Authentic Perryville Reenactment
This is going to be the year for anyone that does American Civil War reenacting to come do the Battle of Perryville (also called battle of Chaplin Hills) and experience it about as accurately as it possible. No, I don’t necessarily think that this year is going to be less farby that it has been in the past by those that turn out in garb for the event as participants (though over the last twenty years I do think that their have been some major improvements in that regard). What I am referring to is the authentic weather that someone has ordered for us.
During the time immediately before the war Kentucky did not succeed the union like many of its neighbors had done. It in fact had declared, officially, neutrality in the unpleasantness that was arising between the two factions. Of course being right on the border between the two areas, neutral or not officially, families chose with in the state according loyalties and personal feelings. To a large extent the eastern areas and those along the Ohio tended more toward the Unionist and those in the West and South Central areas more toward the cause of rebellion, but that is a very blanket statement. Anyway, during the first year of conflict, the few Kentucky stationed troops and fortifications that were held by the Southern armies were largely overwhelmed and most of the state was under the loose control of the Union.
In the late summer and early fall months of 1862, as the Army of Tennessee moved into the Bluegrass state, we become a very dry area. This continued throughout their campaign as they moved upward from south-east Kentucky, having minor engagements along the way in various places including Richmond (the much less noted Kentucky Richmond mind you compared to another Richmond of the time). There was a huge thought on the Confederates part that if a good effort could be made in the state that there 1000′s of troops and the same in support just waiting to rally to the southern cause. On they pushed to areas around Lexington, all the while kicking up a dry dust behind them. From there some troops and politicians went into to Frankfort, the state capital, where they swore in a new pro-southern government in the capital building itself.
During this time huge numbers of troops, a large percentage of them green, sat largely frozen in both the areas around Cincinnati to the north and Louisville to the West. Both of them are roughly 80 miles from Lexington, so not much over an hour, but in the day for an army on the move it was a good 2-3 days distance. As the Union armies did begin move the number of troops that were about to converge prompted the confederates to basically abandon Frankfort and start a rearward movement to consolidate all the troops in one location with a hope to fighting basically only one army to an impressive victory, hence rallying the troops and support that hitherto not materialized in any vast numbers.
It was during this rearward movement that they covered ground largely along a swath around the Salt River and the Chaplin River. Though it should be noted, that both rivers, just as they are today, would have largely been nearly dry during the time of this, due to the extreme drought like conditions. Though I am not sure of the temperatures, just as today, we know that the battle itself was on a warm October day, made all the warmer by the heat of the battle and physical exertion that took place. Just like that morning on October 8th, the land is parched and water is more the hard to come by around here in places that normally have water throughout the summer and fall. The battle itself was not even necessarily the plan of either of the commanding generals at the time, but rather began when two units of cavalry stumbled upon one other over a shallow hole of water in the Chaplin River. As they skirmished over the water, troops from both sides were drawn into the fray until it become a full on engagement.
For those that may not, tactically it was a victory for Bragg and the Southern Army, but having only engaged roughly half the troops in the area and being severely punished for the tactical victory achieved, the position was untenable and an immediate rearward movement was began that including movements back through Harrodsburg and eventually back into Tennessee, leaving Kentucky firmly in the hands of the Union for the rest of the war, despite raids by some other well-known cavalry troops in the following years. I would personally argue that this engagement is a predictor of what happens the following summer with the push into Pennsylvania.
So, if you reenact and want to really experience, come with empty canteens and march in from some good distance. The only way you could experience it more authentically would be to actually be shot by with a mini-ball – which would kind of take the fun out of the experience I think.
