Perryville

— The Battle for Kentucky October 8, 1862 —

When the Battle of Perryville ended, hundreds of dead soldiers were left on the battlefield. The Confederates, who attacked the Union battle lines, lost 532 killed, 2,641 wounded, and 228 missing (3,401 total). Federal losses were just as staggering. The Union army suffered 890 killed, 2,893 wounded, and 437 missing (4,220 total). While there is no way to find exact numbers because of inaccurate casualty reports, these figures represent the most recent estimates.

Although the Confederate army won a tactical victory, they were outnumbered and left Perryville that night. In their haste, they left all of their dead and most of their wounded lying on the battlefield.

While the Union army buried their own dead in regimental plots, the Confederates remained unburied. Within days, hogs were rooting up the bodies and hundreds of buzzards and crows scoured the battlefield.

Henry P. Bottom, a farmer who owned most of the land upon which the battle was fought, organized a civilian burial detail for his property. Bottom, his slaves, and a number of his neighbors buried most of the Southern bodies in two large pits. Bottom recorded as many names as he could, but most of the soldiers buried here remain unknown to this day. It is likely that several hundred soldiers are buried in this mass grave.

The Union dead were later removed to Camp Nelson National Cemetery in Jessamine County, Kentucky. Despite the soldiers' and citizens' efforts to mark the burial sites, it is probable that dozens of unmarked graves still exist around the battlefield.

In 1901, the Commonwealth of Kentucky erected this monument at the Confederate cemetery, which began efforts to preserve this historic site.

All around us was evidence of the death struggle the day before. Bodies of men and horses lay scattered about. In the fields and by the roadside every house and barn was filled with the maimed and dying and the dead? Many of them were in the most horrible condition that the mind can conceive. Some were shot through the head, body or limbs. Other mangled by fragments of shell and all suffering the greatest torments.

Anonymous Union soldier

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Show me all markers in:  Perryville, KY  |  Boyle County  |  40468  |  Kentucky  |  United States of America

Squire Henry P. Bottom
Perryville Confederate Memorial
Perryvile and the Emancipation Proclamation
The Battle of Perryville
Perryville Battlefield
Soldiers' Reaction to Lincoln's Emancipation
Army of the Ohio
Union Monument
Introduction
Sanctuary

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