147th Anniversary of the Battle of Prairie Grove

It was 147 years ago today that one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. history was fought at Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

Pushing up Cove Creek valley, the Confederate Major General Thomas C. Hindman emerged from the Boston Mountains with an army of 9,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 22 pieces of artillery. Hindman knew the two wings of the Union Army of the Frontier were divided and he hoped he could attack with a superior force and destroy one and then the other in detail. If not for a herculean march by the wing of the army under Brigadier General Francis J. Herron, the Confederates might well have succeeded.

The Confederates came out of the mountains and struck the road connecting the Northwest Arkansas towns of Fayetteville and Cane Hill only to find that, recognizing the nature of the crisis at hand, General Herron had rushed his men south in an effort to link up with the other wing of the army under Brigadier General James G. Blunt. Although Herron did not reach Blunt in time for the start of the battle, he was close enough that Hindman quickly found himself between two converging Federal forces.

After some initial fighting with Herron's forces, Hindman recognized the situation for what it was and took up a strong position along a commanding ridge at the site of today's town of Prairie Grove. The Confederate battle lines stretched for miles and ultimately came under attack from the full force of the Union army.

For most of December 7, 1862, the two armies fought it out along the Prairie Grove ridge. By the time darkness fell, they had battled to a bloody tactical stalemate. Neither army could drive the other off, but Hindman did not have the ammunition and supplies he needed to fight another day against the combined Federal forces and withdrew back into the mountains under cover of darkness.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasPG1. I also recommend William Shea's new book on the Prairie Grove campaign, Fields of Blood, which is also available by following the link.

Prairie Grove Battlefield to host Christmas Open House

Historic Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Northwest Arkansas plans to commemorate both the Christmas season and the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Prairie Grove with special events next weekend, December 5 & 6.

Hindman Hall Museum will be open for free on both Saturday, December 5th, and Sunday, December 6th. Visitors will also be able to watch reenactors perform infantry drills Saturday and see demonstrations of cooking, spinning weaving, lace-making and more. Tours of the historic Latta and Morrow houses will be given on both days at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. The restored houses are decorated for Christmas in Civil War fashion.

The Battle of Prairie Grove was fought on December 7, 1862, at the climax of Confederate General Thomas Hindman's march north into the Ozarks. A tactical draw, the brutal fighting became a significant Union strategic victory when Hindman was forced to admit he could not defeat Federal forces with the number of troops and ammunition at his disposal.

The battlefield is located in the heart of the town of Prairie Grove, just west of Fayetteville in Northwest Arkansas.

To learn more about the battle, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasPG1.

Did the White River Monster sink a Gunboat?

I've been doing some research recently into historical accounts of the White River Monster, the strange creature that some claim inhabits the White River in the vicinity of Newport and Jacksonport, Arkansas.

One of the notations I've seen regarding the monster is that it may have been responsible for the sinking of a gunboat on the river during the Civil War. Obviously, I have not found any mention of this in the Official Records set. But I am curious as to the origin of the claim. If you have any clue on this one, drop me a comment and let me know!

If you aren't familiar with the White River Monster, it is a fun and unique part of Arkansas history and folklore. As best I can tell, the first written report of something strange in the White River appeared in 1912 when a party of timber workers spotted what they described as a giant turtle in the river downstream from Branson, Missouri. They at first thought it was a boulder, but then realized it was a living creature. Its weight was estimated at 300 pounds! The report generated quite a buzz in Branson and a group of sportsmen set out downstream in boats with ropes and other tools in hopes of catching what was already being described as "the monster." The results of the expedition are not known.

There were other reports over the next 15 years, but then in 1937 the story exploded into the national media. A farmer reported that he and his farm workers had seen some kind of huge creature in a deep eddy about 6 miles downstream from Newport, Arkansas. The Newport Chamber of Commerce got in on the act and spread the story to newspapers far and wide. Hundreds of people flooded to the town, some from as far away as California, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the White River Monster. The chamber gave them the chance - for 25 cents a piece - and even hired a diver to come in from Memphis and search the river. He had no luck in finding the answer to the mystery.

