Perryville, Ky., Battlefield Association Adds 12 Acres
December '01 issue

PERRYVILLE, Ky. - The Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association (PBPA) has protected another 12 acres of battlefield land. On Oct. 16, the PBPA secured this property, which is recognized by historians as a key position on the battlefield.

Now, just a little over 139 years after the Battle of Perryville was fought, nearly 500 acres are protected at the site of Kentucky's largest Civil War battle.

According to PBPA Director Stuart W. Sanders the $65,000 for the purchase came from the Kentucky Department of Parks through a 1994 General Assembly bond issue specifically for Perryville Battlefield land acquisition.

The property is northwest of town at the intersection of Whites Road and Hayes May Road. It witnessed some of the heaviest fighting on Oct. 8, 1862, as both flanks of the Union army fell back to this area. At nightfall, the battle ended around this site, which is historically known as the Dixville Crossroads.

According to Auburn University professor Dr. Kenneth Noe, author of the new Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, the intersection was nothing less than the key position on the field that day, as well as the scene of the battle's violent climax.

Sanders called the property "a vital addition to the Perryville battlefield."

Also near this property, the 22nd Indiana Infantry Regiment suffered nearly 70 percent casualties, which represents the largest percentage loss of any regiment during the battle. Confederate Gen. Leonidas Polk, who witnessed the fighting here, remarked that "the slaughter of that Indiana regiment was the greatest I had ever seen in the war."

After the fight, Confederate Brig. Gen. St. John R. Liddell said that "the Federal force had disappeared everywhere. The ground before my line was literally covered with the dead and dying."

More than 7,500 soldiers were killed and wounded, and the battle kept Kentucky in Union hands for the remainder of the war. Several prominent historians, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. James McPherson, regard the Battle of Perryville as one of the turning points of the Civil War.

The property most recently has been farm land. A 20th-century house and some outbuildings will be removed. Sanders said the land will be restored as it was in 1862.

The property will be deeded to the Kentucky Department of Parks, which manages the battlefield, and eventually the site will be interpreted and opened to the public. It is the first land preserved around this important intersection.

Since 1995, the PBPA has increased the amount of protected battlefield land from 98 to nearly 500 acres. The association has also protected several important structures, including Confederate General Braxton Bragg's headquarters and eight buildings along Merchants' Row, the town's 19th century commercial district.

For information, contact Sanders and the PBPA at P.O. Box 65, Perryville, KY 40468; (859) 332-1862; www.perryville.net