October 8th, 2012 marked the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Perryville, a Civil War battle in Kentucky. Henry Mosler was on the scene. In his diary, he wrote of the many skirmishes, the sounds of cannonading, and the paucity of water.
He also poignantly described his impressions as he walked the abandoned battlefield and the hospital.
In the evening Col Blake Cotton and myself went out to view the Battlefield which was a sight that I have not the power to express we where also at the Hospital where about 200 wounded where lying suffering some crying Oh! mother Oh! Doctor Oh give me some water. enough to make any one feel the terror of this war we encamped again under a large tree with but a Blanket over us In the morning I made a sketch of the Battle at Perryville and the town of Perryville in about 3 hours and sent them to be mailed at Louisville by our sutler of the 9th Indiana
Mosler's sketches appeared in Harper's Weekly on November 1, 1862.
The Battle of Perryville, Found October 8, 1862 by Henry Mosler
According to Kurt Holman, manager of the Perryville Battlefield, Mosler’s illustrations from Harper’s are among the few and most contemporary depictions they have of the landscape. Holman explained the Battery in the above image is the 19th Indiana Battery (Captain Samuel Harris). The infantry regiment in the foreground is believed to be the 80th Indiana. Holman and his staff have consulted his illustrations when rebuilding and interpreting the historic grounds and resources.
Comments