The monster continued to pop up now and again over the years, but the next big splash of publicity was in 1971 when, once again after a time of high water, numerous people reported seeing it.

If you are interested in learning more and seeing a possible photograph of the monster, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/whiteriver1.

New Prairie Grove Book to be Released on Saturday

William L. Shea's long-awaited new history of the Prairie Grove campaign is expected to be released this Saturday.

Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign is 392 pages long and is being published by the University of North Carolina. The research and writing of the book has been underway for a number of years and it sounds like this one will be as thorough and enjoyable as Shea's earlier history of the Battle of Pea Ridge.

The Battle of Prairie Grove was fought in Northwest Arkansas on December 7, 1862, and ended in a tactical draw. Union and Confederate forces battled to a bloody standstill along and in the fields below a ridge at today's town of Prairie Grove. The Confederate forces had no choice but to withdraw before the battle could resume the next day, however, and as a result the campaign was won by the Union.

The book will retail for $36 beginning Saturday, but you can still save $11.90 and buy a copy for just $23.10 if you place an advance order on Thursday or Friday. After the 23rd of October, however, purchases will cost full price.

If you would like to learn more about the Battle of Prairie Grove or place an advance order while there is still time, you can do so at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasPG1.

Scenic Highway 7 Named one of Nation's Best Fall Drives

Scenic Highway 7, which leads from Louisiana all the way up through Arkansas to near the Missouri line, was listed in a report on Yahoo this week as one of the best drives in America for seeing fall colors.

Sometimes I agree with these lists and sometimes I don't, but in this case they definitely hit the nail on the head. Scenic 7 is one of the most beautiful drives in America. It also passes numerous historic sites and sections of it figure prominently in the Civil War history of Arkansas.

The section of the highway that leads through Hot Springs, for example, follows the same route that General Thayer's troops followed in 1864 as they marched south from Fort Smith to join in the Red River Campaign. Soldiers taking part in this march described passing the famed Hot Springs of the Ouachita and noted how the area, already a popular resort by that time, had been abandoned due to the war.

The drive crosses the Arkansas River at Dardanelle, scene of heavy fighting during the war. From there it leads north into the Ozarks, which were the domain of the guerrilla bands and "mountain Feds." The drive provides a great chance to see the scenery where these groups hid out and operated during the Civil War.

To learn more about the drive itself, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/scenic7.

Massard Prairie & The Attack on Fort Smith - Concluded

The Battle of Massard Prairie and the related attack on Fort Smith a few days later achieved remarkable results for small encounters.

In addition to killing or wounding around 40 Union soldiers, the Confederates also captured around 120 more. The Federal garrison at Fort Smith had been deprived of the equivalent of two full companies of trained and battle-hardened cavalry. At Massard Prairie, Gano's men also took away 200 Sharps rifles, 400 revolvers, horses, camp equipment and more. During the demonstration on Fort Smith four days later they captured another $200,000 worth of Union supplies, a herd of cattle, horses and more.

As impressive as these results were for small actions, they opened the door for something much more dramatic - the Cabin Creek raid.

General Thayer's monthly report conjectured that Cooper's goal had been "to hold this force here and also to make raids between here and (Fort) Gibson." He was more right than he knew. The attacks drove most of the Federals into the works of the Fort Smith and just two weeks later Gano and Watie struck north across the Arkansas River, wiped out a Union force protecting a hay-cutting party, and then drove north toward the supply road connecting Fort Gibson with the Federal posts in Kansas.

