Sheridan, a charge was made with such intrepidity that the
Confederates were completely routed and forced back through the
town, Sheridan capturing 2 caissons and 15 wagons loaded with
ammunition, as well as the guard with them consisting of 3
officers and 138 men. This ended the battle, though, the Union
commanders spent the greater part of the night in perfecting
their plans for a renewal of the fight on the following
morning.

At daylight on the 9th the Federal camps were astir and at 6
o'clock the corps of Crittenden and Gilbert moved forward to
attack the enemy's front and left flank. When the advance
reached the town it was discovered that the enemy had abandoned
his position during the night and fallen back toward
Harrodsburg. The Union losses in the battle of Perryville were
845 killed, 2,851 wounded and 515 missing. Bragg reported his
losses as being 510 killed, 2,635 wounded and 251 missing.

This engagement ended the Confederate invasion of Kentucky.
The effort to force the state to secede had failed. On Oct. 12
Bragg made a report from Bryantsville, in which he said: "The
campaign here was predicated on a belief and the most positive
assurances that the people of this country would rise in mass
to assert their independence.

No people ever had so favorable an opportunity, but I am
distressed to add there is little or no disposition to avail of
it. Willing, perhaps, to accept their independence, they are
neither disposed nor willing to risk their lives or their
property in its achievement."

In the same report he also says: "Ascertaining that the enemy
was heavily reinforced during the night, I withdrew my force
early the next morning to Harrodsburg and thence to this
point. * * * My future movements cannot be indicated, as they
will depend in a great measure on those of the enemy." The
only "reinforcement" added to Buell's army on the night of the
8th was Crittenden's corps, and this was near enough to have
been brought into the action at Perryville, had the commanding
general deemed it necessary.

As "the enemy" showed a disposition to act on the aggressive,
Bragg hurried to get out of Kentucky, retreating via Cumberland
gap into Tennessee, the Union army continuing the pursuit as
far as London Ky., harassing the rear-guard and capturing a
number of stragglers. (This engagement is sometimes called the
battle of Chaplin Hills.)


Source: The Union Army,Vol.,6 p.,672