User:Hog Farm/Book review/Perryville

Peryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle

Modern view of a Union artillery position at Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site

By Hog Farm

In some ways, Perryville can be seen as the sort of battle that happened because of political influence on the military. While there was some military support for a Confederate invasion into Kentucky, politics played a sizable role in the final decision to start the Confederate Heartland Offensive. Kentuckians were expected by influential Confederate leaders to revolt against Union control of the state and join the Confederate army, but didn't. Countering the Confederates, who were led by Braxton Bragg, was a Union army under Don Carlos Buell. Both Bragg and Buell were disliked by their soldiers and had trouble getting along with their subordinate officers. Complicating matters were a drought, an acoustic shadow during the battle, and the fact that one of Buell's corps commanders had a rather dubious claim to his supposed rank.

The historian Kenneth W. Noe does an excellent job of producing an informative analysis of this confusing situation. Noe examines how the disjointed command structures of both armies, the frequent blunders and psychological problems of Bragg and Buell, and political pressure from midwestern Union governors and the erstwhile Confederate government of Kentucky led to a fit near the hills and creeks around Perryville. Aside from the well-explained background exposition, Noe provides an excellent and very-detailed description of the battle proper, using first-hand accounts to provide an idea of what the ragged Confederate veterans and newly-recruited Union volunteers who did the principal share of the fighting saw. Also well-examined is why neither side was able to bring its entire army to the field at Perryville - Bragg expected a Union threat to the north, and Buell did not hear most of the sounds of fighting due to the acoustic shadow. Noe uses the accounts of multiple Union soldiers to demonstrate the level of disconnect between HQ and the field.

The biggest drawback is that the aftermath of the campaign sees much less attention that the leadup to Perryville. In particular, one item that is not discussed in particular detail is the Buell Commission - essentially a military committee investigating Buell's handling of the campaign. The Commission is mentioned in passing several times, but it lacks thorough discussion, which I find strange, as it was one of the first tangible effects of Perryville. Overall, if you are interested in the ACW in the west and appreciate very detailed battle and command interaction descriptions, this book will probably be informative.

• Noe, Kenneth W. (2011) [2001]. Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle (Paperback ed.). Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-3384-3.