Pea Ridge #8 - Skirmish at Flat Creek, Missouri

Gen. Sterling Price, CSA
National Park Service

February 15, 1862 (150 years ago today) found the Union army poised and ready for battle at Crane Creek in Southwest Missouri. The heavy fight that General Samuel Curtis hoped for did not develop, however, and the Confederates continued what he called a "precipitate flight."

The truth was that General Sterling Price was unwilling to sacrifice the lives of the men in the Missouri State Guard (CSA) in a battle he knew he could not win. As a result, he continued to move his army south down the Wire Road for Arkansas, but kept a strong rear guard in place to hold back any sudden move by the pursuing Federals.

Flat Creek, Missouri
USGS Photo

Having passed Crane Creek, Curtis ordered his cavalry forward to "overtake and charge the enemy." The horsemen moved forward rapidly and soon approached Flat Creek, a mountain stream that flows west to east and eventually feeds the White River (today's Table Rock Lake).

 They reached the crossing of Flat Creek to find that the fight was definitely not out of Price's Missourians:
...When they arrived here [i.e. Flat Creek] they were fired on by artillery and therefore made a stand until other forces came up. The little howitzers returned the fire of the enemy, and kept them at bay till I got heavier batteries in position and drove the enemy forward. The valley is very strong for the enemy, and I wonder he did not make a better stand. I am taking the straggling cattle for rations to-night, and will move on to Cassville at 4. - Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA, February 1862.

Gen. Franz Sigel, USA
National Archives

Curtis was still having difficulty making contact with the second main column of his army led by General Franz Sigel. With little practical knowledge of that general's location and movements, Curtis expressed hope that they would meet soon:

I hope the force of your command is near me to-night. My men are living on meat, and have hardly time to cook it; but they seem eager to push forward, either to take Price or drive him out of the State. - Gen. Samuel Curtis to Gen. Franz Sigel, February 15, 1862.

Flat Creek township, it is interesting to note, was the childhood home of actor Don Johnson, famed for his roles in "Miami Vice" and numerous movies. On February 15, 1862, however, it was home to a sharp skirmish as General Sterling Price continued to fight delaying actions so his army could safely withdraw from Missouri into Northwest Arkansas.

I will continue to post on the 150th Anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days, so be sure to check back often. You can read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge anytime you like at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #7 - Exchanging Valentines of lead at Crane Creek, Missouri

Valentine's Day of 1862 (150 years ago today) found the Union army pushing closer and closer to Northwest Arkansas.

General Curtis and General Franz Sigel were advancing south along roughly parallel routes, hoping to trap Price before he could escape across the Ozark Plateau and into the Boston Mountains of Arkansas. As was often the case in such movements, howevever, Curtis and Sigel had difficulty communicating.

Map showing Crane Creek, McDowell's and Cassville
Notice the route of the Wire Road connecting all three.

At 7 p.m. on February 14, 1862, Curtis dispatched a message to Sigel from McCullah's Store that his cavalry had engaged Confederate troops at Crane Creek:

...Whether he will stand there or not is very uncertain, but I think it will be hard for his train and heavy artillery. He will probably move on through. I will try to attack him in rear to-morrow, but will delay if he stops until you can reach him. I regret that I can get no report from you, but hope you got my reply to yours this morning. I find one or two companies of Benton Hussars here, and will take them with me, as the nearest and best way for them to rejoin you. I hope you are able to reach the enemy or strike his flank at McDowell's since he is now probably passing Crane Creek. - Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA, February 14, 1862.

Gen. Franz Sigel, USA

Crane Creek is located in Southwest Missouri about half-way between Springfield and the Arkansas line. The modern town of Crane sits on the creek, which is a trout-fishing draw for anglers from throughout the region.

The Union cavalry by February 14th had penetrated the country 30 miles below Springfield and the Missouri State Guard was on the verge of being forced entirely from its home state. By road Curtis and the advance elements of his army were now 49 miles from Arkansas.

McDowell's, where Curtis hoped that Sigel would be able to strike Price from the flank, was about 20 miles southwest of Crane Creek between the modern cities of Cassville and Aurora.

General Sterling Price, meanwhile, was moving rapidly hoping to escape the attempt by Curtis and Sigel to trap him with their pincer movement. His main body spent the day pushing south on the old Wire Road, aiming for the Arkansas border and the support of General Ben McCulloch's forces in Washington and Benton Counties.

