Book description
" Winner of the Seaborg Award A History Book Club Selection On
October 8, 1862, Union and Confederate forces clashed near Perryville,
Kentucky, in what would be the largest battle ever fought on Kentucky
soil. The climax of a campaign that began two months before in northern
Mississippi, Perryville came to be recognized as the high water mark of
the western Confederacy. Some said the hard-fought battle, forever
remembered by participants for its sheer savagery and for their
commanders' confusion, was the worst battle of the war, losing the last
chance to bring the Commonwealth into the Confederacy and leaving
Kentucky firmly under Federal control. Although Gen. Braxton Bragg's
Confederates won the day, Bragg soon retreated in the face of Gen. Don
Carlos Buell's overwhelming numbers. Perryville: This Grand Havoc of
Battle is the definitive account of this important conflict. While
providing all the parry and thrust one might expect from an excellent
battle narrative, the book also reflects the new trends in Civil War
history in its concern for ordinary soldiers and civilians caught in the
slaughterhouse. The last chapter, unique among Civil War battle
narratives, even discusses the battle's veterans, their families,
efforts to preserve the battlefield, and the many ways Americans have
remembered and commemorated Perryville. Kenneth W. Noe holds the
Draughon Chair in Southern History at Auburn University in Auburn,
Alabama. He is the author of several books and articles. Kenneth W.
Noe holds the Draughon Chair in Southern History at Auburn University in
Auburn, Alabama. He is the author of several books and articles.
