The Confederate Monument in Perryville is a historic monument located by the visitor center of the

Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site is a park near Perryville in Boyle County, Kentucky. The park continues to expand with purchases of parcels by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves' Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the ...

, in the vicinity of

Perryville, Kentucky Perryville () is a home rule-class city along the Chaplin River in western Boyle County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 751 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. It is part of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area. Hist ...

, in

Boyle County, Kentucky Boyle County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,614. Its county seat is Danville. The county was formed in 1842 and named for John Boyle (1774–1835), a U.S. Representative, chie ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It was built in 1902, forty years after the

Battle of Perryville The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the A ...

, the bloodiest battle in Kentucky history, on October 8, 1862. In total, 532 Confederates died at the battle, but it is unknown how many of this number are buried here. A small cemetery is by the monument; local farmers had to bury the Confederate dead as the Confederate Army, although victorious in the battle, had to leave Perryville quickly, and hogs were beginning to feast on the soldiers' remains.Perryville, Kentucky
trailsrus.com The monument features a tall

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

Confederate soldier atop a three-tier limestone pedestal base. It was constructed by the Peter-Burghard Statue Company of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Names of fourteen Confederate dead are on the monument, as is a passage from the ''

Bivouac of the Dead "Bivouac of the Dead" is a poem written by Danville, Kentucky native, Theodore O'Hara to honor his fellow soldiers from Kentucky who died in the Mexican-American War. The poem’s popularity increased after the Civil War, and its verses have been ...

''. It also notes that 470 unknown dead Confederates are buried nearby. The total boundary area for the National Register entry concerning the Confederate Monument is a radius surrounding the monument. The monument was built for the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Perryville by the

government of Kentucky As established and defined by the Kentucky Constitution, the government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is composed of three branches: the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. Executive Branch The executive branch is headed by the governor, w ...

. When dedicated, a crowd of 5,000 to 10,000 attended the ceremony on October 8, 1902, according to the October 10, 1902, edition of the '' Danville News''. On July 17, 1997, the Confederate Monument in Perryville was one of sixty different monuments related to the

Civil War in Kentucky History of Kentucky, Kentucky was a Border states (American Civil War), border state of key importance in the American Civil War. It officially declared its neutrality at the beginning of the war, but after a failed attempt by Confedera ...

placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky

Multiple Property Submission The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of Historic districts in the United States, districts, sites, buildings, struc ...

. Three other monuments on this Multiple Property Submission are also in Boyle County. One of them, the

Union Monument in Perryville The Union Monument in Perryville is an historic monument located by the visitor center of the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, in the vicinity of Perryville, Kentucky, in Boyle County, Kentucky. It was built in 1928, sixty-six years af ...

, is also by the visitor center of the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, a few yards north of the Confederate Monument. The

Unknown Confederate Dead Monument in Perryville The Unknown Confederate Dead Monument in Perryville is located in the vicinity of Perryville, in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States, in the Goodknight Cemetery, a small family cemetery on private land. It is presumed to have been constructed ...

is a mile away on private land at the Goodknight Cemetery. Both of the preceding monuments were built much later, both in or around 1928; twenty-six years later. The other is in downtown

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...

: the

Confederate Monument in Danville The Confederate Monument in Danville, originally located between Centre College and the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Main and College Streets in Danville, Kentucky, was a monument dedicated to the Confederate States of America tha ...

Gallery

File:Confederate Monument in Perryville sunny 1.jpg, Front view of the monument File:Confederate Monument in Perryville 1.jpg, Monument on a cloudy day File:Confederate Monument in Perryville sunny far.JPG, Perimeter of the monument File:Confederate Monument in Perryville 2.jpg, Perimeter of the monument on a cloudy day File:Confederate Monument in Perryville sunny rear closeup.JPG, Closeup of the rear of the monument File:Confederate Monument in Perryville sunny rear.JPG, Far view of the rear of the perimeter

References

{{American Civil War monuments in Kentucky Civil War Monuments of Kentucky MPS National Register of Historic Places in Boyle County, Kentucky Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Kentucky Outdoor sculptures in Kentucky 1902 sculptures Limestone sculptures in Kentucky 1902 establishments in Kentucky