[CHAP. XXVIII.

Wheeler and the advanced forces of the Federal army, which were brilliantly managed by that brave and able officer.

On the 7th I informed General Bragg, who was at Harrodsburg, that the enemy was moving in heavy force against my position. With the view of inflicting a decisive defeat, or at least of pressing him back from any farther against our line of communications in the direction of Danville and Cumberland Gap, I urged the concentration of our whole army at Perryville.

On the evening of the 7th, my wing of the army having been re-enforced by the division of Cheatham and orders having been issued to engage the enemy on the following morning, I again earnestly urged upon General Bragg the necessity of massing his forces on that important point. That night Major-General Polk arrived and assumed command.

The country near Perryville is boldly undulating and varied with farm-houses, corn fields, and plantations, bordered by native forests. A creek called Chaplin Fork flows northwardly through the village and unites 4 or 5 miles beyond it with another little stream called Doctor's Fork. The space between the two from east to west is about 1 1/2 miles. A good road running a little south of east Mackville to Perryville crosses this stream, and a turnpike from Springfield running nearly east and west passes through Perryville to Danville. Another fine macadamized highway traverses the village from the south in a northwardly direction toward Harrodsburg and Lexington and another southwardly in the direction of Lebanon. The position at Perryville is strong, and offered many tactical and strategical advantages. The key of the enemy's position was at a point where the Mackville road crosses Doctor's Fork, about 1 1/2 miles from the village, near a barn and white farm-house on the hill west of the creek. The autumnal drought left the streams almost dry, only pools of water being found here and there along their channels.

The forces under my command were two divisions, constituting the left wing of the army, commanded respectively by Major-General Buckner and Brigadier General J. Patton Anderson. Each consisted of four brigades, with a battery attached to each brigade. Thinned by battle and reduced by long and arduous service, my effective force did not exceed 10,000 men. No means for ascertaining accurately the strength of the Federal forces, but from information derived from prisoners captured from five of their divisions it is believed that the enemy displayed not less than 35,000 men, under the command of Major-Generals McCook, Rousseau, Jackson, and other generals.

My line of battle was originally established between the Harrodsburg turnpike and Chaplin's, its general direction being nearly north and south, with the left resting near the village and the right extending down the stream. The line was subsequently advanced about noon, by order of General Bragg, who arrived about 10 o'clock in the morning, westwardly, so as to take position on the space between the two streams on the west of the town, extending across the Mackville road, with its left toward the Springfield turnpike. An interval between the left and the Springfield road was swept and protected by a fine battery of 12-pounders, under Captain Semple, posted on the Seminary Hill, near the eastern side of the village. Brigadier-General Anderson, with two brigades, under command of Brigadier-General Adams and Colonel Powell, covered the extreme left on the Springfield road to protect our communications with Danville and Harrodsburg. The enemy occupied the western or left bank of Doctor's Fork, extending across both sides