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343 Series I Volume XVI-I Serial 22 - Morgan's First Kentucky Raid, Perryville Campaign Part I

Page 343 Chapter XXVIII. GENERAL REPORTS.

LOUISVILLE, January 20, 1863.

Commission met pursuant to adjournment. All the members present; also the judge-advocate and General Buell.

General LOVELL H. ROUSSEAU (a witness for the Government), being duly sworn by the judge-advocate, testified as follows:

By the JUDGE-ADVOCATE:

Question. State, if you please, your name and position in the United States service.

Lovell H. Rousseau, major-general of volunteers.

Question. You will state, general, whether you were present at the battle of Perryville; and, if so, who marked out your line of battle upon that day.

At the battle of Perryville, or Captain Hills as it was called by our commander, I made my line of battle myself. Some changes were made by General McCook by consultation between us and some by him without consultation. General McCook was not on the ground when I first formed the line of battle.

Question. At what time did you arrive there and how long after was it that you saw General McCook?

It is hard to tell what time we reached the ground. I suppose it must have been about 10 or 11 o'clock; but I am not positive. General McCook was with me on the march and up to the time that we fell in with General or Captain Gay (whatever he may be), commander of cavalry. We heard firing of cannon for some hours as we approached the ground upon which the battle was fought. On the march I think General McCook received a note from General Buell, or else he had received it that morning, stating to him that he should approach Perryville with cantion. That, I think, was the substance of the note. When we got to where we could see a portion of the enemy in the woods, who seemed to be scouts, watching, General McCook directed me to send forward a reconnaissance, leaving my artillery in the rear on the road-that the enemy were in the vicinity of Perryville, and would probably resist our approach in that direction. I did so, and they reported the enemy in view when they arrived in sight of the battle ground. I sent word back to General McCook that the enemy were in view. He camp up to the front, and we rode up and looked over the ground and selected the line of battle, which was in rear of where it was actually fought. The enemy, however, seemed to be giving way and Gay seemed to be pursuing. He had two pieces of artillery and, I think, nearly all the cavalry. He wrote me a note to send him a regiment to support his pieces; that he had been driving them nearly all the morning. I sent him the regiment, which went to the front where his pieces were.

I made a mistake in my report of the battle in saying it was Captain Harris, when it should have been Captain Hotchkiss, who commanded the section. I did not catch the correct name in the confusion incident to the firing. We saw but few of the enemy, who soon disappeared from view and left toward Perryville. Hotchkiss' pieces were of short range, and I sent back for others to shell where we thought the enemy were. They finally disappeared, and I concluded, and so I supposed did McCook, that they would not fight at or near that point. He then rode off to see General Buell. I did not see him as he left. The enemy disappeared, and after waiting perhaps an hour-I do not remember the exact time-and my men having had no water for a long time and being near the Chaplin Creek and as we were halted by the enemy, I supposed I would be substantially obeying orders by moving on toward the water. I put the column in motion. As the head of the column was approaching to where Hotchkiss' pieces were my attention was called-I do not know by whom-to the fact that the enemy were in view again. I rode up to where these pieces were and got Hotchkiss' glass, and just as I was putting it to my eye they opened some two or three batteries and there was a very rapid and accurate firing of shells. I directed Captain Loomis to bring up the balance of his battery and Captain Simonson to bring up his. They did so, and the enemy soon ceased their rapid firing, but separated their pieces and kept up firing at intervals. I think the enemy had two or three batteries massed at that point. After that shelling they advanced their infantry and I galloped back to the balance of my troops to get them in position so as to front in that direction. The line I selected was almost at right angles with the line of the main army, which was fronting toward Perryville. I had formed, I believe, two brigades, Colonel Harris' brigade and Colonel Lytle's, or rather I directed Colonel


Page 343 Chapter XXVIII. GENERAL REPORTS.