With faces and hands blackened by battle smoke and ears ringing from constant musket fire, Starkweather’s shattered brigade retreated to the ridge and saved several cannon by pushing them back to a new position. Much of the Union infantry took cover behind a stone wall across part of the hill, and Perryville’s rolling terrain allowed the Federals to establish another defensive line on high ground. Maney’s Confederates regrouped and rushed through the valley, then fought desperately at the stone wall, assaulting the Union troops again and again. A Union counterattack finally forced Maney’s exhausted brigade, low on ammunition, to retreat back from the hill. Neither side renewed the struggle afterward: Maney’s brigade fell back to Parsons’ Ridge, and Starkweather’s troops withdrew to the west. Although Maney’s attack helped the Confederates secure a tactical victory at Perryville, Starkweather’s stand saved the Union army. Confederate losses were severe, with some units losing more than half their command, and the Southern army soon marched out of Kentucky, never again making a concerted effort to hold the Commonwealth for the Confederacy. Union Captain Robert B. Taylor recalled the blood-soaked ground and powder-blackened artillerymen lying torn and mutilated, and the 4th Indiana Light Artillery under Union Captain Asahel K. Bush lost 13 men and 35 horses while defending Starkweather’s Hill.