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At the Battle of Perryville, on October 8, 1862, Cotter was in charge of thirty-eight guns in the First Corps, which included the 1st Michigan Light Artillery under Captain Cyrus Loomis (6 guns), Battery A, 1st Kentucky under Captain David Stone (6 guns), Captain Asahel Bush’s 4th Indiana artillery (6 guns), Captain Peter Simonson’s 5th Indiana Light Artillery (6 guns), Captain Samuel Harris’s 19th Indiana Light Artillery (6 guns), and Captain Charles Parson’s Independent Battery (8). On the Union left, Cotter reported that at one point, there was a hand-to-hand fight over Captain Charles Parsons’ Independent Battery, where the Union infantry under the 105th Ohio and the 123rd Illinois Infantry, along with the artillerymen used their muskets as clubs.” During the battle, Confederate General George Maney’s brigade captured the seven guns of Parson’s battery. After the battle, Confederate Captain William Turner, commander of a Mississippi battery, managed to haul off five 12 pound Napoleons, one 12 lb. howitzer, and one 6 pound Parrott gun steel, with two limbers and two caissons, without limbers which were filled with ammunition. During the night, Turner exchanged two of his 6 pound guns for two Napoleons. The next morning on October 9, when Turner prepared to leave for Harrodsburg, Turner was ordered to dismantle the captured guns that he was not able to take with him. i. During the battle, Maney’s men managed to capture Bush’s battery, under Col. John Starkweather’s 28th Brigade, but men of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry helped to recapture his guns. At one point, Stone’s battery, also under the command of the 28th Brigade, was overrun, but Captain Stone managed to take back his guns. General William Terrill, commander of the 33rd Brigade, under Union General James S. Jackson’s 10th Division, was killed by shrapnel from a Confederate artillery round while leading his men up the backside of Starkweather’s Hill. On another part of the battlefield, Captain Samuel Harris’ 19th Indiana Battery, under Col. George Webster’s 34th Brigade, took two guns off the field, but four guns were abandoned on the field. Men from the 98th Ohio fired the abandoned guns a number of times. The four abandoned guns left on the field were not taken off the field by the Confederates due to the lack of horses. Harris managed to recover his battery.
During the battle, Cotter reported that he was riding through a cornfield, when a 12-pound ball struck the ground directly beneath his horse's belly and the concussion knocked the horse and Cotter completely over amid a cloud of dust. Major Cotter mounted a cavalry horse he found and had not been on him long before a solid shot came along and struck the horse in the hip. Major Cotter's leg was badly sprained by the horse falling on him. He went back and got his first horse, which had recovered from the initial shock of the 12-pound shot.
On the Union right, during the battle, Colonel Leonard Harris, commanding the 9th Brigade, reported that his brigade was on the right center and on the left of the 17th Brigade, under the command of General William Lytle. The 1st Michigan artillery under the command of Cyrus Loomis was attached to the 17th Brigade. Union General Lovell Rousseau, the divisional commander, ordered Captain Peter Simonson’s 5th Indiana Battery, who was under Harris’ brigade, which was on Harris’ right, to join Loomis. The 10th Wisconsin Infantry was directed to support Simonson’s battery. At 1 pm, Captain Simonson’s battery fired on three Confederate batteries. One of the Confederate batteries was 1,600 yards away, another was to his right, and a third battery was still father to his right about 1,000 yards. At 2 pm, after exhausting all of their long-range ammunition, Loomis fell back to a commanding ridge about 150 yards in the rear of the Russell house and on the right of the Mackville Road, supported by three companies of Michigan Mechanics and Engineers. The Confederate battery on Simonson’s extreme right advanced about eight hundred yards away on his right flank, under the cover of some woods. Simonson directed his fire against two Confederate batteries.
At 3 pm, the Confederate artillery fire on Simonson’s right began to take a toll on his men and horses. At the same time Confederate infantry appeared only four hundred yards away, directly in front and on his left and right flanks. Simonson informed Colonels Chapin and Burke, of the 10th Wisconsin and 10th Ohio Infantry of the approaching Confederate force, who both came to his support. The 38th Indiana Infantry was located two hundred yards to the rear of Simonson’s guns. Simonson fired canister into the Confederates as rapidly as his men could load, until Major Cotter ordered Simonson to find a new position, where he could use the remainder of his canister with full effect. The 38th Indiana, 10th Wisconsin, and 10th Ohio helped Simonson execute Cotter’s orders and Simonson placed his battery on the right of the Mackville Road, near a straw stack, when a Confederate shell struck one of his limber chests. ii.
