I have already advised you of the movement of
the army under my command from Louisville. More or less skirmishing has
occurred daily with the enemy's cavalry since then. It was supposed the enemy
would give battle at Bardstown. The troops reached that point on the 4th,
driving out the enemy's rear guard of cavalry and artillery. The main body
retired toward Springfield, whither the pursuit has continued. The center
corps, under General Gilbert, moved on the direct road from Springfield to
Perryville, and arrived on the 7th within 2 miles of the town, where the enemy
was found to be in force. The left column, under General McCook, came up on the
Mackville road about 10 o'clock yesterday, the 8th. It was ordered into
position to attack and a strong reconnaissance directed.
At 4 o'clock I received a request from General
McCook for re-enforcements, and heard with astonishment that the left had been
seriously engaged for several hours and that the right and left of that corps
were being turned and severally pressed Re-enforcements were immediately sent
forward from the center; orders were also sent to the right column, under
General Crittenden, which was advancing by the Lebanon road, to push forward
and attack the enemy's left, but it was impossible for it to get into position
in time to produce any decided results. The action continued until dark; some
sharp fighting also occurred in the center. The enemy was everywhere repulsed,
but not without some momentary advantage on the left.
The several corps were put in position during
the night and moved to attack; at 6 o'clock this morning some skirmishing
occurred with the enemy's rear guard. The main body has fallen back in the
direction of Harrodsburg. I have no accurate report of our loss yet. It is
probably pretty heavy, including valuable officers. Generals Jackson and
Terrill, I regret to say, are among the killed.
SOURCES: The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa,
Saturday, October 18, 1862, p. 2, the right side of the article was caught be
the seam of the bound newspaper volume.
To reconstruct this article I consulted the Muscatine Weekly Journal,
Muscatine, Iowa, Friday, October 17, 1862, p. 4 to format the top of the
article and The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 16, Part 1
(Serial No. 22), p. 1022-3 for the text of the article.