I will continue to post on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days, so be sure to check back often. You can read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge anytime at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #6 - Skirmish at Springfield, Missouri

Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA
National Archives

On February 12, 1862 (150 years ago), Union General Samuel R. Curtis achieved the first major objective of the Pea Ridge Campaign, the capture of Springfield, Missouri.
The city that had been held so long by General Sterling Price and the Missouri State Guard fell to Federal troops after only minor skirmishing:

The flag of the Union floats over the court-house of Springfield, Mo. The enemy attacked us with small parties at 10.30 o'clock, 12 miles out, and my front guards had a running fire with them most of the afternoon [i.e. of the 11th]. At dusk a regument of the Confederate cavalry attacked the outer picket, but did not move it. A few shots from a howitzer killed 2 and wounded several. The regiment retreated to this place, and the enemy immediately commenced the evacuation of the city. I entered the city at 10 a.m. - Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA, February 12, 1864.


Cannon at Wilson's Creek
National Park Service

Upon taking Springfield on the morning of February 12th, Curtis ordered his cavalry to continue to press Price's retreating Confederates:

...My cavalry is in full pursuit. They say the enemy is making at stand at Wilson's Creek. Forage, flour, and other stores in large quantities taken. Shall pursue as fast as the strength of the men will allow.- Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA, February 12, 1864.

Elkhorn Tavern

The capture of Springfield was a pivotal moment in the developing Pea Ridge Campaign. The city was the last major Confederate defensive point between Curtis and the Arkansas border. His push south down the Wire or Telegraph Road would soon bring him across the line near a tavern known for the antlers of an elk that adorned it: Elkhorn Tavern.

The final advance on Springfield had pushed the Confederate forces under Sterling Price into full retreat. With insufficient manpower to make a stand against the oncoming Federals, Price had no choice but to retreat south for Arkansas. His objective now became the Boston Mountains and the thousands of Confederate troops in winter quarters in Northwest Arkansas. The men there under General Ben McCulloch offered not only supplies and safety, but the chance to form a large enough army to go back on the offensive.

I will continue to post on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days and weeks, so be sure to check back often. You can read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge anytime at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #5 - Skirmish at Marshfield, Missouri

Union Approach to Springfield
Springfield at lower left, Marshfield in middle right, Bolivar at upper left.

The afternoon of February 9, 1862,150 years ago today, found General Samuel Curtis 18 miles in advance of Lebanon, pushing for Springfield, Missouri. The Pea Ridge Campaign was picking up speed.

Curtis's immediate objective was Springfield, Missouri, where Confederate General Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard lay in wait. All signs were that Price was preparing to retreat into Northwest Arkansas where he would be reinforced by thousands of men under Generals Ben McCulloch and James McIntosh, but there was no way for Curtis to know for sure.

One thing was for certain, his cavalry was getting closer and closer to Springfield. The First Missouri Cavalry (US), for example, had driven to Bolivar just 30 miles north of Price's headquarters. There they had captured a few stragglers, a heard of 125 cattle while "carrying terror and astonishment due north of Springfield."

Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA
National Archives

At Marshfield, 26 miles northeast of Springfield, a sharp skirmish took place when another Federal cavalry force entered the town:

...[A]t 4 o'clock a cavalry battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Wright, entered Marshfield, routing and pursuing a small party of the enemy's force that was running the mill. Pursuit was made, and Captain Montgomery overtook them, killing 2, wounding 3, taking 3 prisoners, several slaves, 3 Government mule teams, 2 common teams, all loaded with wheat designed for the enemy. None of our men were hurt. - Gen. Samuel Curtis, CSA, February 10, 1862.

Curtis reported that he was pleased with his march so far and that the latest intelligence indicated that Price was still in Springfield. Firing could be heard from that direction.

What that firing was is unclear. The presence of Union cavalry in both Bolivar and Marshfield told General Price that he was being approached from both the North and Northeast and that Federal troops were now within a single day's ride of his position at Springfield. Curtis's infantry, he knew, could not be far behind.

The time was coming when Price would have to either retreat or fight. And it was coming fast.

I will continue to post on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days and weeks, so check back often. You can learn more about the Battle of Pea Ridge anytime at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #4 - Signs of a Retreat into Arkansas

Gen. Sterling Price, CSA

A report from a war correspondent in Rolla, Missouri, 150 years ago today included information that indicated General Sterling Price was preparing to evacuate Springfield, Missouri.

