Is Perryvile Battlefield worth visiting?

[major bill]

Next spring I will pass close to Perryville Battlefield. If I decide to replace a long one day drive with a two days of driving I could overnight near Perryville. However, I am not sure what there is to see there. I have had mixed thoughts on state run battlefields.

 

[Sheltowee]

Next spring I will pass close to Perryville Battlefield. If I decide to replace a long one day drive with a two days of driving I could overnight near Perryville. However, I am not sure what there is to see there. I have had mixed thoughts on state run battlefields.

Numerous threads contain the same assessment- Perryville is one of the best-preserved ACW battlefields in the country. Good interpretation across 19 miles of trails. No subdivision across the road- just rolling farmland. Historic small town elevates the experience.

Small visitor center/ museum does a good job of presentation.

Well off the main interstates, it probably receives very few casual visitors. Most visits, I encounter less than half a dozen other people on the walking trails. Some days I'm out alone…..1000 acres.

Used to irk me that this is not a National Battlefield…… but no more. Maybe the low-flying presence is what keeps this place special.

Yeah, there's a selfish part of me that wants to tell everyone to stay away….the place is a dump. So yeah- stay on I-75 and make for Chickamauga.

Maybe best to stay in Danville. Take the misses to Shaker Village. Harrodsburg has Fort Harrod. Let me know and I may be able to meet you at the battlefield.

 

[major bill]

My tentative plan is to drive from Michigan to Dayton, have dinner with my daughter who lives there. Drive a couple more hours towards Perryville and find a nice motel. Get up see Perryville, then leave in time to arrive in Chattanooga by 6PM. The down side is it would limit my time at the Perryville Battlefield. I would need to leave Perryville by perhaps 1PM. So maybe 2 to 3 hours at the Battlefield. Just enough time to see the battlefield and the museum.

 

[General JJ]

Yes. It's magnificently preserved and a beautiful park. Great interpretation.

 

[NFB22]

Being only an hour and a half from Perryville, I've spent much time on the battlefield and as @Sheltowee said, it remains one of the best preserved battlefields and not just in the ACW but any conflict in North America that I have had the privilege to visit. The trails are well marked and maintained, plenty of markers for visitors to visualize the battle. The museum is small but adequate for a state park.

The town also has historic buildings linked to the battle although they aren't open to the public. Many other ACW related sites are within easy driving distance in Richmond, Lexington, Bardstown, etc. (Why I've lobbied for a CWT muster here )

 

[Sheltowee]

My tentative plan is to drive from Michigan to Dayton, have dinner with my daughter who lives there. Drive a couple more hours towards Perryville and find a nice motel. Get up see Perryville, then leave in time to arrive in Chattanooga by 6PM. The down side is it would limit my time at the Perryville Battlefield. I would need to leave Perryville by perhaps 1PM. So maybe 2 to 3 hours at the Battlefield. Just enough time to see the battlefield and the museum.

At the museum, explain your time constraints so they can point you in the best direction. The onsite manager is Bryan Bush- he will hook you up.

If walking the trails, probably will follow the route of Maney's assault. There is a driving tour, also.

 

[NFB22]

If walking the trails, probably will follow the route of Maney's assault. There is a driving tour, also.

Agreed. You would want to park at the museum and start with that. Explore the monuments located nearby and do the "Confederate Right" trail which is where Maney's assault took place. It will take you over the Confederate route of attack on that flank and ultimately up to Starkweather's Hill. It circles back to the museum or you could detour towards the Slaughter Pen and the Russell House site and then circle back to the museum. From there much of the field you could see via driving (Dye House, Bottom House, etc.)

 

[major bill]

I suppose I could add another hour or two at the park if I got up early enough. Still if I am a couple hours out, getting to the park an hour before it opens is not the best plan. I could hit it on the way home, but would need to see if the park is open on a Sunday or Monday.

 

[Sheltowee]

Took this one for you…..

 

[Rhea Cole]

If you are going to stay the night near Perryville there is only one place to stay.

Plan A Trip | Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is a landmark destination that shares 3,000 acres of discovery in the spirit of the Kentucky Shakers, 3rd largest community

shakervillageky.org

There is no historical experience quite like Pleasant Hill Shaker Village. You will not be confined behind the visitor safety rope, You will be staying in the actual rooms the Shakers lived in. You will walk the grounds & explore the large number of restored buildings on a 2,000 acre working farm at will.

Many people do not know that the Shakers were very hospitable. The village at South Union near Frankfort had a hotel that still exists. At Pleasant Hill, the trustee's building had & has an excellent restaurant.

My wife & I attended weekend long classes in Shaker box making, rug hooking, etc, while staying in the original office building. Imagine walking across the community on a sleet filled night carrying wood shavings from the shop. We had the place to ourselves. I lit a fire & we sat in the reproduction Shaker rockers while sleet ticked on the window & wood popped in the fireplace. We went up the steps to our room filled with Shaker furniture & I hung my jacket on the peg board that ran around the room. Where else can you do that?

Fair warning, my brother in law was the director of the Perryville Battlefield. We Civil War types are really incestuous, don't you know?

I found everything I read about Perryville baffling. How on earth did Captain Parson's battery get overrun & loose all his guns by hundreds of troops without warning? The whole course of the battle made no sense to me. About three seconds standing on Parson's position made everything clear as a bell. Other positions were individuals I have studied were equally illuminating. The battlefield is about as pristine as any you will ever see.

The combination of a stay at Pleasant Hill, a good meal at the restaurant & a good look around the battlefield you will will have had a uniquely splendid time of it.

Note: The building housing the restaurant has a three story double spiral stairway. There is nothing at Versailles that has such pure elegance. Next to the cash register is a door. The stairs continue down to the basement. The steps spiral down as above, but they are not trimmed out. Prepare to be amazed..

 

[redbob]

Much like Shiloh, the area is largely undeveloped and appears much as it did during the battle.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Another reason for including Pleasant Hill on your visit. The oldest joke in the NPS is about the visitor who asks, "Why did all the Civil War battles occur in National Parks?"

The main road then & now bisects Pleasant Hills' 3,000 acres. Needless to say, Soldiers from both sides regarded it as a cornucopia.

Shaker communities were administered by 4 person administrators, two men & two women elders. One of the eldresses kept a diary. It is a brilliant source because the Shakers were both accurate & honest in their accounting. Among other things the exact number of fence rails & how much meat left lying on the ground was rendered were carefully accounted for.

Th serious economic harm suffered during the Perryville Camaign crippled the thriving Shaker village long term.

In a very real way Pleasant Hill is an extension of the battlefield.