Christopher L. Kolakowski - The Civil War at Perryville: Battling for the Bluegrass

T HE C IVIL W AR AT
P ERRYVILLE

B ATTLING FOR THE B LUEGRASS

C HRISTOPHER L. K OLAKOWSKI

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2009 by Christopher L. Kolakowski

All rights reserved

First published 2009

Second printing 2011

e-book edition 2011

ISBN 978.1.61423.048.9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kolakowski, Christopher L.

The Civil War at Perryville : battling for the Bluegrass / Christopher L. Kolakowski.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

print edition: ISBN 978-1-59629-672-5 (alk. paper)

1. Perryville, Battle of, Perryville, Ky., 1862. 2. Kentucky--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns. 3. United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns. I.

Title.

E474.39.K65 2009

973.733--dc22

2009026260

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For my parents

I first came to Perryville in August 2005 as part of a Civil War conference. I had always been vaguely aware that a major battle had occurred there, but by no means was overly familiar with it. The pristine fields and woods, very indicative of how it looked in 1862, made quite an impression on me. By happenstance, I got the opportunity to work there a few months later, and in November 2005 became executive director of the Perryville Enhancement Project, a public-private partnership charged with preserving and interpreting the Perryville Battlefield and related sites. The three years I spent in Perryville were very rewarding, and I came to appreciate this battle and site for what it truly is. Perryville will always be a special place for me.

Although my name appears on the cover of this book, this work would not have been possible without the help of others. First and foremost, thanks go to my former colleagues and partners at Perryville: Kurt Holman, Joan House, Chad Greene, Don Kelly, Rich Stallings, Nancy Ross-Stallings, Robert Preston, Darrell Young and Harold Edwards. They all contributed in ways large and small to my understanding of Kentuckys largest battle and I cannot forget it. Kurt is a walking encyclopedia on the battle, and his enthusiastic support was key to this project. He is a true asset to that site.

Others who contributed to this project include Nicky Hughes of the Frankfort City Museum, Phil Seyfrit of the Richmond Battlefield Park, Tom Fugate, Tres Seymour of the Battle for the Bridge Historic Preserve in Munfordville, Homer Musselman, Steve Garvey and Lynne Grant, Kirk Jenkins, Mike Formichella, Micah Morris, Duncan Granger, Betty Jane Gorin, Ken Noe of Auburn University, Dr. Robert Cameron of Fort Knox, Stuart Sanders and Don Rightmyer of the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Humanities Council. Great thanks are also due to Jim Cass, John Strojan and M.C. Edwards of the Camp Wildcat Preservation Foundation, and Paul Rominger, Bob Moody and Ed Ford of the Battle of Richmond Association. John Walshs excellent maps added immensely to this work. I also would like to thank The History Press and my editor, John Wilkinson, who was a pleasure to work with and patient with a first-time book author. Any and all errors in this work are mine alone.

Active preservation movements are working to preserve and interpret the key sites associated with the 1862 Kentucky Campaign. For more information and links, please visit www.kycivilwar.org.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has a rich military tradition dating back to before its founding in 1792. Rangers from the Kentucky counties of Virginia defeated a British and native force at Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last American victories during the War for Independence. Kentucky riflemen formed elite units in General Andrew Jacksons army during the War of 1812, and the Kentucky Militia played a decisive part in the victory at New Orleans in January 1815. In every subsequent war this country has waged, Kentucky units and leaders have played an important role; the states military history is emblazoned with names like Mexico, the Argonne, Bataan and Corregidor, the Ia Drang Valley and Iraq.

Kentuckys military story is dominated by the Civil War period. U.S. president Abraham Lincoln and his counterpart, Jefferson Davis, were each native Kentuckians, and both men realized the importance of possessing the Bluegrass State on their side. Kentucky was a slave state but joined the Union in 1861 after an abortive attempt at neutrality. The men of Kentucky divided their loyalties also: 100,000 fought for the United States, while 40,000 carried arms for the Confederacy. Prominent politicians and generals on both sides came from the state.

The Civil War was also the last time the Bluegrass State suffered invasion. Union and Confederate armies raced for possession of the state in 1861, a race won by the Union. Repeated Confederate cavalry raids inflamed Kentuckys countryside for the entire war. But the largest and most important invasion of the state came in 1862, as the Confederacy attempted one last time to turn Kentucky to the Southern cause. For ten weeks in the late summer and fall of 1862, the fate of the Bluegrass State hung in the balance as Confederate armies surged into Kentucky and Union armies maneuvered to prevent them from taking control. The issue was decided forever on October 8, 1862, at Perryville, a crossroads town in the center of the state, where two major armies clashed and the dream of a Confederate Kentucky suffered a mortal blow. The Bluegrass State remained in the Union camp for the rest of the war.

The 1862 Kentucky Campaign was the largest and bloodiest military operation ever mounted in Kentucky. By the time it was over, the contending armies had covered almost all of the central and eastern parts of the state, from the Tennessee border in the south to the Ohio River in the north. The campaign produced Kentuckys largest and bloodiest battle at Perryville, the states second-largest battle at Richmond and one of the largest U.S. surrenders of the war at Munfordville. These dramatic events together represent the High Water Mark of the Confederacy in the West. In many ways, both the fate of Kentucky and the fate of the United States rested on the outcome of the campaign and Battle of Perryville.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, shimmered in the summer heat on the last day of July 1862. The town and its surrounding ridges swarmed with Confederate troops as an army of thirty thousand men arrived by train and crowded in and around the town of two thousand residents. The buzz of activity broke through the oppressive temperatures.

The nexus of all this military commotion was the downtown hotel that served as headquarters for the Army of the Mississippi, as this incoming force was known. In an upstairs room, two Confederate generals were meeting that day to discuss options and plans. Seen side by side, the two men offered an interesting contrastone tall and erect of bearing, while the other was shorter and more dour.