Perryville

Union Commander: MG Don Carlos Buell
Confederate Commander: Gen Braxton Bragg

The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi[b] initially won a tactical victory against primarily a single corps of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Union Army of the Ohio. The battle is considered a strategic Union victory, sometimes called the Battle for Kentucky, since Bragg withdrew to Tennessee soon thereafter. The Union retained control of the critical border state of Kentucky for the remainder of the war.

On October 7, Buell's army, in pursuit of Bragg, converged on the small crossroads town of Perryville in three columns. Union forces first skirmished with Confederate cavalry on the Springfield Pike before the fighting became more general, on Peters Hill, when the Confederate infantry arrived. Both sides were desperate to get access to fresh water. The next day, at dawn, fighting began again around Peters Hill as a Union division advanced up the pike, halting just before the Confederate line. After noon, a Confederate division struck the Union left flank—the I Corps of Maj. Gen. Alexander M. McCook—and forced it to fall back. When more Confederate divisions joined the fray, the Union line made a stubborn stand, counterattacked, but finally fell back with some units routed.

Buell, several miles behind the action, was unaware that a major battle was taking place and did not send any reserves to the front until late in the afternoon. The Union troops on the left flank, reinforced by two brigades, stabilized their line, and the Confederate attack sputtered to a halt. Later, three Confederate regiments assaulted the Union division on the Springfield Pike but were repulsed and fell back into Perryville. Union troops pursued, and skirmishing occurred in the streets until dark. By that time, Union reinforcements were threatening the Confederate left flank. Bragg, short of men and supplies, withdrew during the night, and continued the Confederate retreat by way of Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee.

Considering the casualties relative to the engaged strengths of the armies, the Battle of Perryville was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in the state of Kentucky.

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Interesting Facts:

On October 1, Buell's Army of the Ohio left Louisville with Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas as his second in command. 
(Two days earlier, Buell had received orders from Washington relieving him of command, to be replaced by Thomas. 
Thomas demurred, refusing to accept command while the campaign was underway, leaving Buell in place.) 

Simon B. Buckner was the commander of one third of the Confederate Army at Perryville.  Buckner's son, Simon B. Buckner, Jr., a Lt. General in charge of American land forces on the island of Okinawa, was killed by Japanese artillery on June 18, 1945.  Buckner was the most senior American military officer killed by enemy fire in World War Two.

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Perryville was the first battle for a young officer in the 24th Wisconsin.  Arthur McArthur, who would later earn the Medal of Honor for his exploits at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, was the father of Douglas MacArthur who would go onto great fame in World War Two and Korea.  Arthur and Douglas are still the only father-son combination to have both won the Medal of Honor.

The III Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Charles Champion Gilbert, took the center, along the Springfield Pike. Just a few weeks earlier, Gilbert had been a captain, but was elevated to acting major general and corps command following the death by murder of the previous commander, Maj. Gen. William "Bull" Nelson.

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Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Union Army of the Ohio:

The I Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Alexander M. McCook, marched on the left, along the Mackville Road. 
The II Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden, marched on the right, along the Lebanon Road. 
The III Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Charles Champion Gilbert, took the center, along the Springfield Pike. 

Bragg's Army of Mississippi consisted of two wings:

Right Wing, commanded by Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk
Left Wing, commanded by Maj. Gen. William J. Hardee