At 4 pm, Cotter ordered Simonson’s battery to retire. Simonson took a position in the rear of the Russell house, next to the woods. Simonson could not reach the range of the Confederate infantry, so he took a position on the crown of a hill across and in the road, about one hundred yards in the rear of the Russell House. Once unlimbered, Simonson’s men fired their remaining canister shot and withdrew. When darkness fell, Simonson took a position five hundred yards in the rear of the headquarters of the Ninth Brigade, under Harris.iii. After Cotter placed Simonson’s guns at the Russell house, he visited a battery further down the line. While he was gone, which was only twenty minutes, Simonson had already fallen back and the Rebels had taken Simonson’s former position. Major Cotter rode back to the Mackville road, about fifty yards on the left of the road, in the rear of the Russell house where he thought Simonson was located. He heard the cheers of the Rebels, but he thought the cheers were from his own men, not knowing that the Union troops had fallen back.iv.
He rode up and inquired the cause of the cheering. They said: “We have driven the enemy — they are running." He replied: "You will find plenty of grey coats down there yet," meaning the Rebels. The reply from Cotter caused an officer to inquire: “Who are you, sir?" Cotter replied: "I, sir, am Major Cotter, of General McCook's staff." The officer in front of Cotter then said: “And I, sir, am Major General Polk, of the Confederate army, and you are my prisoner." Confederate General Leonidas Polk was the right-wing commander and second in command to Confederate General Braxton Bragg, commander of the Army of the Mississippi. Just then, Major Cotter realized he had ridden right into the Confederate lines. He had no other choice but to surrender. Just as he was surrendering, seven other Federal staff officers rode up and they were captured along with Cotter. Cotter’s horse, which was his favorite, also became property of the Confederates. Not only was Cotter and seven other officers were captured, but General McCook's ambulance, containing all the General's clothing except what he had on, the carpet bags of his staff, refreshments, etc., was also captured and were now in the hands of the Rebels, which rejoiced at capturing such large prizes. Inside McCook’s ambulance were two blacks, whom General Polk recognized as slaves who had belonged to him in Tennessee and had runaway. Bishop Polk was happy to get his property back. Polk promised Major Cotter that his private property would be respected, but nearly everything was taken from him, even the spurs from his boots, his sword knot, etc. v.
After taken prisoner, the next day on October 9, he was taken to the rear of the Confederate army in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. As he was being escorted to Harrodsburg, he saw the Rebel troops retreating on the Perryville Road to Harrodsburg. He was taken out on the crossroads and passed the troops of Confederate Generals Leonidas Polk, Simon Buckner, Benjamin Cheatham, and William Hardee, who were retreating into Harrodsburg. The Confederate army took the road to Camp Dick Robinson. He observed the battle flags from Polk’s and Hardee’s Corps from the building he was being held in as a prisoner. While observing the Confederates marching on the road, he gave a description of their dress. He stated that the Confederate soldiers were in a “condition of great filth and destitution. Some of them had shirts made of carpets, tablecloths, old calico dresses, blankets, etc. They were greasy from head to foot. They carry their rations of pork in a haversack by the side, and the grease running down their pantaloons, which are worn as long as they will hang together, gives them a filthy appearance, besides creating an odor perfectly sickening. . . . (and) "turned his stomach."” vi.
On the morning of October 10, Cotter saw Confederate Generals Edmund Kirby Smith join Braxton Bragg at Harrodsburg. Amazingly, Cotter was allowed to wander the town with a Confederate escort. At one point he was allowed to get some dinner at a hotel in town and observed Confederate troops moving on the Camp Dick Robinson Road. Smith was moving with his force while watching the movements of the Union army. Couriers came riding in at a fast pace with updates, while the Confederate army headed towards Camp Dick Robinson. Cotter thought that the Confederate forces were massing on the road running from Harrodsburg Road heading towards Perryville. Cotter also saw a heavy force of Confederate cavalry on the Danville Road and Cotter thought that the Confederate force was getting ready to attack Union General Don Carlos Buell. Cotter had misinterpreted the information. The Confederates were in full retreat and heading towards Bryantsville, near Lexington, Kentucky. Later that day, Cotter was released on parole. The next day on October 11, he returned to the Army of the Ohio and reported to Buell’s headquarters and reported to Buell about his observations about the movements of the Confederate army while a prisoner. vii.
In his official report on the Battle of Perryville, Major General Alexander McCook, commanding the First Corps, wrote that Major Cotter “behaved with conspicuous gallantry and good judgement during the entire action.”
After the battle of Perryville, Cotter obtained a leave of absence and traveled to his home in Ravenna, Ohio. After his leave, he returned to the Union army and for the remainder of the war, Cotter controlled the massive garrison artillery commands of Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
After the war, Cotter returned to Ravenna and built up the reputation of his business, served the State, and engaged in politics. He died at the Columbus Hotel Gardner, January 27, 1886, on the eve of his retirement. Charles Cotter funeral was attended by a large gathering at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Ravenna.
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