“To lose Kentucky is to lose the whole game."

With these words, Abraham Lincoln summed up the dire circumstances surrounding the bloody clash in the Bluegrass at Perryville, Kentucky on October 8, 1862.

With the fate of Kentucky hanging in the balance, Confederates under Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham formed on the banks of the Chaplin River before launching their attack on the Union left flank.  Despite Cheatham's initial success, desperate Federal counterattacks ultimately forced a stalemate.  By sunrise on October 9, nearly 8,000 had fallen in the undulating countryside—and with them, the dream of a Confederate Kentucky.

Now CWPT has the opportunity to once again pitch into the battle for Kentucky.  Generous land donations and a special grant program have given us the chance to permanently preserve 327 acres at Perryville—the very land from which Cheatham’s men launched their attack.