From the outbreak of the Civil War, both sides had attempted to assert control over the “border states”. In Missouri, which had already been the scene of conflict between pro- and anti-slavery militias during the Bleeding Kansas period, there was a small skirmish near Wilson’s Creek before Union General Samuel Curtis was able to lead his 12,000 troops toward Springfield in February 1862. The Confederate forces, 8,000 men under General Sterling Price, retreated to Arkansas. Missouri was firmly in Union hands.
For those who don’t know, I live in a campervan and am traveling the country, posting photo diaries of places I visit.
In Arkansas, Price’s Confederate army was joined together with General Benjamin McCulloch’s 6,000 troops and both were placed under the command of General Earl Van Dorn. They were joined by two regiments of Cherokee Native Americans, the only Civil War campaign in which a significant number of Indians participated. On March 2, Van Dorn marched this army back towards Missouri to try to drive the Federals out.
Van Dorn’s strategy centered around the political struggle within Missouri. As the southern states began to secede in 1861, the Governor of Missouri, Claiborne Jackson, had summoned a Convention under the chairmanship of Price (who had previously served as Governor) and urged it to vote to leave the Union. Instead, the Convention refused to do so, with most of the delegates arguing that while they opposed a war against the Confederacy, they were not in favor of secession.
At the outbreak of war, Union Army Captain Nathaniel Lyon was sent to Missouri by President Lincoln with orders to secure the Federal Arsenal at St Louis. After doing this, Lyon arrested a number of pro-Confederate militia units, then marched his troops to the state capitol in Jefferson City, where the entire state government removed itself from office and a military governor was appointed to run new elections. This action split the state, with Lyon’s troops supporting the Unionists and the state militia, now under the command of General Price, supporting the Confederacy. Price and his militia troops, accompanied by Governor Jackson, assembled their own “state convention”, issued a declaration of secession, and fled to Arkansas.
Meanwhile, pro-Southern militias continued to operate in Missouri and neighboring Kansas, assassinating Federal officials and executing Union sympathizers—the most famous of these guerrillas were “Quantrill’s Raiders” and “Bloody Bill” Anderson. It was a continuation of the pre-war “Bleeding Kansas” violence. Van Dorn’s plan, in turn, was based largely on information he was receiving from these Confederate guerrillas in Missouri, who reported that secessionist sentiment was rife and that thousands of people would flock to the Confederate banner if they were given the opportunity.
To travel quickly, Van Dorn left his baggage train behind and ordered his troops to carry their own supply of ammunition and food. As they marched, they ran into a late-winter snowstorm. The Federals also knew they were coming, and blocked the road with felled trees as obstacles.
Curtis had established a defensive position along the Little Sugar Creek, just inside the Arkansas border. Van Dorn reached him on March 7. His 14,000 Confederates outnumbered the 10,000 Federals, but Curtis had some 50 cannons and Van Dorn did not want to risk a direct assault on the Union lines, so he sent McCulloch’s division around Curtis’s right to attack while he moved his own forces around to the Elkhorn tavern, behind the Union lines. It was a mistake: the hills of Pea Ridge now ran between McCulloch and Price, preventing them from supporting each other.
Although the Federals were pushed to Ruddick’s Field by McCulloch’s charge, they soon rallied and fought back. During the fighting, General McCulloch was killed, and not long after that his replacement, General James McIntosh, was killed too. The Confederates were forced to retreat and establish a defensive line at Foster’s Farm.
Van Dorn planned to attack the Federals in the morning, but during the night the Federals received reinforcements and on the morning of the 8th it was Curtis who took the offensive. A cannon bombardment tore into the Confederate lines at the Elkhorn Tavern, followed by a frontal attack. The Confederate General Price was wounded in the fighting. By this time the Confederates were running short of ammunition and supplies, and Van Dorn withdrew from the field.
The Confederates had lost about 2,000 casualties at Pea Ridge, compared to about 1,300 for the Union. Price withdrew his troops to southern Arkansas: Van Dorn went across the Missouri River and joined up with the Confederates in Tennessee. The battle left the Federals in complete control of Missouri and northern Arkansas.
In 1887, local Confederate veterans raised money to put up a stone obelisk memorial at the site, and two years later a reunion was organized for both Confederate and Federal veterans of the battle. They raised another memorial stone to “the united soldiery”, and this led in 1914 to calls for establishing the site as a national memorial and the Pea Ridge National Military Park was established in 1956. There is a Visitors Center and trails, and a reconstruction of the Elkhorn Tavern (the original was burned by Confederate guerrillas while it was being used as a Federal telegraph station). A 7-mile loop takes visitors to all the important parts of the battlefield. Because the park is located in a rural area, it is much more intact and better preserved than most Civil War battlegrounds.
Some photos from the battlefield.
