Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Perryville - Cleburne's Assault

I am interested in Patrick Cleburne. Probably most Western theater enthusiasts share my interest to some degree. I don't think he was flawless, just interesting. I've even made a side trip to Helena Arkansas to see his gravesite. In any respect at Perryville Cleburne turns in another solid performance. All day long the main Confederate plan, and flow of the battle, was for the units to attack en echelon moving towards the left. The fighting started on the right over by Parson's Hill and slowly moved towards the Confederate left. Late in the day this started to pay dividends as the Confederates were able to find flanks with their fresh attacks. Even later in the day this will start to unravel for them as the Union reinforcements will also find Confederate flanks.

This is the Union view of Cleburne's attack. Below the crest of the ridge is Doctor's Creek that we saw much earlier as the scene of some opening combat. The road (whose name currently escapes me) that Cleburne's men advanced along can be seen on the right side of the picture. And here's a view without the sign, and that isn't as washed out due to sunlight (though the sun was still mainly in my eyes).
And here's what Cleburne's men advanced towards. The Union position was along the high ground. This also was at angles to the fighting of the morning.

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