Civil War Battlefield Conservation in Kentucky

Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site

President Abraham Lincoln pointed up the strategic importance of Kentucky: without it, the United States could not hold Missouri and Maryland. On October 8, 1862, the Widow Gibson Farm at Perryville was the site of a massive Confederate assault that hurled the Federal line back one mile. After a day of intense fighting and more than 7,000 casualties, the Confederates withdrew from the state and abandoned their effort to take over Kentucky. Kentucky remained within the Union.

A partnership with the state of Kentucky, the Perryville Battlefield Commission, the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association, and the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels made possible the protection of 150 acres at the center of the key battlefield in Kentucky. The Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association bought the 150-acre farm with funding from federal ISTEA funds, The Conservation Fund, and its partners. The land was donated to Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site.