On September 19, 1864, they stunned a major Union supply train of 300 wagons and 1,800 horses and mules at Cabin Creek in the Cherokee Nation. Scattering and destroying what they couldn't carry away, the Confederates returned to headquarters with 130 wagons loaded with supplies and 740 mules. It was one of the greatest supply captures of the Civil War and resulted in the passage of commendations to Gano, Watie and their men by the Confederate Congress in Richmond.

Combined with the captures at Fort Smith, in just three weeks the Confederate forces had inflicted more than $2,000,000 in damage to the Union war effort in the West. By any measure, it was a dramatic accomplishment that began on July 27, 1864, with the Battle of Massard Prairie.

Please click here to learn more about the Battle of Massard Prairie and also consider the book, The Battle of Massard Prairie, available through www.amazon.com.

Massard Prairie, Part Four - The Attack on Fort Smith, continued...

The halt by Confederate troops to collect supplies, arms and food abandoned by the retreating Federals gave the Union forces in Fort Smith time to the attack.

Rallying on the hill around Fort No. 2, the Federals reorganized and - with reinforcements coming up from the main garrison - moved forward to renew the fight. Advancing to a hill about one mile south of the fort, a section of the 2nd Kansas Battery took up a position from which it could fire on Watie's Confederates. Two companies from the 1st Kansas Infantry (Colored) moved up in support of the battery. The entire operation was carried out under fire from the Confederate guns on the next hilltop south.

One of the Confederate shells exploded near Colonel Judson of the 6th Kansas Cavalry, a fragment wounding him in the left leg. Despite his injuries, however, the colonel remained on the field for the rest of the fight.

The four Union cannon were of better quality and range than the Confederate guns and this superiority soon began to tell. Unwilling to sacrifice his own cannon for the sake of a demonstration, General Cooper ordered the Southern howitzers to pull back. As they were doing so, a Union shell exploded directly over the Confederate battery teams, killing 3 men and wounding another. A second shot decapitated one of General Gano's men. After completing his work on Massard Prairie, Gano had come across the ridge to join the fight.

The effectiveness and range of the Federal artillery convinced Cooper to end his demonstration and pull back. Leaving sharpshooters from his Native American units to hover around the edges of Fort Smith, he effectively pinned the Union troops in position while he withdrew the main body.

Losses in the fight had been relatively light considering the sizes of the two forces engaged. The Confederates suffered one killed, one mortally wounded and five wounded. Union forces lost 11 men killed and wounded, at least one of them killed.

With minimal losses, Cooper was able to achieve his goal of giving pro-Southern families in the area a chance to evacuate. Several moved out under the cover of his troops. His men also inflicted terror on pro-Union families living on the battlefield, burning their homes and carrying away livestock and supplies.

As the Confederates pulled back from the edges of Fort Smith, they heard the sounds of heavy artillery fire coming from the main fort. They later learned that Captain Gunter and his Cherokee troops were amusing themselves by firing into the fort from the cover of trees across the Poteau River. The Federals responded by rolling cannon out of the fort and firing at the smoke of the Cherokee rifles. The Indian soldiers simply changed positions and continued their sniping, leading to more artillery fire. Otherwise, though, the Massard Prairie expedition was over.

I'll look closer at the results of the attacks in the next post. Until then you can learn more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardindex or by reading The Battle of Massard Prairie, available for either at the upper right of this page or at www.amazon.com.

Battle of Massard Prairie, Part Three - The Attack on Fort Smith

The stunning success of Gano's attack on the 6th Kansas Cavalry at Massard Prairie awakened the Confederates to the potential of additional attacks on the Union forces at Fort Smith.

Anxious to inflict additional damage, capture more supplies and create an opportunity for pro-secession families in the area to evacuate, the Southern commanders contemplated the situation and decided to try a second attack. Commanded in person by General Douglas H. Cooper, the Confederate troops moved up to Cedar Prairie on the Fort Towson Road due south of Fort Smith.

