Battle of Perryville

| Battle of Perryville

| Began:|

October 8, 1862

|

| Ended:|

Same day

|

| Location:|

Boyle County, Kentucky

|

| Theater:|

Western Theater

|

| Campaign:|

Confederate Heartland Offensive

|

| Outcome:|

Union Strategic Victory

|

Combatants

Army of the Ohio

Army of Mississippi

Commanders

Don Carlos Buell
Major General, USA
Alexander M. McCook
Major General, USA

Braxton Bragg
General, CSA
Leonidas Polk
Major General, CSA

Strength

16,000

| |

22,000

|

Casualties

4,276
Killed: 894
Wounded: 2,911
Missing or captured: 471

3,401
Killed: 532
Wounded: 2,641
Missing or captured: 228

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. (NPS summary)

v • d • e

Confederate Heartland Offensive, June-October, 1862

1st Chattanooga \-- 1st Murfreesboro \-- Richmond, KY \-- Munfordville \-- Perryville

v • d • e

Battles of the American Civil War: 1862

Eastern Theater|

Cockpit Point \-- Hancock \-- Roanoke Island \-- Elizabeth City \-- New Bern \-- Fort Macon \-- 1st Kernstown \-- Hampton Roads \-- Yorktown \-- South Mills \-- Williamsburg \-- Eltham's Landing \-- McDowell \-- Princeton Court House \-- Drewry’s Bluff \-- Front Royal \-- 1st Winchester \-- Hanover Court House \-- Seven Pines \-- Tranter's Creek \-- Cross Keys \-- Port Republic \-- Oak Grove \-- Beaver Dam Creek \-- Gaines' Mill \-- Garnett's and Golding's Farms \-- Savage's Station \-- Glendale \-- White Oak Swamp \-- Malvern Hill \-- Cedar Mountain \-- 1st Rappahannock Station \-- Manassas Station Operations \-- Thoroughfare Gap \-- 2nd Bull Run \-- Chantilly \-- Harpers Ferry \-- South Mountain \-- Antietam \-- Shepherdstown \-- Fredericksburg \-- Kinston \-- White Hall \-- Goldsborough Bridge

Western Theater|

Middle Creek \-- Mill Springs \-- Fort Henry \-- Fort Donelson \-- Island Number Ten \-- 1st Memphis \-- Shiloh \-- Siege of Corinth \-- 1st Chattanooga \-- 1st Murfreesboro \-- Richmond, KY \-- Munfordville \-- Iuka \-- Corinth \-- Hatchie's Bridge \-- Perryville \-- Hartsville \-- Jackson, TN \-- Chickasaw Bayou \-- Parker's Cross Roads \-- Stones River

Trans-Mississippi Theater|

Roan's Tan Yard \-- Valverde \-- Pea Ridge \-- Glorieta Pass \-- Stanwix Station \-- Albuquerque \-- Peralta \-- Picacho Pass \-- Dragoon Springs \-- Saint Charles \-- Cotton Plant \-- Apache Pass \-- Moore’s Mill \-- Kirksville \-- Compton's Ferry \-- 1st Independence, MO \-- 1st Sabine Pass \-- 1st Galveston \-- Lone Jack \-- 1st Newtonia \-- Old Fort Wayne \-- Island Mound \-- Clark's Mill \-- Cane Hill \-- Prairie Grove

Lower Seaboard Theater|

Fort Pulaski \-- Forts Jackson and St. Philip \-- New Orleans \-- Secessionville \-- Simmon's Bluff \-- Tampa \-- Baton Rouge \-- 1st Donaldsonville \-- Saint John's Bluff \-- Georgia Landing