"Such obstinate fighting I never had seen before or since," wrote Confederate Private Sam Watkins on the Battle of Perryville. "The guns were discharged so rapidly that it seemed the earth itself was in a volcanic uproar. The iron storm passed through our ranks, mangling and tearing men to pieces… Our men were dead and dying right in the very midst of this grand havoc of battle."

On October 8, 1862, Watkins and 18,000 Confederates clashed with 20,000 Union troops on the hills outside of Perryville. Nearly 7,500 soldiers were killed and wounded in Kentucky’s largest Civil War battle. The Confederate failure to attain a decisive victory kept Kentucky in Union hands for the remainder of the war, stands as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy in the Western Theater, and marked the last major incursion of Confederate forces into the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Today Perryville is one of the most pristine battlefields in the nation. The presence of the battlefield, coupled with historic Merchants’ Row, the town’s antebellum commercial district, makes Perryville the ideal place to study 19th-century military and civilian life.

Because of the sacrifices made by the soldiers who fought here, and because of its vast importance as a cultural resource, the Perryville Enhancement Project (PEP) was formed to preserve and interpret the battlefield and historic town. By building public-private partnerships, and through federal, state, and private funding, we have become one of the most active battlefield preservation organizations in the nation.

Welcome to Perryville! We hope you enjoy your visit to our site and we hope you will visit us in Central Kentucky soon!

For directions, click here.

Find out where to stay in Historic Boyle County here.

Learn what is happening in Boyle County during your visit here.