While Cooper believed that he might be able to break through the defenses of Fort Smith, he also recognized that doing so would result in severe casualties to his own command. Instead of attempting such an attack, he decided instead to send troops to demonstrate against the southern edges of Fort Smith from all directions. Gano was sent to occupy a position on the mountain overlooking Massard Prairie (today's Fianna Hills subdivision). From there he sent Lieutenant Colonel Jack McCurtain down onto the prairie with his force of Choctaw soldiers. McCurtain found the former camp of the 6th Kansas now abandoned, but did manage to captured a few horses, a drove of cattle and 11 Union soldiers.

At the same time, the 2nd Creek Regiment and a few Cherokee soldiers were sent up into the Poteau Bottom opposite the Poteau River from the main garrison of Fort Smith. Taking up positions along the bank, they fired across into the garrison, creating "great excitement and some consternation."

As these activities were underway, Cooper advanced up the Fort Towson (today's Towson Avenue) and State Line Roads toward the Federal positions along the south side of Fort Smith. The historic city had been enclosed with a semi-circular line of rifle pits that connected strong redoubts or forts placed on high points around the city. One of these, Battery Number Four, stood on the high hill near today's intersection of Towson and Dodson Avenues. Because the fort was manned by African American troops, the hill was described in Confederate reports as "Negro Hill." The photo above was taken from a position near the site of Battery Number 4 at the top of the hill looking south down Towson Avenue, the route by which part of Cooper's force attacked.

Advancing on the morning of July 31, 1864, Cooper's forces overran a Union picket camp about 4 1/2 miles south of town and continued to drive up the parallel roads toward Battery Number Four.

Led by Brigadier General Stand Watie, the Confederate advance struck hard and fast, quickly closing in on the Union lines. Overrunning a Union camp and driving the Federals to their entrenchments, Watie and his men fell back to the camp they had captured where they sat down and enjoyed a "plentiful dinner" just prepared by the Union soldiers. They also captured a vast supply of camp equipment and other supplies, the value of which was estimated by General Cooper to be in excess of $130,000.

To support the attack, Cooper ordered forward two batteries of light artillery to take position on a hill overlooking the camp captured by General Watie and facing the hill topped by Battery Number Four. Wells' Texas Battalion, the Choctaw Brigade and the 1st Creek Regiment were ordered forward to support the guns.

I'll continue with more on Cooper and Watie's attack on Fort Smith in the next post. You can always read more on the Battle of Massard Prairie by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Battle of Massard Prairie - Part Two

The Confederates attacked the Union camp on Massard Prairie in three columns.

The first, composed primarily of Choctaw and Chickasaw soldiers, swung off to the right and closed in on the left flank of the camp. As these soldiers advanced, they also captured a Confederate deserter at a home just south of the battlefield and summarily executed him.

The second and third columns advanced together in a sweeping motion to the left. They quickly captured the herd of horses being grazed by the Federals on the prairie and then approached the camp itself. As they came within range of the grove of trees sheltering the camp, the third column broke away from the second and moved into a center position between the two flanking columns. All three forces then advanced on the camp.

As they approached, one group of Union soldiers came out to fight the advancing Confederate left column, but soon withdrew back to the camp itself where a line of battle was formed through the tents and parade ground. The Federals fought bravely, but the effort was hopeless. They were both outnumbered and taken by surprise.

As the Confederates moved to completely surround them, they broke and began to fall back across the open prairie. The battle deteriorated into a running fight that continued for more than a mile until the last organized contingent of Union troops were finally convinced to surrender. In a battle lasting just minutes, Gano had not only carried out a sweeping triple movement, he had led charging soldiers on horseback across miles of open prairie. An entire battalion of the 6th Kansas Cavalry was either killed, wounded or, with a few exceptions, captured.

Moving out the prisoners as quickly as possible, the Confederates returned to the Union camp where they collected weapons, provisions, camp equipment and every other needed item they could carry away on horseback. The rest was burned.

