Pea Ridge #11 - The Burning of Camp Benjamin

Gen. Ben McCulloch, CSA

Aware now that his camps at Cross Hollow could not be defended, Confederate General Ben McCulloch ordered them destroyed.

Some of the finest winter quarters of the Civil War went up in smoke and flame as McCulloch's men pulled out to withdraw into the Boston Mountains. General Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard had already pushed into the mountains.

To protect the rear of his withdrawing column and carry out the destruction, McCulloch had cavalry cross the mountains from their winter camps in the Arkansas River Valley. Among the units that came over was the Sixth Texas, which reached Camp Benjamin 150 years ago today. The troopers saw to the destruction of the solid cabins that had once sheltered Colonel Louis Hebert's men:

...I was detailed to destroy the winter quarters in the vicinity of Cross Hollow and to bring up and protect the rear of the army, which was then falling back on Boston Mountains. As the thick, curling volumes of smoke and lurid glare of flame arose from Camp Benjamin my troops doggedly turned to the duty of rear guard for the army, and maintained this position until we were encamped upon the mountain. - Unidentified Member of Sixth Texas Cavalry, 1862.

Dripping Springs, Arkansas

Following the Wire and other roads south through the mountains, the Confederates fell back to the area around Dripping Springs in Crawford County. The cavalry blocked the passes into the mountains.

The movement put the forces under McCulloch and Price into positions they could easily defend. This gave them time to halt, rest, resupply and organize. McCulloch and Price had feuded quite a bit the previous year, but now they were forced to come together for the sake of their common cause. 

The Federals did not try to follow the Confederates into the mountains, but would advance as far south as Fayetteville in coming days. Their long advance, however, was all but over. The initiative would now turn to the Southern army and its new commander, General Earl Van Dorn.

I will continue to post on the 150th anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over the next few weeks, so be sure to check back regularly. You can also learn more about the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.
 

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.

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