Important Civil War battlefield awaits visitors

As the tubas toot and the trumpets call in Danville, visitors to Boyle County can get an earful of another historical sound coming from the Perryville Battlefield. June 10-11 will feature a living history exhibit of a Union artillery unit at the Perryville Battlefield Historic Site, just 10 miles west from Danville on U.S. 150. The cannon will fire every hour from 10-4 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday, with historical interpretation by the soldiers in between.

"I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky"

Abraham Lincoln

PERRYVILLE --Visitors to the Great American Brass Band Festival interested in 19th century America and the Civil War are only a few miles from the most important battlefield in Kentucky.

The Battle for Kentucky was fought just outside this historic town, which is about 10 miles from Danville.

The lands on which the Battle of Perryville was fought on Oct. 8, 1862, have been determined to be one of the most important battlefields in critical need of preservation by the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service and the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission.

The battlefield and the town have been the focus of a 10-year project supported by $3.25 million in public and private funds to preserve one of the nation's premiere battlefields and 19th century villages.

Kentucky was seen as a pivotal battleground during the Civil War.

"I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game," said President Lincoln.

The initial fighting began because after a long drought, both sides were looking for water to fill their canteens and the two sides both found brackish water in Doctor's Creek.

While the Confederate Army was the tactical victor in the Battle of Perryville, the Confederates abandoned the battlefield in the middle of the night after the battle.

Confusion due to the rolling hills in the area and miscommunication on both sides about troop strength and movements made the two generals involved virtually unaware a battle was taking place at the time.

About 60,000 Union troops were in the area, but only 20,000 actually fought 18,000 Confederates because of the confusion. Confederate General Braxton Bragg had no idea he was up against the entire Kentucky Union Army the day of the battle, and on Oct. 9, his army began a retreat to Tennessee, leaving the battlefield and the state to the Union.

More than 7,500 men were killed and wounded at Perryville. Wounded men were cared for as far away as Danville and Bardstown. Old Centre, to the rear of the festival stage, the Presbyterian Church and the Boyle County Courthouse were used as field hospitals in the aftermath of the battle. Virtually every existing home in the county became a place to treat the wounded, many of whom died in the months after the battle from their injuries.

"The effects of the battle were felt and were evident (in the city) for many years," said Stuart Sanders, acting director of the Perryville Enhancement Project.

A major focus of the project has been the acquisition of properties that were part of the original battlefield. Over the last decade, the project has added 370 acres to the original 98 of the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site. This year, the project has updated property appraisals to purchase more battlefield lands and is set to begin renovations on a mill and miller's house on U.S. 68 this summer. The mill property will be used for a museum and welcoming center for the battlefield.

Kurt Holman, manager of the battlefield, said he tries to maintain an open gate policy for the battlefield. The museum and gift shop at the park are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The museum features a cannon that was donated to the museum. A mass grave of over 400 Confederates stands at the crest of a hill, buried by H.P. "Squire" Bottoms, the owner of the farm on which the armies fought.