ORDER OF BATTLE // October 8, 1862
Battle of Perryville
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 71,000 estimated
United States
55,000
Medium-confidence figure
Confederate States
16,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Perryville, fought in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, served as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive. Although Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi achieved a tactical victory against primarily a single Union corps, the engagement is classified as a strategic Union victory. Bragg's subsequent withdrawal to Tennessee ended Confederate ambitions to secure Kentucky for the Confederacy. The Union retained control of the critical border state for the remainder of the war, denying the Confederacy its manpower, resources, and the political legitimacy that bringing Kentucky into the Confederate fold might have provided. The battle is sometimes called the Battle for Kentucky precisely because its strategic outcome settled the contest for the state's allegiance.
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