The Union army was clearly about to descend upon him and, while the writer does not seem to have fully understood what he was reporting, his dispatch clearly indicated that Price was getting ready to withdraw his Confederate forces into Northwest Arkansas.

While first noting claims that Price had told the Confederate soldiers of the Missouri State Guard that they were surrounded and must must, the reporter went on to note clear intelligence that a retreat might be in the works. The Confederate general, he reported, was collecting "large supplies of provisions ont he road leading from Springfield to Fayetteville."

Old Wire Road between Springfield and Fayetteville
National Park Service

The pro-Union writer seems to have interpreted this as an indication that Price was receiving large reinforcements from Arkansas, but in reality he appears to have been positioning supplies in anticipation of a retreat by his men from Springfield south into Benton County, Arkansas.

The journalist's interpretation of what the Union army was up to was much more accurate:



Gen. Franz Sigel, USA
National Archives

...The news from the West indicates that the preparations against the enemy are nearly completed. The forces for this movement are nearly all concentrated at the point where it is intended to move against the Rebels. In a few days the whole command will probably be on the march Westward. Generals SIGEL and ASBOTH'S divisions have reached Lebanon, and Major WRIGHT'S battalion of cavalry has moved thirteen miles west of that point. - Unnamed Correspondent reporting from Rolla, Misosuri, February 8, 1862.

The division of Colonel Jefferson C. Davis, meanwhile, was reported to be nearing Lebanon.

The leading cavalry of the Union army was now within 40 miles of Springfield and the first significant skirmishing of the Pea Ridge Campaign would take place the next day.

I will continue to post on the campaign over coming days and weeks, so be sure to check back often. You can also read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #3 - A Cold Winter on the Ozark Plateau

Elkhorn Tavern in the Snow
National Park Service

This is part three of a six week long series commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. To read the two previous posts, click Pea Ridge #1 and Pea Ridge #2.
The winter of 1861-1862 was remarkably cold in the Ozarks region of northern Arkansas, even though it was strangely warm deeper in the Deep South.

From Alabama and Mississippi, for example, there were reports that meat was spoiling because there had been no proper "hog killing weather." In Arkansas, however, the snows were piling up. Letters written home to Louisiana by soldiers serving under Colonel Louis Hebert, for example, described snow accumulating to depths of between one and two feet in Benton County.

Ice Storm at Pea Ridge Battlefield
National park Service

The men serving in Northwest Arkansas that winter, however, were reasonably well-housed and well-equipped. Winter quarters in the Cross Hollows area between Fayetteville and Bentonville were strongly constructed of sawed lumber and the thousands of men camped there were sheltered from the cold wind, sleet and snow the characterized that winter. Most described their cabins as "comfortable."

They also were as well-fed as any army in the field at that time. The Arkansas River had been running high through the winter, allowing steamboat traffic to continue at a brisk pace between Little Rock and Fort Smith. The latter city was a major supply center for Confederate troops serving in the West and a steady stream of supply wagons made its way up and over the Boston Mountains with provisions, clothing, shoes, weapons and other necessities for the troops in Washington and Benton Counties.

Gen. Earl Van Dorn, CSA

Sickness was also diminishing in the camps. Most of the men had now served long enough for their systems to adapt to the rigors and stresses of service in the field.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Arkansas, General Earl Van Dorn had arrived in Pocahontas and appeals had been issued for the men of Arkansas to enlist in his army as quickly as possible. In every county of the state, new companies were forming and preparing to march in response to the calls of General Van Dorn and Governor Rector. An army was forming of sufficient size to approach the Union onslaught that was expected to come down from Missouri in the spring.

I will continue posting on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge over coming days and weeks, so please check back often. You can read more about the battle anytime at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #2 - Brigadier General Alexander Asboth

Brig. Gen. Alexander Asboth, USA
National Park Service

This is part two of a six week series on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. To read part one first, please click here: http://civilwararkansas.blogspot.com/2012/02/pea-ridge-1-brigadier-general-albert.html.

Among the Union generals preparing to advance on Springfield and the Northwest Arkansas, Brigadier General Alexander Asboth is perhaps the least known. And yet, his life was one of the most remarkable of all.

His name is often given as Alexander Sandor Asboth, but this is a misnomer. "Sandor" is the Hungarian equivalent of "Alexander" so using both is an unnecessary but common duplication.

