Perryville entertains big turnout
at 150th re-enactment weekend

The signature battle of the Civil War in Kentucky attracted nearly 200 re-enactors, thousands of spectators and many more who crowded living history exhibits to learn what life was like in the 1860s.

The turnout at the Oct. 6 re-enactment of the Battle of Perryville attracted more spectators as it was the 150th anniversary of the Oct. 8, 1862 battle, according to spokesmen for the state’s Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet. Some 5,000 tickets were sold for the Saturday (Oct. 6) events.

In addition to the re-enactments, portrayals of camp life, demonstrations of drilling and artillery and exhibit displays of medicine, cooking, quilting and use of oxen were viewed by visitors throughout the Oct. 5-7 weekend.

“The whole point of staging such an event is to tell the public the story of the soldiers who fought in the war,” Jeff Grezelak, a re-enactor veteran of 38 years, noted.

“We want the public to know that they’re stepping on sacred ground here,” Micah Trent, the event’s Union chief of staff, stated. “Perryville is one of the most pristine Civil War battlefields in the country with little development encroaching the field.”

Although a tactical victory, the original battle was a strategic defeat for the Confederacy after a major victory at Richmond months earlier and brief southern control of Lexington and Frankfort.

Registration for Perryville 2013 has begun. More information is available at www.perryvillebattlefield.org or by contacting Joan House at joan.house@ky.gov.