Boyle County

We had no intention of visiting Boyle County on this outing.  But like I mentioned in my last post, we HAD to visit Nevada and Texas on this trip.  All it takes is a quick look at a map and it's not hard to figure out, that if you're in Nevada and want to go to Texas, you have to go through Perryville.  We knew we didn't have the time go to Danville, but Perryville would make a good stop for us, so we decided to check it out.

BOYLE COUNTY BACKGROUND

Boyle County was formed in 1842 from parts of Lincoln and Mercer counties.  It was the ninety-fourth county formed in Kentucky.  The county seat is Danville.  The county is named for John Boyle a prominent Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, Congressman, and U.S. District Judge. 

Danville is considered "The City of Firsts" for being the first in many different areas.  Some of these are, it was the location of the first courthouse in Kentucky, had the first U.S. Post Office west of the Alleghenies, home to the first college in the west and was also the first Capital of Kentucky.

Boyle County / Danville is also home to Centre College.  Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders and was officially charted by the Commonwealth in January of 1819.  The school gets its name from being located in the geographical center of Kentucky.  Centre boasts a literal Who's Who in America among its alumni.  Today they offer 27 majors on a 152 acre campus containing 66 building, 14 of which are on the National Historical Register.  Please visit this page for a complete look at the history of Centre College.

Perryville is the site of the largest Civil War battle in Kentucky.  It has also been described as one of the bloodiest battles in modern times.  The Union suffered 4,421 casualties with a force of 22,000  -  28,000 men.  They were as follows: 845 killed, 2,851 wounded and 515 captured or missing.  The Confederacy employed 16,000 troops, of which there were casualties of 3,396.  Those losses were as follows: 510 killed, 2,635 wounded and 251 captured or missing.  Writing a brief narrative of something so monumental to American and Kentucky history is next to impossible.  I encourage you to visit the official webpage of the battle.  You can find it at http://www.battleofperryville.com/ .

OUR VISIT

We anticipated a short visit to Boyle County on our way to Texas.  A quick stop at the Perryville Battlefield and then move on down the road.  I was vaguely familiar with the Battle of Perryville, but didn't know many details.  Before we went to the battlefield we stopped in town, because I saw one of the painted wall advertisements that I like so much.   After a quick stop there, we made our way towards the battlefield.  It was a lot further outside of town than I expected. 

The entrance to the park is impressively unimposing.  From the entrance, you would have no idea you were about to visit a place that saw the death of over 1,300 men.  Once you find yourself inside the park, it is hard to imagine that such a horrible tragedy happened in a place as beautiful as this.  It is a prime example of the rolling hills of the bluegrass.  The park offers memorials to both the United States and Confederate soldiers who died or were wounded that day.  Just like in my last post, I would not be doing the memories of these fine men of both sides any justice if I did not show you pictures of the memorials.

 We ended up spending a lot more time there than we had anticipated.  We found ourselves reading and studying all of the markers around the park.  When you're standing there it is hard to even conceive a battle the size of the one that took place there.  On top of all the men that were killed there that day in early October, 1862, almost 5,500 men were wounded.  The devastation was so great and the losses so big, the Confederacy never returned to Kentucky in great force again.  With this battle the state stayed firmly in the Union.

Time was running short and we had two more counties to see.  So we loaded up jumped on U.S. 150 for the quick ride to Texas on our way to Springfield in Washington County.