Born in Hungary in 1811, Asboth was an educated soldier and engineer who allied with Governor Lajos Kossuth in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. In the movement, which attempted to establish an American style democracy in Hungary, Asboth became a close ally and friend of Kossuth and fought at the Battles of Kapolna and Nagysallo.

Brady Photo of Gen. Asboth
National Archives

When the revolution collapsed before an assault by the allied forces of Austria and Russia, Asboth joined Kossuth and other Hungarian leaders in fleeing to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Congress authorized a relief expedition to save them and President Millard Fillmore dispatched the USS Mississippi for that purpose.

The Hungarian revolutionaries arrived in the United States to a hero's welcome. Asboth settled in New York where he engaged in surveying and engineering and by 1861 had become a naturalized U.S. citizen. His most noteworthy achievement during his New York years was his role in conducting the survey for what became Central Park.

When the Southern states left the Union, Alexander Asboth was appalled. A true Unionist, he considered the U.S. government to be, as he later told a delegation of Southerners in Florida, "the best in the world." He offered his services to President Abraham Lincoln.

Leaving New York for Missouri, Asboth served as chief of staff (or as he termed it, adlatus) for General John C. Fremont and participated significantly in the effort to raise and organize an army to preserve the state for the Union. He was nominated by President Lincoln to the rank of brigadier general, but the commission was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate until well after the Battle of Pea Ridge.

Wartime Sketch of Asboth in Missouri
Notice his dog. It always accompanied him.

During his Missouri years, General Asboth was well known to two other officers who would go on to assume much greater roles in the war: William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. Sherman later described him as a personally courageous man whose only real fault as an officer was that he sometimes doubted his own abilities.

When Fremont began his push into southwestern Missouri, Asboth functioned as a major general, leading the 4th Division. He continued this role when General Samuel C. Curtis rose to the command of the army. A noted cavalry leader, even though his division was primarily infantry, Asboth often operated ahead of the main army and would lead the advance to Bentonville and Fayetteville in February of 1862.

His role in the Pea Ridge Campaign will be discussed in coming days and weeks. After the battle, he served in Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee before finally being assigned to the command of the District of West Florida as Sherman was planning his March to the Sea. For a time it was thought that Sherman might have to cut his way through to the Gulf Coast and it was expected that Asboth would be able to move rapidly to his relief should the necessity arise.

Battlefield at Marianna, Florida

He was severely wounded at the Battle of Marianna, Florida, on September 27, 1864, while carrying out the deepest penetration of Florida by Union forces during the entire Civil War. To learn more, please visit www.battleofmarianna.com.

Awarded the brevet rank of major general after the war, Asboth was appointed U.S. Minister to Argentina and Uraguay by President Andrew Johnson. He died in Buenos Aires in 1868 from the effects of the wounds he had received in Florida, in particular a wound to his jaw that had never healed.

Buried in Argentina, his body remained there for 122 years until it was returned to the United States in 1990. The general was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony that included a eulogy written by President George H.W. Bush. Asboth is revered as a hero in his native Hungary to this day.

If you would like to learn more about his service in Florida after the Battle of Pea Ridge, please consider my book: The Battle of Marianna, Florida: Expanded Edition. (Also available in Kindle format).

I will continue to post on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days and weeks, so be sure to check back often. You can read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge itself at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #1 - Brigadier General Albert Pike

Brig. Gen. Albert Pike, C.S.A.
Library of Congress

Note: For the next six weeks I will focus on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Be sure to check in regularly for new postings.
Perhaps the most enigmatic of all Confederate generals, Brigadier General Albert Pike was the commander of Southern forces in the Indian Nations of what is now Oklahoma when the Pea Ridge Campaign developed in 1862.

Born in Boston on December 29, 1809, Pike was the son of a cobbler and one of six children in a hard-working Massachusetts family. He attended public school where, in the tradition of that day, he received an excellent education that included studies in Hebrew, Latin and Greek as well as literature and mathematics. At the age of only 16 he passed the entrance exam for Harvard, but could not afford to go due to the cost of the tuition.

Instead of going on to college, Albert Pike becake a teacher and a poet. He published his first poem at the age of 23 and his work appeared in some of the leading literary journals of his day.

Albert Pike School in Van Buren, Arkansas

Like many Americans of the 19th century he was intrigued by the West. He relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico (then part of Mexico), in 1831 and too part in an exploration of the headwaters of the Red and Arkansas Rivers. He soon appeared in Fort Smith and taught school for several years in the area. One of his one-room schoolhouses, in fact, still survives and can be seen on the grounds of the Crawford County Courthouse in Van Buren. Please click here to learn more.

