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.

Prairie Grove Battlefield - More on the Right Flank

This view at Prairie Grove Battlefield was taken from the Battlefield Trail looking across the open prairie from the position held by the Confederate cavalry under "Fighting Jo" Shelby on the right flank. The Union troops formed in this prairie and then attacked the Confederate lines.

Shelby's men had brought on the battle by opposing the approach of General F.J. Herron's Union column to the crossing over the Illinois River (off to the right of this photograph). After delaying the Federals for some time, the Confederates under Shelby fell back to this position and formed the right flank of General Thomas Hindman's line on Prairie Grove Ridge.

Shelby's men were heavily engaged in the fighting throughout the day of December 7, 1862, and still held this position when the Battle of Prairie Grove came to an end that evening.

From this point, the Battlefield Trail curves down to the bottom of the ridge and then leads along ground across which the Union forces charged. We'll continue over the next few days with looks at that part of the battlefield, but in the meantime you can explore the Prairie Grove Battlefield in its entirety by going to www.exploresouthernhistory.com. When you get there, just scroll down the page to the Index section and look for the Battle of Prairie link under the "Arkansas" heading.