In the summer of 1862, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg and the Army of the Mississippi launched an invasion of Kentucky. A border state, Bragg hoped to bring the Bluegrass into the Confederacy. Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio opposed Bragg. On October 8, elements of both armies clashed outside the village of Perryville. While the battle ended in a stalemate, it ultimately forced Bragg to abandon his effort and retreat to Tennessee.