Pike fought a Duel on the River in Fort Smith

Involved in politics and journalism before the war, Pike studied law during the antebellum era and represented clients including Creek and Choctaw Indians who had not been paid moneys due them from the U.S. Government. His military career began in 1846 when he joined 1,500 other Arkansans in volunteering for service in the Mexican War. He became embroiled in a controversy with Lieutenant Colonel Seldon Roane and after returning home the two fought a noted duel on the banks of the Arkansas River at Fort Smith. No one was injured in the exchange of fire and both men ended the contest with the honor intact.

Brig. Gen. Albert Pike, C.S.A.
National Park Service

When Arkansas left the Union in 1861, Albert Pike was named commissioner to the Indian nations. The Confederate government subsequently commissioned him as a brigadier general and gave him command of the Indian Territory. He was involved in raising Confederate troops among the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee and Seminole nations.

It was as a brigadier general in command of the troops from the Indian Nations that Pike would take part in the Battle of Pea Ridge, the largest action in which he would fight. In a dispute with General Thomas C. Hindman over which man commanded the forces and supplies in the Indian Territory, Pike resigned his post on July 12, 1862, just four months after the Battle of Pea Ridge.

Albert Pike is perhaps best known, however for his involvement with the Masonic Lodge. He became a Mason in 1850 and in 1859 became Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, which made him the leader of all of the South's Masons. In 1871 he published Morals and Dogma for the Scottish Rite and later penned several other books on Masonry. Appropriately he died at the Scottish Rite Temple in Washington, D.C. on April 2, 1891 and is now buried in a crypt inside the temple.

General Albert Pike would play a signficant and controversial role in the Battle of Pea Ridge and his involvement in the campaign will be dealt with extensively over coming days and weeks. You can learn about his little one-room school in Van Buren by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pikeschoolhouse.

February 2, 1862 - "The snow here has been a foot deep"

Col. Louis Hebert, C.S.A.

The letter that follows was written by a Confederate soldier stationed at Camp Benjamin in Northwest Arkansas on February 2, 1862 (150 years ago today).
The man identified himself only as "T" and was probably a member of Colonel Louis Hebert's brigade.

Camp Benjamin, according to an account by Surgeon Washington L. Gammage of the Fourth Arkansas Infantry, was two miles southeast of Cross Hollows and two miles east of the main road connecting Fayetteville and Springfield in Benton County, Arkansas. Gamage described the camp as being in a "narrow, level valley, bounded on the north and south by a high range of hills, and supplied with an abundance of pure sparkling water by a mountain stream, which was of sufficient size to support a grist mill where the corn and wheat which the neighboring farms supplied in abundance."

The soldier's letter provides good insight to the mindset of Confederate soldiers in Northwest Arkansas during the early days of the Pea Ridge Campaign:

Thinking perhaps a line from this section might be acceptable, I write you a line from our lonely winter quarters. We are situated twenty miles east of Fayetteville, in a hollow, surrounded on all sides by high hills, and as freefrom any society except our own forces as we would be in the deserts of Arabia. The daily routine of camp duties is all there is to relieve our monotonous life. My duties confine me very close to my quarters.

We look for stirring times, however, on the opening of the spring campaign. Our General, McCulloch, has returned to command us, which gives universal satisfaction. It would have beeen a great misfortune to this brigade if Price's newspaper friends had succeeded in displacing our General. I fear our brigade would ahve been completely demoralized. McCulloch is beloved by officers and men, here, as a prudent, careful and brave officer, and those who know him best love him most.

Our regiment is looking forward with much interest to the time (17th May,) when we are to be permitted to see our friends at home once more. We are willing to "fight on, fight ever," as long as the war and life last; but we would like, if possible, to go home first.

The snow here has been a foot deep on a level the past week, and the weather intensely cold. To-day it is sleeting and raining by turns, while icicles hang from the eaves of our houses four feet long. We are in comfortable quarters. Three regiments being quartered here it looks like quite a village. The houses are built uniform, 18 by 36, two rooms in each, and about one hundred and fifty houses in all, laid out in regular streets and avenues, in military style, the regimental and staff forming a square at the head of each regiment.

The entire regiment is well clothed and healthy.

A marker for the Confederate camps at Cross Hollows is located at the corner of Cross Hollow Road and Old Wire Road, near Rogers and between Fayetteville and Bentonville. The actual hollow runs from just north of Lowell east into what is now Beaver Lake.

