“Tomorrow morning early we may expect a fight,” warned Hardee. Gen. James Jackson sent his two brigades to deploy on the left, while Brig. The vanguard of the Army of Mississippi reached Glasgow, Kentucky, on September 11. Since the Confederates retreated to Mississippi, the Battle of Shiloh was a Union victory.Shortly afterward, Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck left his headquarters in St. Louis to take command of the Federal forces in the field. His graybacks lacked the strength and numbers to make a third assault. Bragg issued orders for Hardee and Polk to strike the pursuing Federals a hard blow. “His presence and manner … imparted fresh vigor and courage among the troops,” recalled Colonel George Potter, commander of the 6th Tennessee. Bragg's infantry continues to pound McCook's corps. Colonel Thomas Jones’s brigade spearheaded the Confederate assault aimed at Harris’s brigade.The Federal fire proved too deadly for the attacking Confederates. In the 41st Georgia alone three color bearers were cut down by Yankee bullets or canister.“The battery was playing upon us with terrible effect,” wrote Lt. Col. William Frierson of the 27th Tennessee. With his regiments suffering additional casualties from Federal fire with each passing minute, Maney gave the order to charge.Reluctant to give up their position behind the fence, the men nevertheless heeded their veteran commander. Maney’s Rebels charged through canister fire to reach the top of Open Knob. The four Tennessee regiments were veterans of Shiloh, but the 41st Georgia was a green regiment.Quickly forming up the 6th Tennessee, 9th Tennessee, and green 41st Georgia, Maney sent them over a wooded ridge toward Open Knob. Gay reluctantly ordered his 2nd Michigan Cavalry, supported by the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, to advance dismounted against the Confederates in the woods. The Federals subsequently occupied Paducah and Smithland. Perryville . They struck the right flank of the 15th Kentucky, forcing part of the regiment, as well as the men of Colonel John Beatty’s 3rd Ohio, to face them. After learning of Polk’s move, Bragg ordered the Armies of Kentucky and Mississippi to concentrate in front of Harrodsburg. Maj. Gen. Alexander McCook commanded the I Corps, Maj. Gen. Thomas Crittenden commanded the II Corps, and Maj. Gen. Charles Gilbert commanded the III Corps. An artillery shell whistled through the air and slammed into Henry Bottom’s barn. The situation on McCook’s left was grim. Lytle’s line broke under the pressure.While trying to establish a rear guard, Lytle was wounded and captured. What followed was a bloody scuffle for control of the guns. This made him unpopular with the troops.When Beauregard went on medical leave without clearing his absence from his army in advance with his superiors, Davis replaced him on May 6 with General Braxton Bragg. In the process of assaulting Rousseau’s line, they ran headlong into the newly arrived brigade of Colonel Michael Gooding, which belonged to Brig. The Confederates suffered 3,173 casualties, while the Federals suffered 3,805. Disgruntled by the delay, he rode over to investigate. By that point, Cleburne’s Rebels had moved beyond the units on their flanks, thus exposing them to enfilading fire.
Polk arrived at Perryville late in the evening of October 7 and took command of the 17,000 Confederate troops assembled just north of the town. Buell took the opportunity to rest his worn-out troops and assimilate reinforcements. Another melee ensued for control of the 4th Battery of the Indiana Artillery. We are descendants of the Low Dutch who settled New Amsterdam, moved to New Jersey, migrated to near Gettysburg, and made history when they later populated the Kentucky frontier. Halleck then dispersed his forces. They ran headlong into the startled Yankees of the 42nd Indiana who were scooping up water from the few remaining puddles in the empty creek bed. Colonel Curran Pope’s 15th Kentucky Infantry moved up to relieve the Ohioans. Some of the Federals who spotted the dust clouds misinterpreted the movement for a Confederate retreat. He then advanced cautiously on Corinth, Mississippi.Unlike Grant, Halleck was not a fighter. The Battle of Perryville was fought October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills of Kentucky.