Perryville

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Perryville Battlefield Commemoration

Perryville, KY 2018

Photos by Kathy Cummings

The Battle of Perryville, was the largest Civil War battle in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. More than 7,500 Union and Confederate troops were killed and wounded. The land where the State Historic Site is now located was originally the farm of Henry Bottom. It was Bottom who later buried thousands of Confederate soldiers on this land. Visitors in 2018 could not only visit the camps, and the Living History Village, but they could sign up and become a soldier.

School of the Soldier

The School of the Soldier is an interactive 4 hour program that entails all aspects of a soldier’s life. Open to the public, sign ups were held at the information booth and adults and children (with an accompanying adult) could become a soldier for the day. They participated in mail call, obtaining their food rations and of course marching and drilling. The brochures stated that the program required much walking and standing! The culmination of this learning experience was to take to the battlefield for a military demonstration each day at 2 pm.