I will continue posting on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days, so be sure to check back often. You can learn more about the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

The map below shows you the Cross Hollows area as it appears today.

View Larger Map

February 2, 1862 - Curtis reported at Lebanon, Missouri

Gen. Samuel Curtis, U.S.A.
National Archives

As the initial movements of the Pea Ridge Campaign continued to take shape, a report datelined Rolla 150 years ago today indicated that Union General Samuel Curtis had reached Lebanon, Missouri.
Lebanon was a midpoint between the previous Union headquarters in Rolla and the position of Confederate General Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard in Springfield. The Union army was now reported to be within 55 miles of the latter city:

...Reliable information from Lebanon says that Gen. Curtis is now in that place, and the number of troops there is constantly increasing. It is doubtless his intention to remain at that place till all his forces arrive, which will be several days yet, as some of them have not started. A considerable number of them are under orders to march this morning, and probably within two or three days all that are going will have departed. - Unidentified Correspondent writing from Rolla, Missouri, February 2, 1862.

Rumors continued to drift north through Missouri that Price's command at Springfield had been reinforced by 12,000 Confederate troops from Arkansas. Some believed such reports, but the correspondent writing from Rolla on February 2nd noted that most did not.

A much bigger concern was caused by high water in the rivers flowing through Southwest Missouri. Flood conditions were causing delays in the movement of both supplies and men:

...The roads between this place [i.e. Rolla] and Lebanon are almost impassable. Fifty teams are said to be on this side of the Gasconade river, waiting for the water to subside.

The report concluded with a note that the main body of the Third Missouri Cavalry (U.S.) had reached Rolla. A couple of companies were still coming up. The regiment, it was noted, would be attached to the division of General Franz Sigel.

I will continue to post on the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days and weeks, so be sure to check back often. You can read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge anytime at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

January 30, 1862 - The Union Army Begins its long slow march to Pea Ridge

Historic Photograph of the Missouri Ozarks
Library of Congress

Newspaper readers across the Midwest learned 150 years ago today that the long anticipated southward movement of the Union army in Missouri was underway.
The positioning of Colonel Jefferson C. Davis and his Division (not to be confused with the Confederate President) was a sign that General Samuel Curtis was beginning a slow drift to the south that would pick up speed over the coming days and weeks:

The movement foreshadowed by the preparations at Otterville of the past week has taken place. One division under the command of Jeff C. Davis has already taken up its march for the South. They left Versailles Tuesday morning. Their destiantion is supposed to be Springfield. The division consists of five regiments, the 8th and 22nd Indiana, the 37th Illinois, and the 9th Missouri, accompanied by two batteries of twenty-four pieces, and three companies of cavalry, under the command of Major Hubbard. From the skill and energy of Gen. Davis, important results are confidently predicted. The next division under Gen. Turner is expected to leave Thursday or Friday. - Springfield Republican, January 30, 1862.

Colonel Jefferson C. Davis, U.S.A.
National Park Service

It seems remarkable today that such detailed reports were printed in newspapers in 1862, but it was a common practice. The generals of both sides learned a great deal from the newspapers of the other side.

The article also made reference to an interesting report that seemed to indicate General Sterling Price and his Confederates might not might for Springfield:

A gentleman from Green county, a few miles from Springfield, who arrived at Rolla on the 24th, says no entrenchments are being built at Springfield, and but little uneasiness is manifested by Price or his officers. There is a general cry for reinforcements, and the rebels say they are on the way, but vary as to the number.... Price expects his appointment [i.e. as a regular general] will be confirmed within two weeks, when he will be reinforced from Arkansas. Unless he can take command of the whole force, he may be obliged to retreat. He has a large number of wagons, and is putting everything in readiness to decamp. - Springfield Republican, January 30, 1862.

The article predicted the future quite well. Price would retreat from Springfield, Missouri, without a major fight and fall back into Arkansas where he linked up with the divisions of Generals Ben McCulloch and James McIntosh. Together their combined forces would form General Earl Van Dorn's new Army of the West. The long road to the Battle of Pea Ridge had begun.

I will continue posting on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days and weeks, so check back often. You can also read more on the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

January 27, 1862 - Gunpowder Mining in the Ozarks

Cave in the Arkansas Ozarks

In a previous post on Civil War industry in Arkansas (see Industry in Arkansas on the eve of the Pea Ridge Campaign), mention was made of the development of caves in the state as a source of raw materials for making gunpowder.

