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There were no Federal troops between the 80th and the corner of the cornfield. As soon as the regiment took position on the field and the men loaded their muskets the men were ordered to lie down on their faces and wait for the enemy to make their appearance in front of them. The men remained in their positions for about a half hour. The battle would be the first time the men of the 80th Indiana would “see the solemn realities of war!” i.
While the men were listening to the roaring of musketry and the thunder of artillery the whistling of bullets above the 80th Indiana and the bursting of shells around them. According to Lieutenant Colonel George T. Simonson, the Confederate artillery “opened fire on me and Captain William D. Lewis commanding Co. I, which at the time deployed as skirmishers, killed two or his men in this fire.” One of the men said to Private Joseph Glezen of the 80th Indiana: “Glezen, isn't this terrible?” I replied that it was sublime. He said he was unable to discover anything sublime about it. I remarked that it was both grand and solemn and that was what I understand by that term. Said he: “Don’t you wish that you had not enlisted?” To this I made no reply. A moment afterwards something struck my hat with such violence as to mash it over my face. The inside of the edge of the rim, inflicting a scratch on my nose. (A member of my body that is always in the way of objects passing) so as to draw blood, at the same time the man at my right crying out “Glezen is killed.” I knew this to be a mistake but turned, to look for the unwelcome intruder, and found a 6 pound cannon ball about two feet from me at my left, having struck on the hill near the battery, and bounced, coming angling, and after striking my hat, mashed the head and killed Milton Spraggins, who was lying immediately at my left, and finally lodged against the side and arm of his brother who was still at his left. After having rolled the ball down the hill with my left hand, not knowing but it might contain combustible materials, my first impulse was to make a slight change in my position; but then it occurred to my mind that, as lightening was never known to strike twice in the same place, the same might be true in respect to cannon balls. So I remained quiet.” ii.
Soon after the incident, the 80th Indiana was ordered to “rise and fire”. The bullets were whistling over the men with such fury that “it seemed as if no man could stand erect and live.” As soon as the command was given to rise and fire, the men bounded to their feet like “so many parched peas,” and determined to pour their contents of their muskets into the ranks of the Confederates. Before firing the men had to advance about thirty-three feet to the top of the hill in order to bring their weapons in range of the Rebels. But the Rebels were concealed behind trees and only a few could be seen. The 80th Indiana’s bullets managed to find the Rebels in their concealed positions, and the ground was soon strewn with their mutilated bodies. As the 80th Indiana advanced and the order was given to “fire!” the men pulled their triggers in unison. After the men fired their first round, they were ordered to “load and fire at will.” Many of the regiment’s guns were defective, because the 80th Indiana soldiers were issued .69 cal. smoothbores, which had weak mainsprings. The ammunition fired in the muskets may have been .69 caliber buck-and-and-ball, not the minie ball. After firing his first round, Private Joseph Glezen prepared to ready his next round, but ramming down his second cartridge, but he discovered his gun contained two loads. He re-primed his rifle and thought he would “double the dose” by firing two balls at once; but his gun again refused to fire. He retired down the hill, took off the nipple, picked the powder in the touch hole, primed, advanced, and made the third effort to fire, but there was not sufficient power due to the weak mainspring in the lock to burst the cap. He stood and snapped four times, but in vain. He then threw down his gun in disgust and picked up another and tried the weapon with the ramrod and found the weapon like his, containing two loads. Glezen picked up the second weapon and the weapon was in the same condition. He picked up a third rifle, and a fourth weapon, which had bullets rammed in the barrel just about one foot from the muzzle. He concluded to get out of the way himself before he became a target. Glezen went down about sixty-six feet and laid down behind a stump with a couple of wounded men from his own company and remained there for about two minutes, when he got up and renewed his search for a gun that would fire. He picked up two more weapons near the stump with loads half-way down the barrel. He found a musket on the ground of Company C, under Captain James L. Culbertson, that was empty, so he loaded the weapon, and when he pulled the trigger, the man behind the gun felt the kick against his shoulder. iii.
