On the evening of October the 8th Bragg’s troops began to fall back from Perryville and head towards Harrodsburg.  The decision to leave Perryville was due to the large number of federal troops that were amassing west of Perryville.  Bragg hoped to unite with Smith at Harrodsburg and thus have a force large enough to challenge the Union army.  While marching to Harrodsburg Bragg decided to abandon the Kentucky campaign and march to Knoxville via the Cumberland Gap (Figure 1).

The first obstacle the Confederate retreat faced was crossing the Dix River (Dicks River), which is located between the towns of Danville and Lancaster.  Steep banks and Union advances at the Confederate rear made this a very difficult task.  It was vital that the retreating army cross the river near this difficult section, because the Confederate Supply Depot was located at Bryantsville. With no supplies the Confederates would have had a extremely difficult time making it through the Cumberland Mountains of southeastern Kentucky.

Upon leaving Brayntsville the Confederates headed southeast through the Knobs to the towns of Crab Orchard and Mt. Vernon.  The Union army gave up the chase in the Mt. Vernon area and the Confederates were able to march through eastern Kentucky to Cumberland Gap with no resistance. By the end of October the Confederate occupation of Kentucky ended.