Terrill, a native Virginian who had remained loyal to the Union, managed to halt the rout one mile west of his original position. No sooner had he pushed the men into their places, however, than Rebel guns began to shell them, and Southern ranks shook themselves into place for another attack. Terrill was mortally wounded by an artillery shell. The Confederates struck again and the Union line snapped. Terrill’s lead regiment, the 123rd Illinois, was brand-new. Organized only a month before, the men had received little formal training. After today, many never would. To the shaken survivors in the regiment, it appeared that the Rebels had simply sprung from the ground like dragon’s teeth.

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By now, Polk’s attack had sheared almost through McCook’s lines. Vainly, the corps commander asked Sheridan to send troops to his assistance. The fiery young brigadier had none to spare–Hardee was developing his attack to Sheridan’s front. The full force of Bragg’s assault now began to be felt. He had managed to throw all 16,000 of his men against a fraction of the enemy.

The greatest danger was on the extreme left flank of the Union line. There, only Brig. Gen. John Starkweather’s thin line of veterans still stood to oppose Maney’s advance. A reporter with Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau watched the course of the battle for over an hour and described the last Confederate assault: ‘We were all struck with the desperate valor of the rebels. Led by mounted officers, their broad columns came to the attack in quick movement and with death-defying steadiness, uttering wild yells, till, staggered by the sweeping crossfire of our artillery and the volleys from Starkweather’s regiments, they fell back to the shelter of cornfields and breaks in the ground.’

While McCook struggled desperately to hold the flank, Gilbert was having his own problems in the center. Hardee had discovered a gap between the two Union corps and was hurriedly pushing troops into it. Gilbert barely managed to stop the Rebel penetration by turning his artillery to fire obliquely at the enemy columns, while pushing every available soldier to the front. With metal screaming in from every side, the Confederate drive sputtered to a halt. Desultory firing and skirmishing continued on both sides as darkness began to envelop the field.

Several officers on both sides were wounded during the fight, including Cleburne, who was shot in the ankle while leading his men. General Polk himself almost became a casualty. About dark, Polk became convinced that he saw one Confederate unit firing upon another, and rode up to an Indiana regiment by mistake. Understanding his error when the Union colonel in charge responded to his demand to cease fire by asking who he was, Polk decided to brazen it out. He rode down the line ordering the men to cease firing. Then, turning, he cantered slowly to the Rebel line, expecting a bullet in the back any minute. Reaching the cover of some woods, he spurred his horse on and immediately ordered his own men to open fire on the Indiana regiment.

Throughout the entire bloody affair, the higher command of the Union Army remained mysteriously unaware of what was going on. Buell later put forward the claim that a trick of atmospherics, known as ‘acoustic shadow,’ prevented him from hearing the engagement until 4 p.m. More likely, Buell did hear the artillery going off about noon, but thought it was the attack he had ordered, going in late. Thus, it was not until the battle was several hours old that he felt the need to ride forward and see what was going on. He arrived at Gilbert’s headquarters too late to do anything save give final approval of Gilbert’s dispositions.

And what had happened to Crittenden? Here was a man who was so well placed he could have turned the tide of the entire battle, possibly without firing a shot. All he had to do was march down the Lebanon Pike, brush aside some cavalry, take Perryville and move into position to strike Bragg’s army in the flank and rear. Instead, he sat out the whole battle, completely intimidated by Wheeler’s cavalry.

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