Battle of Perryville, Kentucky
- Ray
- Jul 6, 2018
- 1 min read
©Raymond Chowkwanyun 2018. All Rights Reserved
Thursday the Eighth of October in the Year of our Lord Eighteen Sixty Two.
The battle of Perryville was distinguished by the fact that the Union Commander Buell didn't know that he'd been in battle. Due to a quirk of geography, Buell heard only artillery fire on his left and not the sound of musketry and thought McCook, the commander of his left wing, was merely engaged in an artillery duel. He ignored McCook's increasingly desperate pleas for help as the left wing of the Union Army came under assault by the entire Confederate Army of the Mississippi. The equally hapless Confederate Commander Bragg thought he was only engaged in a skirmish with a scouting party from the Union Army of the Ohio. He was unaware that the entirety of that army was present and had the potential to crush him like a grape.
Yes, the entire right wing of the Union Army of the Ohio stood to attention for the whole of the battle and took no part whatsoever while their comrades on the left wing were fighting for dear life. Such are the fortunes and fogs of war.
The Union left (in Blue) under assault by an entire Confederate Army (in Red).
The Valley of Death. A crik runs through it called Doctor's Creek. For the soldiers, the battle was as much about getting water from the Creek as it was about a military struggle because it was a blazingly hot day.
The tree of liberty has been watered.
May they Rest. In. Peace.
The Visitor Center.
