The Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas - Day One, Part One

Pea Ridge National Military Park

Today marks the 150th Anniversary of the first day of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas.

Also called the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, the engagement at Pea Ridge began when the morning of March 7, 1862, revealed Major General Earl Van Dorn's Confederate army moving in full force around the right flank of Major General Samuel Curtis's entrenched Union army.

Having fought with Federal troops near Bentonville the previous day and then sending part of his force up the Telegraph or Wire Road after them to keep up the impression that he intended a frontal attack on the Union army, Van Dorn moved out on a long, difficult and exhausting night march via a route called the Bentonville Detour. This road passed was a cut-off of sorts that connected Bentonville with the Telegraph Road just north of the Pea Ridge Battlefield.

Gen. Ben McCulloch, CSA

Van Dorn's plan was to strike Curtis on the right flank and rear. The commanding general himself accompanied the division of Major General Sterling Price, which followed the detour all the way around the Union army until it struck the Telegraph Road. In heavy force, Price and his men then began an advance south towards Elkhorn Tavern intending to hit Curtis from behind.

The other division was commanded by Brigadier General Ben McCulloch. He was to hit the right flank of the Union army as Price came down to strike it in the rear. If all went well, Van Dorn would smash Curtis and either force his surrender, put his men into flight into the mountains where they could not be supplied or drive them into Little Sugar Creek, which they were facing.

It didn't go as hoped. The road was long and hard and conditions were bad. The Confederate infantry spent the night trudging through cold mud and shivering in the winter weather of the Ozark Plateau. The supply wagons were far in the rear and as the march continued through the night, the distance between them and the main fighting force grew and grew.

Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA

Sunrise came and Van Dorn was not in position to begin his attack. The Federals observed his troops moving around their right and began to adjust accordingly. Even so, the surprise move almost ended in victory for the Confederates.

Convening a meeting of his officers at the tent of Brigadier General Alexander Asboth, Curtis ordered his commanders to begin a complete change of front of his army. This was a remarkable thing to attempt under any conditions, but with an enemy attack pending it was intensely difficult and dangerous. The Union commander, however, had no choice.

Col. Grenville Dodge, USA

As this meeting was underway, a courier arrived to report that Confederate troops could be seen moving in force along the Ford road to the west. Colonel Peter Osterhaus was ordered to move with his division to probe the movement. As Osterhaus began to move his men to the west in the direction of Leetown, a small community on the battlefield, a second courier arrived to report that a second body of Confederates was moving south in force on the Telegraph Road, aiming for Elkhorn Taver and the Union supply trains.

Colonel Grenville Dodge's brigade was just outside the tent at the time and Curtis order Dodge's commander, Colonel Eugene Carr, to take Dodge's brigade and half the Confederate force advancing down the Telegraph Road. Carr moved out promising the battle would be over in an hour.

Leetown Battlefield at Pea Ridge National Military Park

Osterhaus struck first, engaging the Confederates under McCulloch near Leetown and finding them to be in greatly superior force. Ordering his division forward, McCulloch began to push back the Federals. General Curtis ordered Colonel Jefferson C. Davis (not to be confused with Confederate President Jefferson Davis) to march to the support of Osterhaus and his men.

Almost simultaneously, Price attacked Union forces on the northern end of the battle, deploying his division out on both sides of Telegraph Road and pushing for Elkhorn Tavern. The Battle of Pea Ridge was now underway:

Col. Jefferson C. Davis, USA

...The battle raged...with terrible fury. Colonel Davis held the position against fearful numbers, and our brave troops nobly stood or charged in steady lines. The fate of the battle depended on success agaisnt this flank movement of the enemy [i.e. the movement by McCulloch against the Union right], and here near Leetown was the place to break it down. - Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA, April 1, 1862.

It in the woods and fields near Leetown that disaster struck the Confederate army. Realizing that the Federal forces opposing him were growing in strength, General McCulloch came up to view the Union lines in person before launching a major attack against them when he was shot down. So ended the life of on of the most remarkable men in the history of Texas, the South and the United States.

Gen. James McIntosh, CSA

Command of the division now fell to Brigadier General James McIntosh, but within fifteen minutes he too was shot down just a short distance from where McCulloch had been killed. He died on the battlefield, becoming the first Confederate general from Florida to give his life in the cause of the South.

Colonel Louis Hebert, of Louisiana, now assumed the command and ordered the attack. It went well at first and the Federals were driven back. Smoke, friendly fire and wooded terrain, however, created great confusion in the Confederate ranks and the attack stalled. Hebert became separated from his men and was taken prisoner.

Please click here to continue to The Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas - Day One, Part Two.

You also can read more at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

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.
 

Pea Ridge #10 - The Action near Bentonville, Arkansas

Gen. Alexander Asboth, USA

Having concentrated his main army behind Sugar Creek and pushed back Hebert's men the previous day (see Pea Ridge #9 -The Battle of Dunagin's Farm), Union General Samuel Curtis ordered Brigadier General Alexander Asboth to push forward to Bentonville on February 18, 1862, 150 years ago today.

