Perryville was the largest battle fought in Kentucky

One of the interesting facts about the Battle of Perryville is that Perryville was the largest battle fought in Kentucky. The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, took place on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the finale of the American Civil War's Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign). Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi originally gained a tactical win against a single corps of Union Army of Ohio Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. Because Bragg fled to Tennessee soon after, the battle is seen as a strategic Union success, frequently referred to as the Battle for Kentucky. For the rest of the war, the Union maintained control of Kentucky, a vital border state.

During the Battle of Perryville, there were 72,196 combatants (55,396 Union and 16,800 Confederates). During the fight, 20,000 Union forces and 16,000 Confederates participated in the action. Because of these vast numbers, Perryville is the largest battle ever fought in Kentucky. It's worth noting that the forces present at Perryville represented 21 different states. Soldiers were from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.