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Perryville in Boyle County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)
 

Dixville Crossroads

Perryville • The Battle For Kentucky

— October 8, 1862 —

 
 
Dixville Crossroads Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, August 18, 2011
1. Dixville Crossroads Marker
Inscription. During the Battle of Perryville, the Dixville Crossroads, the intersection in front of you, was a crucial tactical point on the battlefield.

Here, the Benton Road (now called Whites Road), which runs to Dixville in Mercer County, intersects the Perryville-Mackville Road (now Hayes May Road). On October 8, 1862, this was the key intersection of the battle. All of the Union supply wagons were parked behind you. These important supplies nearly fell into Confederate hands.

Had the Confederates captured and held this intersection, the entire Union First Corps would have been cut off from the rest of the Union army, which was posted west and south of Perryville. Fortunately for the Northern troops, Union reinforcements commanded by Colonel Michael Gooding arrived late in the day by marching from the west of town down the Benton Road (to your right) and to this intersection.

Gooding’s brigade suffered heavily to hold this key point. Gooding lost one-third of his men and he was wounded and captured. The battle essentially ended around this intersection.

The day after the battle, local physician Jefferson J. Polk toured the battlefield. Walking from his house in downtown Perryville and out the Mackville Road, Polk reached this spot. What he witnessed he clearly remembered when he wrote his autobiography
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in 1867. Polk described the scene near this intersection:

“I passed on northward, and saw on either hand dead men and dead horses, canteens, muskets, cartridge-boxes, broken ambulances, coats, hats, and shoes, scattered thick over the ground. I reached Mr. Russell’s white house…Here was the center of the great battle. The house was dotted over with hundreds of marks of musket and cannon balls. All around lay dead bodies of soldiers…In a skirt of woods close by were scattered hundreds of dead of both armies…The ground was strewn with soiled and torn clothes, muskets, blankets, and the various accouterements of the dead soldiers. Trees not more than one foot in diameter contained from twenty to thirty musket-balls and buck-shot, put into them during the battle…I counted four hundred and ten dead men on a small spot of ground. My heart grew sick at the sight…I saw dead rebels pile dup in pens like hogs. I reached my home, praying to God that I might never again be called upon to visit a battle-field.”

The Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association (SEKTDA) is the sole owner of this panel.
To receive more information on SEKTDA and its programs call toll free (877-TOURSEKY) or visit our website at www.tourseky.com.

 
Erected by Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism
Dixville Crossroads Marker Map image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Brandon Fletcher, March 31, 2012
2. Dixville Crossroads Marker Map
Development Association (SEKTDA). (Marker Number 35.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is October 8, 1862.
 
Location. 37° 40.153′ N, 84° 58.902′ W. Marker is in Perryville, Kentucky, in Boyle County. Marker is at the intersection of Whites Road and Hays Mays Road, on the left when traveling north on Whites Road. Located at Interpretive Marker 35 on the Perryville Battlefield Trail System (The Final Line Trail). Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1825 Battlefield Road, Perryville KY 40468, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Illinois Soldiers at Perryville (a few steps from this marker); The John C. Russell House (within shouting distance of this marker); George P. Webster's Brigade (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Russell House (about 700 feet away); 80th Indiana (approx. 0.2 miles away); General Polk Behind Enemy Lines (approx. 0.2 miles away); Harris' Battery (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Slaughter Pen (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Perryville.
 
More about this marker. On the lower right is a photograph of “Colonel Michael Gooding”. On the upper right is an image of “Dr. Jefferson J. Polk, Perryville physician”.
 
Dixville Crossroads Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, August 18, 2011
3. Dixville Crossroads Marker
Dixville Crossroads marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, August 18, 2011
4. Dixville Crossroads marker
Dixville/Benton Road (Whites Rd) & Old Mackville Road (Hays Mays Rd)
Dixville Crossroads image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, August 18, 2011
5. Dixville Crossroads
Present-day Whites Rd & Hays Mays Rd intersection
Northern intersection marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, August 18, 2011
6. Northern intersection marker
Dixville/Benton Road (Whites Rd) & New Mackville Road (Battlefield Rd)
Intersection at the north end of the battlefield image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, August 18, 2011
7. Intersection at the north end of the battlefield
Present-day Whites Rd & Battlefield Rd intersection
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on April 29, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 25, 2011, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,107 times since then and 26 times this year. Last updated on February 28, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. Photos:   1. submitted on August 25, 2011, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.   2. submitted on September 14, 2015, by Brandon Fletcher of Chattanooga, Tennessee.   3, 4. submitted on August 25, 2011, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.   5. submitted on August 21, 2011, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.   6, 7. submitted on August 25, 2011, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024