The Confederates then withdrew leisurely within sight of Union reinforcements that were gathering on the opposite side of the prairie. Total Southern losses at Massard Prairie were 7 killed, 26 wounded and one missing. Total Union losses were 10 killed, 17 wounded and 117 captured. In addition, the Southern forces captured 200 Sharps rifles and 400 revolvers.

In the next post, I'll take a closer look at a second Confederate attack on Fort Smith that followed closely on the heels of the fight.

To learn more about the Battle of Massard Prairie, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardprairie.

Battle of Massard Prairie Anniversary - Part One

Today marks the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas.

Fought in the southeast quadrant of the modern city of Fort Smith, the battle was part of an important campaign launched by Confederate troops during the summer of 1864. Victory in the Red River Campaign allowed Southern forces to surge back north through the Ouachita Mountains and the Choctaw Nation to establish themselves once again along the line of the Arkansas River.

After successfully capturing a steamboat making its way upriver from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson and striking at Union forces around Roseville and at other points below Fort Smith, the Confederate General Douglas Cooper focused his attention on the main Union garrison.

Federal troops and local citizens had spent the spring and summer strongly fortifying the town of Fort Smith with an semi-circular line of earthwork forts, batteries and rifle pits that ran from the Arkansas River above the town, around the ridges to its rear and back to the river below. In addition, Union soldiers occupied the main garrison of Fort Smith itself, protected by earth reinforced stone walls.

Cooper felt that he could probably take Fort Smith by storming the Federal lines, but also recognized that it that such an attack would be result in a terrible casualty rate to his forces. Instead, he opted to carry out a series of attacks designed to drive Union troops entirely within their works and eliminate their ability to effectively scout or secure forage for their animals. His strategy proved highly effective and opened the door for the dramatic Confederate sweep north through the Cherokee Nation that resulted in the massive victory at Cabin Creek, regarded as one of the greatest seizures of Union supplies by Southern forces during the entire war.

To put his plan into motion, Cooper sent Brigadier General Richard Gano forward from a base in what is now eastern Oklahoma with a mixed force of both white and Native American cavalry. The initial plan was for Gano to decoy Union troops from Fort Smith out and into an ambush at the Devil's Backbone, a substantial ridge that ran east to west across the horizon south of the city. Gano, an outstanding cavalry commander who had earlier served with the famed Morgan in Kentucky and Tennessee, was forced to change the plan when his force proved smaller than expected and the positions of the Federal troops around Fort Smith were different than expected.

Instead, he learned from scouts that a large force of Union cavalry was camped in the Diamond or Picnic Grove on Massard Prairie. Then a vast open prairie just southeast of the city, Massard Prairie offered outstanding grazing for Union livestock and the shaded grove was a comfortable campsite for Union troops. Camped there in a semi-permanent position were four companies of the 6th Kansas Cavalry and three companies of "Arkansas Feds."

Believing that he could strike and destroy this force, Gano moved into position south of Fort Smith during the night of July 26, 1864, and on the morning of July 27th swept down from what is today recognized as the Fianna Hills neighborhood in one of the great open field cavalry charges of the Civil War. The Union troops were caught completely by surprise.

I will continue to look at the Battle of Massard Prairie in the next couple of posts. Until then, you can read more by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardindex or by ordering my 2008 book, The Battle of Massard Prairie. It is available from www.amazon.com or can be purchased at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in Northwest Arkansas. The Fort Smith Museum of History is temporarily sold out, but will have more soon.

Battle of Massard Prairie Anniversary is Monday

Monday, July 27th, is the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Massard Prairie, Arkansas.

Fought on a broad prairie that was then on the outskirts of the important western Arkansas city of Fort Smith, the battle involved one of the last great open field cavalry charges in American history. It also marked one of the few occasions during the war that Union soldiers were documented as having scalped and mutilated Confederate dead.