To field its armies, the Confederacy of course needed gunpowder and surveys conducted in Arkansas by Dale David Owens during the years before the war proved that the Ozarks contained some of North America's finest deposits for mining saltpeter.

Saltpeter (often spelled saltpetre in old documents) is another name for potassium nitrate. This mineral is key to the production of gunpowder and was found in the limestone caves of the Ozarks. These caves riddle the hills in the northern half of the state and by the time the Pea Ridge Campaign began to develop in late January of 1862, saltpeter mining was developing as a major industry in Arkansas:

Ozark Mountains of Arkansas

...We sometime ago gave an account of the saltpetre caves of Arkansas, and stated that machinery was being sent from this city [i.e. Memphis] for working some of the caves up White river; so successful has been the experiment that the Jacksonport Herald states that a Mr. Carlton ships about a ton and a half of saltpeter every week to Nashville, to be made into powder, and that he soon expects to ship two and three tons per week.

This account, from the Memphis Appeal, was published in late January of 1862 and was picked up by newspapers throughout the South as evidence of the growing capability of the Southern war effort.

The article mentioned the White River, one of several areas in Arkansas where saltpeter mining took place. Additional mines were located in Newton County and elsewhere. The mineral was prepared on site at mines like the one in Boxley and then carried by wagon or ox cart to the Arkansas or White Rivers. From there steamboat transportation was available to carry it own to powderworks throughout the South.

The Pea River Campaign would spell the beginning of the end of saltpeter mining in Arkansas. By firmly planting themselves in Northwest Arkansas, the Federals opened the door for raids on mining operations in the Ozarks. As a result, the importance of Arkansas saltpeter to the Confederacy would diminish rapidly following the Battle of Pea Ridge.

I will continue posting on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days and weeks, so be sure to check back often. You can also read more on the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

January 23, 1862 - Ben McCulloch's Proclamation to His Men

Brig. Gen. Ben McCulloch, C.S.A.
National Park Service

As he made his way back west to Arkansas from meetings with Confederate officials in Richmond, Virginia, Brigadier General Ben McCulloch of Texas issued a call to his troops to reenlist at the end of their 12 months service.
When the Southern states seceded in 1860-1861, few people believed that war - if it came - would last longer than one year. As a result, most of the initial regiments were formed for one year's service. As McCulloch returned to Arkansas in anticipation of renewed fighting, he realized that many of his men were approaching the end of their service.

As a result, on January 23, 1862 (150 years ago today), he issued a proclamation to the men in his ranks calling upon them to re-enlist. Keeping his experienced regiments in the field was vital to McCulloch and he made no bones about the need for his men to keep fighting:

PROCLAMATION.
Soldiers of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas!

Your country calls on you for further service. Will she call in vain? Will the gallant men who have braved death in all its forms, now shrink from peril? Never! Never will it be said of them, they deserted their country in the hour of danger! We must re-enlist, or all the blood spilt is as water poured upon the ground. Let it not be said, our brave comrades have fallen in vain. Let us try by our acts to immortalize their memories. Their spirits look down upon our deeds and demand of us, that their names be handed down to future generations as martyers in a glorious and successful cause. Our cause is just; it will succeed. Let those who doubt it go seek a home in the North. They are unfit to live among freemen. This war cannot last. Before two years will have passed we will be a free and happy people. Then, who will not be proud to say, I was a soldier in the army that won our Independence!

BEN. McCULLOCH,
Brigadier General.
January 23d, 1862.

General McCulloch himself would soon become a martyer to his cause. He was killed at the Battle of Pea Ridge in early March.

I will continue posting on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days and weeks, so be sure to check back often. You can also read more on the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

January 22, 1862 - Industry in Arkansas on the eve of the Pea Ridge Campaign

War Eagle Mill
War Eagle, Arkansas

The following excellent account of industry in Arkansas on the eve of the Pea Ridge Campaign appeared in newspapers across the country (both North and South) during the third week of January, 1862.
Newspapers in those days did not rely on wire services as they do today, but instead clipped interesting articles from other papers and reprinted them. I found this account fascinating because it listed such a variety of developing industries in such a variety of locations during the early years of the Civil War in Arkansas:

(From the Little Rock True Democrat)

Chimney from Rhea's Mills
Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park

