Existing comment:
(Stop 7[b]) Defense of Parsons' Ridge:
As Maney's Confederates reached the top of this hill, they watched the fleeing Union soldiers retreat into the valley in front of you. The Southerners had lost hundreds of men killed and wounded during the fight to take this ridge, and their hearts must have sunk when they saw more Federal troops arriving on the ridges to the west.
Because of Perryville's rolling terrain, the Union army established one defensive position after another, each on a hilltop or ridge. While this hill marked the northern end of the Union battle line, other Federal soldiers arrived on the battlefield and occupied other ridges in front of you.
Regrouping, Maney's brigade charged down the slope toward the new Union lines. Little did they know that three hours of intense fighting remained in a battle that would decide the fate of Kentucky.
"The butchery was something awful. I remembered thinking at the time that I could walk upon dead bodies from where the enemy's line was established until it reached the woods, some three hundred yards away. Of course, in making this charge, we lost a great number of men."
-- Confederate officer Thomas Malone |