In September of 1862 Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi 30,000 strong and Edmund Kirby Smith's Army of Kentucky some 16,000 strong, set out on ajoint invasion of the Bluegrass State with much optimism. It was expected that the two armies would join up and gather recruits as they marched through a friendly Kentucky countryside. The flood of volunteers never occurred. As the Confederates moved north, the Army of the Ohio, 60,000 strong, under Don Carlos Buell, paralleled Bragg's course into Kentucky. He slowly moved to thwart the invasion. The two Confederate Armies remained apart due to the ever-present Confederate command difficulties. Smith refused to become subordinate to Bragg and therefore, purposely kept the forces apart. This so hampered Confederate efforts as to make prostrate the campaign almost from the start. The two armies, however, proceeded with Bragg's invasion plan and hoped to reach the Ohio River and capture Louisville and Cincinnati. One of Bragg's principal goals was to raise his manpower through an expected flood of recruits. In fact Bragg took with him thousands of extra supplies, muskets and ammunition in order to arm these men once they rallied to the cause. This never occurred. Bragg was forced to take on Buell with the force he brought into Kentucky. The division of his army further limited Bragg. Kirby Smith's Army of Kentucky had his own 16,000 plus a division of Bragg's own troops with him 40 miles south of Bragg's troops. Smith was probing for forces under General Sill, which both had mistakenly assumed was Buell and the largest part of his Federal Army. In fact, Sill was only a small detachment. Buell had most of three Corps of infantry closer to Bragg's forces. Had Bragg consolidated his army, it would have been near 57,000 troops versus Buell's 60,000. A truly mammoth battle for Kentucky would have given a real victory to one side or the other. Instead of a bang, however, there was only a muffled whimper. On October 8, 1862, the culmination of Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky took place near the township of Perryville, KY. The Army of Mississippi met Buell in a bloody stalemate that ultimately decided nothing. The battle was managed moronically by both sides. Bragg had encountered what he thought to be a diversionary force near Perryville, KY on the 7 th and ordered an assault. Leonidas Polk and William Hardee had both realized that the force in front of them was no diversionary column and elected to delay the attack until they could speak directly with Bragg. Unfortunately for the Confederates, this was sooner than later. When Bragg awoke on the 8th he was angered by the lack of battle sounds rode to the front. Arriving around 1:30 PM, he immediately ordered an attack. The Confederate attack ran into the defenses of Alexander McCook's I` Corps, Army of the Ohio. The fighting was savage and bloody. Private Sam Watkins of the I' Tennessee said of this battle "I was worse scared than I was at Shiloh! " in his famous memoir "Company Aytch ". During the attack, Don Carlos Buell, lingering from the effects of a fall from his horse on the 7th, was less than two miles away at his headquarters and yet never reacted. Although seemingly in earshot, Buell could not hear the sounds of the fight due to an aural abnormality know as an acoustic shadow. Buell's second in command was George Henry Thomas. Thomas knew of the events but hesitated to take action in order to avoid any political faux pas in the eyes of Buell. No one thought to send a messenger to Buell until the battle was nearly over. Gilbert's 3rd Corps and Crittenden's 2 nd Corps sat out the days fighting. Crittenden sent out a single brigade late in the afternoon toward Perryville but never posed a serious threat. They did succeed in alerting Bragg as to the size of the force opposing him there. The fighting ended at around 7:00 PM with the Confederates in possession of the field. They failed to destroy the opposing forces and therefore ended the day without any definitive results. Once Bragg understood the size of Buell's force, he seemed to lose all his nerve. He withdrew first from Perryville and then the entire state. Bragg thus put an end to southern hopes of a Confederate Kentucky. There would be no campaign to the Ohio River in 1862. Soon after, Don Carlos Buell was relieved of command and never again held one. Both sides exercised buffoonery to the maximum in this campaign. When coupled with Lee's defeat at Antietam a few weeks earlier, the one true opportunity for a Confederate victory in the American Civil War was lost forever. No Confederate Army would ever venture as far north as Kentucky. US Activation Table Game Time Unit Entry Point 1:00PM Laiboldt, 3rd Corp Battery On Map 1:30PM McCook, Gruesel, 3rd Corp Btty On NW 2:00PM Gooding, 3rd Corp btty on map 2:30PM Carlin, Caldwell, 3rd Corp Btty On Map 3:00PM Walker, Fry, 3rd Corp Bty On Map 3:30PM Teedman, two 3rd Corp Btty On map Scenario Special Rules 1.) Confederate forces shown as optional were not present at this battle. If the CS player so chooses, he may activate these forces at the cost of the victory points specified. For each CS brigade deployed from this group, an equal number of US brigades are released one hour earlier than the chart specifies. The scenario begins at 12:00PM on October 8, 1862. CS Forces enter at point B. 2.) If at games end, there are one or more unspent US Brigades within one inch of Doctors Fork of the Chaplin River, the US receives five victory points. These troops were looking for a water source during a severe drought in this section of Kentucky. 3.) Other than specified, Victory Points are counted as per normal Fire & Fury Rules. Confederate Order of Battle Army of Mississippi Right Wing Leonidas Polk Cheatham's Division 3 Batteries Divisional Artillery Smith 11/8/6 Stewart 9/7/5 Maney 9/7/5 Donelson 9/7/5 Wharton's Cavalry 5/4/3 Withers Division (Detached to Army of Kentucky) - Optional - 10 Victory Points Manigault 11/8/6 Jackson 17/14/10 Gardner 15/11/8 Chalmers 11/8/6 Breckenridge (Not present, still en route to KY) - Optional - 10 Victory Points 3 Batteries Divisional Artillery Walker 8/6/4 Palmer 11/8/6 Hanson 13/9/5 Left Wing William J. Hardee Anderson's Division 3 Batteries Divisional Artillery Powell 11/8/6 Jones 8/6/4 Brown 8/6/4 vAdams 11/8/6 Buckner's Division 3 Batteries Divisional Artillery Wood 11/8/6 Liddell E 11/8/6 Johnson 7/5/4 Cleburne E 6/4/2 Wheeler's Cavalry 7/6/4 1 to 150 Scale - 102 (188) Infantry, 12 Cavalry, 9 (12) Artillery Stands  Federal Order of Battle Army of the Ohio First Corps Alexander McCook 6 Batteries Corps Artillery 3rd Division - Rousseau Harris 15/11/8 Lytle 16/14/9 Starkweather 15/11/8 10th Division - Jackson Terrill 15/11/8 Webster 17/14/10 Gay - Attached Cav 9/7/5 Third Corps Charles Gilbert 6 Batteries Corps Artillery 1st Division - Schoepf Walker 15/11/8 Fry 15/11/8 Steedman 16/14/9 9th Division - Mitchell Gooding 9/7/5 Carlin 15/11/8 Caldwell 16/14/9 11th Division - Sheridan Laiboldt 13/10/7 McCook 17/14/10 Gruesel 16/14/9 1 to 150 Scale - 210 Infantry, 9 Cavalry, 12 Artillery Stands Map  Back to Rebel Yell No. 17 Table of Contents Back to Rebel Yell List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by HMGS South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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