"There is a tobacco factory in Bentonville, in Benton county, which is said to be a paying institution. The tobacco crop is getting to be an important one in the Northwest. There is a large cotton factory in Washington county. The cotton factory at Van Buren is a large affair, and in addition to spindles has cards for wool. Mr. Tobey, of Norristown, Pope county, has, or will soon have, his cotton factory in operation. There is also a cotton factory in Pike county. In Newton county they have large saltpetre works, and are turning out large quantities. In Independence, and perhaps other counties, there are fine saltpetre caves which are being worked. The rich lead mines in Newton county are rudely worked. The Bellah mines in Sevier county are also yielding lead. We are told there is copper in that region, and sulphur, and sulphuric acid can be made there. Salt is made on the White river and down near the Louisiana line. The salt works on the Ouachita are in the hands of enterprising men.

Arkansas Cave
Saltpetre was mined from caves in Newton County

"There is an unlimited supply of brine, and we are told that Messrs. Harley & Co. have commenced boiling and making salt. They hav ea foundry at Camden which turns out cannon, and sent a battery, under command of Captain Reed, to Oak Hills. We have two foundries at Little Rock, one of which furnished grapeshot for the army. At Hopefield, opposite Memphis, the machine shop of the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad has been turned into an armory, and is altering and repairing guns, &c. Several extensive tanneries have been started at various points in the State, whereat hides are tanned by the process lately discovered. The Messrs. Dyer, of this city, have a soap and candle factory in operation. At the Arsenal there is an armory under the control of the Confederacy, but the necessary machinery has not yet arrived. The Arkansas penitentiary has turned out gun carriages, caissons, wagons, boots, shoes, clothing and many other things needed for the army. A manufactury of coal oil is in progress on the Ouachita river. While on this subject we may remark that that there is good coal at several points on the upper Arkansas, in Perry, Johnson, Franklin and Sebastian counties. In some places it is immediately on the river bank, and when the river rises we expect the coal trade will become an important one, provided the river rises before the cold weather ceases."

Quartermaster's Storehouse
Fort Smith National Historic Site

It is clear from this report that Arkansas was getting into the "business of war" on a large scale and individual industries were turning out anything from gunpowder ingredients to cannon. The existence of such an industrial boom in the state shows how the developing Confederate army in Northwest Arkansas was able to equip and supply itself for the coming campaign.

I will continue posting on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign during coming days and weeks. You can always read more about the battle at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox.

January 21, 1862 - Rumors in Rolla

Gen. Samuel Curtiss
National Archives

The  situation in Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri began to reach its critical point during the third week of January, 1862.
Union General Samuel Curtis still in Rolla, preparing to begin his final advance on Springfield and the Arkansas border, while Confederates in the region were still not ready for a major fight. Gen. Sterling Price was still in Springfield with the Missouri State Guard. "Old Pap," as he was called by his men, was still not a regular Confederate general, but held his rank only in his state's pro-secession militia.

Meanwhile, scouts and pro-Union citizens continued to flow into the Federal lines, bringing intelligence on the situation in Springfield and beyond. One such citizen arrived at the beginning of the third week of March with wide-ranging information on Confederate activity as far south as the Arkansas River Valley:

   ...[I]t was reported that 170 or 200 rebels were encamped at the head of Spring River, en route for Cassville.
   In regard to the number of troops in Northern Arkansas, he says he had it from good authority that there were only 500 or 600 at Cross Hollows and Cave Hill [i.e. Springs], Benton County. But a body of 5,000 men were at Tilsforth Bend, about 50 miles below Van Bergen [i.e. Van Buren], on the Arkansas river.
   Several secessionists told him that Price's forces at Springfield did not exceed 10,000.
   This gentleman met the scouts of the federal army beyond Lebanon, and other troops at different points this side. - Providence Evening Press, January 27, 1862.

Ozarks of Southwest Missouri

The report that the Missouri State Guard included 10,000 men or less was one of the first to accurately estimate Price's effective strength. Most previous reports had wildly exaggerated the strength of his force.

The citizen did, however, seriously under-estimate the number of Confederates then in Northwest Arkansas. The actual number was closer to 4,000 than the 500-600 he reported, with another few thousand Confederate cavalrymen just across the Boston Mountains in and around Van Buren and Fort Smith.

Such intelligence would continue to come in as both sides prepared for a campaign that would end in early March at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. I will continue posting on the campaign over coming weeks, so be sure to check back often. You can always learn more about the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.