The battle took place when a large Confederate force commanded by Brigadier General Richard L. Gano, who previously had served as an officer under the noted Southern cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan, stormed down from today's Fianna Hills ridge and swept across the open ground of Massard Prairie. The dramatic open field charge caught a full battalion of the 6th Kansas Cavalry and several companies of Union cavalry from Arkansas completely by surprise.

The Arkansas Feds, as they were called then, fled precipitately ahead of Gano's charge, but the troopers of the 6th Kansas tried to make a stand. Quickly surrounded, they bolted to the north in a dramatic effort to escape. The fight continued for nearly two miles across the open prairie before the main body of the Union troops surrendered. Virtually an entire battalion from the 6th Kansas Cavalry was captured, killed, wounded or scattered.

I'll take a closer look at some of the more interesting aspects of the battle over the next couple of days, but if you would like to read more, please consider my book The Battle of Massard Prairie. You can also order at www.amazon.com or learn more about the battle by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/massardindex.

If you are in the area, this weekend would be a great time to take a few minutes and walk the battlefield at Massard Prairie Battlefield Park, located near the intersection of Morgan and Red Pine in Fort Smith.

New Exhibit on CSS Arkansas in Little Rock

The Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in Little Rock has announced a new exhibit on one of the most famous ironclads of the Civil War, the C.S.S. Arkansas. This photo shows a section of replica armor from the exhibit.

Built on the Yazoo River in Mississippi in remarkable time, the Arkansas was a makeshift ironclad plated with railroad track. Despite the conditions under which she was built, the lack of materials available to her builders, and the overall "ramshackle" nature of the project, she was one of the most successful ironclads launched by the Confederacy.

Here is the official press release from the museum:

Nearly 150 years ago, in the spring of 1862, a warship was being built in a makeshift shipyard in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Her armor, pieces of railroad track, had to be pulled out of the river where they had sunk. Unpainted, the rusted rails gave the vessel her only color.

This new ship fought not one, but three battles in a single day, one against an entire enemy fleet. Afterward, her captain would write, “We stood for them, fought them, ran by them at pistol-shot distance…and I think, did much injury…”

150 years ago, one ship thwarted the ambitions of not one, but two enemy fleets. One ship returned 400 miles of river to friendly control.

The ship? The Ironclad Ram CSS Arkansas.

Learn about this one-of-a-kind vessel, built under the direst circumstances imaginable. Touch replicas of her armor, see her weaponry, and read about her short career by visiting the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum (AIMM) and touring their new exhibit, “We Fought Them” – The Ironclad CSS Arkansas. This exhibit will also feature artwork loaned to the museum by artist Dan Dowdey and never before exhibited to the public.

AIMM is located just blocks from both Verizon Arena and Dickey-Stephens Park in downtown North Little Rock and short walk across the Junction Bridge from the Riverwalk in downtown Little Rock. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday. For more information call the museum at 371-8320 or visit http://www.aimm.museum/.

Beaver Bridge marks important Civil War crossing site

Sometimes called the "Little Golden Gate" of Arkansas because of its similarity to its better known California cousin, the historic Beaver Bridge over the White River marks the site of an important crossing in use long before the Civil War.

The existing bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the last suspension bridge of its type in Arkansas. Built in 1949, it is located on Arkansas Highway 187 about 6.6 miles northwest of Eureka Springs. Only wide enough for traffic to move in one direction at a time, the bridge still has wooden floors and rails.

The little community of Beaver, which overlooks the bridge, has fewer than 100 residents but is picturesque and extremely rich in Arkansas history. It was one of the settings for the made for television epic, The Blue and the Gray.

Beaver gained its unique name in 1850 when Wilson A. Beaver moved his family there from Tennessee. He operated a ferry, mill, inn and other establishments for many years. The crossing, in fact, had numerous brushes with American history.

