Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Crittenden's Corps - Wood's Division - Wagner's Brigade
Leaving Bardstown on the 5th, Crittenden's corps found itself first continuing in the center, on the Springfield road, and then from Springfield, ordered to move on the army's right, first toward Lebanon, KY and then east toward Danville. McCook's corps was on the left, moving through Mackville and then east southeast toward Danville, while the center corps, Gilbert's, took a more direct route through Springfield, KY and then directly east.
Now this part of Kentucky had for several months had suffered from drought. Marching armies were constantly looking for a stream or spring from which they could draw water. The area around Danville, where both armies were rapidly converging, was no different.
The Confederate army came through Perryville, and moving a short distance east, made its lines around the water sources available, and initially took the available high ground for its advantage in battle.
Battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862
The Union center corps came up first and began to deploy across from Confederate positions. The Union left, under McCook, was late arriving at the field, due to a need to stop for rest, arriving at its positions around 10 AM, when parts of the center corps were already engaged. Crittenden's corps, then under the command of General Thomas, was even later. Hard marching through Lebanon and then toward Perryville had left the troops exhausted, and Thomas, perhaps not expecting a battle that day, had thought to rest them before moving up, and they began arriving in position in the late morning, around 11 AM.
By 11 AM, however, the fighting had become very hot, and it continued that way for the rest of the day. Thomas could hear the noise of the battle on his left, and the officer he sent to General Buell reported that it seemed a full battle had started. Buell and Gilbert (the center corps commander) disagreed, saying that they had heard only occasional gunfire, indicating a small skirmish. As it turned out, this was a case of acoustic shadowing, which greatly reduced the battle's sound at their location, and misled Buell and Gilbert into thinking the battle had not started,. They continued preparing for a Union attack on the next day.
This lack of concern, when conveyed to General Thomas, led him to ignore the battle sounds and continue his preparations for the expected future attack. As a result, the whole of Crittenden's corps remained disengaged for the entire battle.
Fighting was intense all day on the left and center. The Union center had been pushed back, and the Rebel forces had almost broken through the Union left. As night fell, the Union army had consolidated somewhat further back toward the west, and had held, and the battle was tactically a draw.
Casualties were very high for this single-day battle:
Union: Killed 845; Wounded 2851, Captured or Missing, 515; Total 4211
Confederate: Killed 519; Wounded 2635, Captured or Missing, 251; Total 3396
More Information:
- Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence, pp. 574-596.
- The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 85.
- Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 726-729.
- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 3. The Tide Shifts, pp, 29-61.
- Kenneth Noe, Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, pp. 73-313.
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