Perryville 16

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Perryville Battlefield 154th Commemoration

Perryville, KY 2016

Photos by Kathy Cummings

The 2016 Battle reenactment at Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site was a national event. Over 3,000 re-enactors participated in the weekend. We photographed on Saturday during “The Battle for the Cornfield.”

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 could visit the camps, the Living History Village, shop with the sutlers and watch the battle unfold before their eyes.

The battlefield at Perryville is known as one of the most pristine battlefields in the nation. Where other cities have developed around major battlefields, the sleepy little town that erupted with an influx of thousands of soldiers in 1862 remains much the same as it was then. The State Battlefield Historic Site continues to add acreage through the combined preservation efforts of many groups including The Friends of Perryville.