As we continue our slow meander from Minnesota to Florida,
we just can’t seem to get out of Kentucky. That’s ok, that’s what a road trip
is all about, taking your time to look around. In amongst the Shaker villages
and
bourbon distilleries of central Kentucky lies
the town of Perryville. On October 8, 1862 the Civil War
Battle of Perryville was fought. The American Civil War was
one of the last examples of the
Napoleonic style of battle, where the opposing
armies formed long lines facing each other out in the open, armed with
muskets, bayonets and cannons. They literally blew each other apart in an unspeakable
carnage, followed by a bayonet charge of the survivors and hand to hand combat.
Despite the slaughter on the battlefield, far more Civil War soldiers died of
disease, not battle, due mostly to the lack of clean drinking water. Latrines
were posted on the same creeks as fresh drinking water supplies. Even the Roman
legions knew better centuries earlier, never drinking local water during military campaigns, only wine they brought with them. The
Perryville Battlefield is
remarkably well preserved and worth a visit. A
museum, walking trails with interpretive
signs and memorials to casualties on both sides provide a place to reflect on
the sacrifice and horrors of war. The Battle of Perryville Union casualties totaled 4,276 (894 killed, 2,911 wounded, 471 captured or missing). Confederate casualties were 3,401 (532 killed, 2,641 wounded, 228 captured or missing). We can also reflect on
a simple human kindness one Confederate soldier offered to a wounded Union
soldier he discovered alive, lying on the ground at night after the
battle.