The firing between the 80th Indiana and the Rebels in their front was incessant and lasted for nearly four hours. According to Lieutenant Colonel George T. Simonson, of the 80th Indiana, the regiment fired sixty rounds. According to Colonel Brooks, the “ammunition had of necessity to be replenished from the boxes of the dead and wounded, having failed to be supplied from our train. Adjutant Alf. D. Owen and Sergeant Maj. Slack were captured in an effort to get it up.” iv. The 80th Indiana held their ground the entire time against a Confederate brigade, and the men of the 80th Indiana repulsed them twice, when they attempted to storm the battery. Finally, the firing in front of them subsided, and the rebels were seen passing through a cornfield opposite to the extreme left of Rousseau's division, and to the 80th Indiana’s right. The Federal line gradually gave way before them, keeping up a brisk fire as they receded. The Confederates were within range of their muskets. The 80th Indiana changed their position slightly in order to enable them to pour a destructive fire into the Rebels ranks, as they gradually advanced on the retreating columns of General Rousseau. The Union right wing continued to give way and at the same time the Union left was in progress of giving way, which left the 80th Indiana on a curved line, exposing them to a destructive crossfire.
During this critical moment, the 80th Indiana was in danger of being surrounded and Captain Samuel Harris' of the 19th Indiana battery drove past the 80th Indiana to the rear. Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Brooks was ordered to fall back and take a position at the road on the hill, about 150 yards to their rear.
The men formed in line of battle and gave the rebels a few well directed rounds but continued to fall back to the Federal lines on their right and left. The 80th Indiana’s position became untenable, and they were ordered to fall back about three hundred yards and took a position in support of Harris' battery, which had already began firing from their new position. A new line was established, but darkness fell on the battlefield and the firing gradually ceased. The men of the 80th Indiana lay on their arms until midnight, when there were ordered to a point about a mile to the rear, on the “Dixville” or “Benton” road, which is now called the “Whites” road, where another line of battle was formed. The men took a better defensive position and expected an attack in the morning. But during the night, the rebels retreated, leaving the battlefield in Union hands.
Lieutenant Colonel Brooks commanded the regiment of raw undisciplined troops. He commanded the regiment just one month after leaving civilian life and according to Private Glezen, the 80th Indiana under Brook’s command “never faltered or flinched and was the last regiment to give ground before the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. His orders were well timed and distinctly given and were promptly reiterated by the company officers and executed by the men.”
During the battle, Glezen states that Major George T. Simonson was calm, dispassionate, and at all times could be seen moving about where duty called him, giving directions, and speaking words of encouragement to his men. Captains Sasser Sullivan, James L. Culbertson, William D. Lewis, Charles G. Brownlee, Jacob Ragle, John W. Tucker and others “behaved with remarkable gallantry and inspired their men with enthusiasm and courage.” v.
The flag of the 80th Indiana received seven bullet holes and the regiment lost in killed and wounded, about 190 men. The 80th Indiana had 738 men at the beginning of the battle and at the end of the battle, they lost 25 killed, 116 wounded, and 16 captured or missing for a total of 157, which was twenty-one percent of the regiment.
On October 8, 1912, which was the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Perryville, the veterans of the 80th Indiana arrived at the Perryville battlefield. The veterans arrived at the railroad station from various parts of the Indiana. Several companies of the regiment were recruited from southwest Indiana and Gibson County. The veterans at Princeton, Indiana boarded the Southern Railroad and taken by rail to Danville, Kentucky. Three of the companies A, F, and E were recruited from Princeton. After they arrived at Danville, the veterans were taken by car to the battlefield. Colonel Brooks and Secretary Joseph Hardin and other members of the regiment arranged for the reunion. vi.
Colonel Louis Brook, who was president of the veteran association, along with Sergeant Bramle, of Loogootee, who was one of the best-known soldiers from the regiment, arrived in Danville several days before the reunion in order to locate all the points of interest and make all the preparations for the reunion. Several Gibson County men lost their lives at Perryville. A number of Vanderburgh County veterans were also members of the 80th Indiana. Many of the veterans of the 80th Indiana knew this would be their last reunion at Perryville.
A feature of the reunion was when the Daughters of the Confederacy held a reunion and memorial gathering at the same time and place, so both Union and Confederate veterans would be present at the reunion.
On October 11, the veterans of the 80th Ohio who attended the reunion arrived back in Princeton, Indiana. The men reported back that they had “an excellent reunion and most hospitable treatment. On one of their points of interest they stayed at a hotel at Perryville, which standing at the time of the battle and still bore some of the bullet holes from the battle.
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