Battle of Perryville

Battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862. (Harper's Weekly, November 1, 1862)

The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought 8 October 1862. This battle was part of a Confederate campaign to make incursions in Kentucky both for recruitment purposes and to draw Union forces from Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Perryville was the largest battle in Kentucky during the Civil War. There were heavy casualties with 845 Union soldiers and 510 Confederate soldiers killed and over 5,000 wounded.

Brothers Elisha Abbott Spalding and Asa Blodget Spalding participated in this battle as members of the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. One-third of the members of 105th were killed or wounded in the battle with 29 killed in action. One of those killed was Asa Blodget Spalding. E. Abbott Spalding survived the battle. He received a field promotion to 1st Lieutenant at Perryville. He was later promoted to Captain. E. Abbott Spalding was wounded in battle at Chickamauga on 20 September 1863 and died of his wounds six days later. E. Abbott fist enlisted in 1861 and was at the first Battle of Bull Run. He was mustered out shortly after that and illness prevented his reenlistment until 1862. He was a student at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio enrolled as a junior in 1862.

E. Abbott Spalding and Asa B. Spalding are seventh generation descendants of George Abbott and Hannah Chandler (Sophia Abbott Spalding6, Benjamin5, David4, David3, Benjamin2, George1). They were the only two sons of Sophia Abbott and Solomon Spalding. Sophia Abbott was born in Lower Canada 30 June 1808 the youngest child of Benjamin and Betsey (Nooning) Abbott. Benjamin was a wanderer and the family was at various times in Billerica, MA, Hancock, NH, likely Chelsea, VT, Lower Canada, Rochester, NY, and finally in Monroe, OH. There is a story that Benjamin Abbott built the boat on which he took his family through the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario where they settled for a time in the area that later became Rochester, New York.

Sophia Abbott and Solomon Spalding were married in Ashtabula County, Ohio 1 April 1833. They were parents of three children, the two sons and daughter Louisa Aurora Spalding. It is not clear what became of Louisa, but she was unmarried and living in the home of her step-father in Monroe, Ohio in 1880. Solomon Spalding died in 1846 and Sophia remarried to Alonzo George Ferguson with whom she had two daughters.

Photo Credit:

https://www.historynet.com/battle-of-perryville.htm

Ohio Civil War Central. 105th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. https://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=849

Hayward, History of Hancock, p 20