A former Hungarian freedom fighter and the Chief of Staff who had helped General John C. Fremont organize the Union army to defend Missouri the previous year, Asboth was at his best when operating with cavalry in advance of an army. He moved quickly and efficiently at 9:30 a.m.:

...Following Sugar Creek 4 1/2 miles, I struck the Cassville and Springfield Road (which leaves the Wire road at a point 6 miles behind Sugar Creek Crossing, where the First and Second Divisions were last encamped), and after surprising a dismounted rebel cavalry picket 4 miles this side of Bentonville and taking some of their horses and all their saddles and bridles, I occupied Bentonville at 20 minutes past 12 o'clock. - Gen. Alexander Asboth, USA, February 19, 1862.

Fremont Hussars (Civil War Drawing)

The Action near Bentonville was a quick skirmish. The Union force consisted of the Benton and Fremont Hussars from the Fourth and Fifth Missouri Cavalry Regiments (US) and two pieces of light artillery under Captain Elbert of the First Missouri Flying Battery. Sweeping aside the cavalry picket outside of town, Asboth rolled into Bentonville on horseback to find the town occupied by part of Colonel Frank Rector's Seventeenth Arkansas Infantry (CS).

General Asboth (foreground) and his dog

The Confederates were removing equipment and supplies from Bentonville. There are two versions of what happened next. Major C. Schaeffer Bornstein, Chief of Staff, reported that there was a brief battle::

...After a short engagement the rebels were driven to flight, leaving behind a large amount of provisions, arms, wagons and horses. Besides that, our forces captured a number of prisoners, and took possession of their regimental flag, which they found hoisted at the courthouse. - Major C. Schaeffer Bornstein, USA, March 4, 1862.

 General Asboth reported, however, that there was no resistance in the town:

Civil War map showing Bentonville, Arkansas

...Bentonville was entirely deserted upon our taking possession of it. In a short time, however, we collected from the bushes in its vicinity about 60 men, 32 of whom, being rebel soldiers or taken with arms, I brought in as prisoners.... To the others, sick and wounded and non-combatant inhabitants of the town, I administered the oath of allegiance. - Gen. Alexander Asboth, USA, February 19, 1864.

Asboth reported that the Confederate troops from Bentonville had evacuated their camp there to reinforce the main Southern position at Cross Hollows. After doing some scouting of the area, he returned to the primary Union camps at 7:30 p.m. and presented the captured flag to General Curtis.

The taking of Bentonville with such relative ease convinced General Curtis that he could move a flanking force around to the west from his position at Sugar Creek to force Confederate General Ben McCulloch's main body from its camps at Cross Hollows. McCulloch realized this as well and immediately prepared to evacuate that position and its comfortable winter quarters.

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 regularly. You can always read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

Pea Ridge #9 - The Battle of Dunagin's Farm, Arkansas

Old Wire Road passes Elkhorn Tavern

The Union army continued to push south down the Wire Road on the morning of February 17, 1862, passing through Cassville and into the rolling mountain country south of that city.

The route of Curtis's cavalry took it across the Arkansas state line just north of Elkhorn Tavern and then through the fields and woods that would soon be the scene of the Battle of Pea Ridge. As the mounted forces reached Sugar Creek, they once again encountered stiff resistance from the Confederates, this time under the command of Colonel Louis Hebert of Louisiana.

Col. Louis Hebert, CSA

Pushing up to the creek and forming for the attack, Wright's Battalion of Missouri Cavalry and McConnell's Battalion of the 3rd Illinois Cavalry drove forward on the Wire Road and into the teeth of a Confederate crossfire:

...Colonel Ellis, leading the charge, took the road and received a heavy cross-fire from the enemy. As I approached, I discovered a heavy column of the enemy on either side of the road. I at once deployed my battalion to the right and charged their lines. Major McConnell went to the left. For a few minutes the fight was well contested on the right, the heavy timber and dense underbrush affording good coverage for the enemy. I ordered a saber charge after firing our carbines and pistols, but soon found that the brush was too dense to make it rapid enough. - Lt. Col. Clark Wright, Clark's Battalion, February 17, 1862.

Aerial View of Dunigan's Farm Battlefield

 

Unable to cut through the Confederate resistance with sabers, Lt. Col. Wright ordered his men to return sabers and shift to their carbines. This tactic work and his battalion pushed forward, focing the Southern left from its position in the brush and into open ground beyond. This accomplished, Wright's Missourians fell back about 200 yards and reformed. Their loss was 1 killed and 3 wounded.

Curtis reported that the battle had been opened with artillery fire by the Confederates, to which his own cannon had replied, but that the cavalry charge succeeded in driving the Southern defenders from their high ground. He did not attempt to estimate Southern losses, but reported his own total losses in the fight as 13 killed and 15-20 wounded:

USGS Topo Map of Dunigan's Farm Battlefield

...My advance encamped on the battle ground. General Sigel's command is 4 miles back and will reach me this morning. Have sent cavalry forward to annoy and explore. Cross Hollow is their next point, 12 miles ahead. I shall also await the arrive of the First and Second Divisions, as this is their great boasted trap for the Federal Army. - Samuel R. Curtis, February 18, 1862.