In 1857, for example, the Fancher wagon train crossed the White River here on its way from Arkansas to what its members thought would be prosperous new lives in California. Instead, they were brutally murdered in Utah at what became known as the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

In 1862, local tradition holds that General Sterling Price stopped at the Beaver home following the disastrous Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Both Union and Confederate forces passed back and forth through the area for the rest of the war, as did the notorious guerrilla gangs that hid out deep in the Ozarks.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/beaverbridge.

General Francis L. Shoup at Prairie Grove

One of the more fascinating participants in the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, was Brigadier General Francis A. Shoup.

A native of Indiana, Shoup was Northern born and raised. He was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from Indiana and graduated 15th in the Class of 1854. He served in Florida's Third Seminole War from 1856-1858, chasing small bands of Seminole warriors through the great swamps of South Florida.

By 1860 Shoup had resigned his commission and was back in Indiana. When he learned of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, he formed a company of Zoaves in Indianapolis to defend against possible abolitionist insurrections. When the secession of the Southern states became evident, however, Shoup resigned from the Indianapolis company and walked away from his Indiana friends and family to offer his sword to the Governor of Florida. Moving to St. Augustine, he was appointed a lieutenant by the governor and ordered to erect an artillery battery at Fernandina, Florida. He was soon commissioned into the regular Confederate military.

By October of 1861, he was promoted to Major and served in Kentucky as commander of twelve pieces of artillery with a force of Arkansas troops. At the Battle of Shiloh, he commanded artillery and was the officer that massed the Confederate artillery against Union General Prentiss's troops in one of of the most brutal open field bombardments of the war.

After Shiloh, Shoup was ordered west to Arkansas where Major General Hindman was organizing a new army. Promoted to Brigadier General, he served as Hindman's Chief of Artillery and was on the field at the Battle of Prairie Grove.

After Prairie Grove, Shoup was ordered to Mobile, Alabama, but was in Missisippi for the Battle of Vicksburg, where he was among those captured on July 4, 1863. Eventually exchanged, he served during the Atlanta Campaign and was among those who urged the Confederate Congress to allow the enlistment of slaves in the Confederate Army.

After the war, Shoup entered the ministry with the Episcopal Church and eventually became a professor of metaphysics at the University of the South in Tennessee. He authored books on infantry tactics and algebra.

To learn more about the Battle of Prairie Grove, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasPG1.

Ozark, Arkansas - Civil War Landmark

One of my favorite communities in Arkansas is the beautiful city of Ozark. Nestled on the banks of the Arkansas River, the community has a rich history that dates back for hundreds of years.

French fur trappers and hunters frequented this area during the 1600s and 1700s. In fact, it is believed that today's "Ozark" originated from the French term "Aux Arc" ("The Arc"). The term is thought by some to refer to the sweeping bend of the Arkansas River where Ozark is located. It has grown to apply not just to the vicinity, but to the entire mountainous region known today as the Ozarks.

During the Civil War, Ozark was an important base of operations for Confederate troops following the Battle of Prairie Grove. General W.L. Cabell marched from Ozark in April of 1863 on his way to the Battle of Fayetteville. Today's Pig Trail Scenic Byway follows part of the old road that led north through the mountains from Ozark to Fayetteville.

Several small engagements were fought at Ozark during the last two years of the Civil War and a monument on the grounds of the courthouse pays tribute to a Confederate officer who was killed just north of town.

The area was also frequented by guerrilla bands that hid out in the mountains just north of town. These groups, some associated with the Confederates, some associated with the Federals and some worried only about themselves, terrorized local citizens both during and after the war.

Ozark today is a beautiful community. Overlooking the river, the city's museum includes fascinating exhibits on area history. It is also a stop on the water route of the Trail of Tears. There are historic structures, a nice collection of monuments on the grounds of the courthouse, and the Arkansas River bridge at Ozark offers what has been named one of the finest views in the country. And by the way, Rivertowne BBQ in downtown Ozark cooks up some of the finest BBQ in the South. To learn more about Ozark, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ozark.