had occupied that place with an advance
guard, ordered Buford to drive them out with his cavalry, and followed
with his whole force. The establishment of the enemy at Lawrenceburg,
and upon the road thence to Harrodsburg, would have completely cut off
General Smith from General Bragg. The force advancing toward
Lawrenceburg, was Sill's division, perhaps six or seven thousand strong
in effectives. This division had diverged from the main army at the same
time with Dumont's.

General Smith's forces were arranged at Lawrenceburg (which was not
occupied by the enemy) and on the road thence to Harrodsburg on the 6th.
Sill's division fell back across Salt river and into the rugged Chaplin
hills, pressed by a portion of General Smith's infantry, Colonel Thomas
Taylor's brigade in advance. Several hundred prisoners were taken. The
position of General Smith's forces was not materially changed during
that day and the next, although they continued to draw nearer to
Harrodsburg. The main body of the enemy had in the mean time
concentrated its marching columns and moved to the vicinity of
Perryville, 58,000 strong, on the evening of the 7th.

The detachments which advanced to Frankfort and toward Lawrenceburg,
were not more than 12,000 strong in all. So rugged and difficult of
passage is the country through which these detachments had to pass,
that a comparatively small force could have prevented their junction at
Lawrenceburg and held both at bay, leaving the bulk of the Confederate
army free to concentrate at Perryville. Even had their junction been
permitted, three thousand such cavalry as Bragg had at his disposal
could have retarded their march to Harrodsburg for several days. They
could not have forced their way along the road in less than two or three
days, and as many would have been required to make a detour and join
Buell. In that time the battle of Perryville could have been decided.
But so completely was General Bragg in the dark about Buell's movements
that, when he first heard of the advance from Louisville, he supposed it
was a movement of the whole Federal army upon Frankfort, and he ordered
General Polk "to move from Bardstown, by way of Bloomfield, toward
Frankfort, to strike the enemy in flank and rear," while General Smith
should take him in front. This order was evidently issued under an
unaccountable and entire misapprehension of the true state of affairs,
but showed a nerve and purpose which promised well. G