The Battle of Dunigan's Farm is also known as the Battle of Battle of Little Sugar Creek. The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas named it one of its Most Endangered Places for 2011. Please click here to read their comments.

 An important delaying action of the Pea Ridge Campaign, the stand by Hebert at Dunigan's Farm gave Price time to fully extract his Missouri State Guard from danger and reach the reinforcements waiting in Northwest Arkansas under General Ben McCulloch.

I will continue posting on the 150th Anniversary of the Pea Ridge Campaign over coming days, so be sure to check back regularly. You can read more about the Battle of Pea Ridge anytime 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.

View Larger Map

January 1862 - Prelude to Pea Ridge

Pea Ridge National Military Park

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, not just one of the largest battles west of the Mississippi, but one of the most significant actions of the entire Civil War.
As part of the commemoration of this battle that preserved Missouri for the Union, I will be posting throughout January, February and March on the Pea Ridge campaign, using as often as possible the words of the soldiers, generals and civilians that witnessed it. Be sure to check back regularly for the latest posts.

Curtis

To try to set the stage as well as I can, the Pea Ridge Campaign began to develop in January of 1862 as two armies began to assemble for battle. The Union army, commanded by Gen. Samuel Curtis, was centered at Rolla, Missouri, a town about 112 miles northeast of Springfield. Curtis was determined to drive Confederate forces, particularly the Missouri State Guard under Gen. Sterling Price, from Missouri and fully establish control over the state, which was very divided in its loyalties.

The Confederates, in turn, were equally determined not only to hold at least part of Missouri if possible, but to stop Curtis from advancing into Arkansas. In mid-January of 1862, however, their forces were scattered and had yet to assemble for battle. The Missouri State Guard, under Price, was clinging to its position at Springfield, Missouri. Gen. Price knew, however, that he could not hold there against Curtis's much larger army.

Price

The Missouri general for more than one month had been begging for help from Arkansas. A force of 3,000-4,000 Confederates were centered around Fayetteville in Northwest Arkansas under Gen. Ben McCulloch. Unfortunately, Price and McCulloch did not get along. Not only would the latter general not reinforce Price, he had gone to Richmond to discuss the situation with officials there, leaving Col. Louis Hebert of Louisiana in command. Hebert promised Price that he would reinforce him in an emergency and did his best to get supplies through to the State Guard, but otherwise maintained his force in its winter quarters around Fayetteville.

To the south in the Arkansas River valley, Gen. James McIntosh commanded a large cavalry force that was wintering around Van Burn and Fort Smith. He had declined a request from Price for help in December and gone instead to support Col. D.H. Cooper in the Cherokee Nation where he had won the Battle of Chustenahlah several weeks earlier.

Van Dorn

To try to end the confusion and bickering in the West, President Jefferson Davis appointed Major General Earl Van Dorn as head of what he would style the "Army of the West." Van Dorn was not yet on the scene in mid-January, but was heading that way. He was not thinking of just halting Curtis, he had dreams of a major offensive campaign. He told his wife on the day of his appointment that he "must have St. Louis."

To Van Dorn would fall the task of pulling together the three major Confederate forces then assembled in Missouri and Arkansas and leading them into battle. He would receive support from Gen. Albert Pike's brigade of Southern-allied Indian troops.

I will continue to post on the Pea Ridge Campaign throughout the coming weeks. To read more about the battle itself, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

The Confederate Army in Northwest Arkansas - January 1862

Col. Louis Hebert
3rd Louisiana Infantry Regiment

January of 1862 (150 years ago) found Northwest Arkansas under the command of Colonel Louis Hebert of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry.

General Ben McCulloch had gone to Richmond leaving Hebert in charge of the small army of around 4,000 men in Northwest Arkansas. From his headquarters at Fayetteville, Hebert reported in January that his men were in winter quarters. His cavalry, he noted, was in bad condition due to sickness. Subsequent Union reports would indicate that he did a good job of overseeing the hospitals of his command and that they were well equipped with mattresses, etc.

To the north of Hebert, General Sterling Price still held Springfield but was growing extremely concerned about the advancing Federal forces of General Samuel Curtis. The Union commander was determined to drive Price out of Missouri and into Arkansas. A critical situation was developing in the Trans-Mississippi and everyone there knew it.

Headquarter's House
A surviving war era home in Fayetteville, Arkansas

According to Hebert, large wagon trains carrying supplies were moving north across the Boston Mountains from Fort Smith during January, supplies that were desperately needed by Price's "Missouri State Guard." Because of the condition of his cavalry, he asked Price to send mounted troops to escort the supply trains from Northwest Arkansas north to Springfield. He also notified Price that he was prepared to move to his support should the Federal army begin moving on Springfield from Rolla, Missouri.

The stage was being set for two great armies to meet on the Ozark Plateau at a place called Pea Ridge. Price and Hebert would figure prominently in the coming battle, as would the Union commander General Curtis. The fight was just seven weeks away.

I will continue posting on the events leading up to the Battle of Pea Ridge over coming days, so be sure to check back regularly. You can also learn more about the battle by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.