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.

The Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas

This week marks the 148th anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. This massive engagement was found across thousands of acres of beautiful Ozark Plateau countryside in Northwest Arkansas on March 7-8, 1865.

Also called the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, the Battle of Pea Ridge was one of the largest battles ever fought west of the Mississippi River and was also one of the largest battles of the first year of the Civil War. The site today is preserved at Pea Ridge National Military Park, an outstanding national park area in Benton County, Arkansas.

Beginning tomorrow, we will begin a multi-part series on the Battle of Pea Ridge. We will look at the strategy and tactics of the battle and share photographs of the battlefield as it appears today. Until then, if you would like to read more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pearidgeindex.

The Boston Mountains, Part Two

Continuing our look at the Boston Mountains of Arkansas, this view looks from a ridge across the valley of Cove Creek.

A major Civil War landmark, Cove Creek flows south through the Boston Mountains from the Ozark Plateau of Washington and Benton Counties into Crawford County on the Arkansas River. It merges with Lee Creek in northern Crawford County and flows into the Arkansas River at Van Buren.

The valley provided a natural route through the mountains for the movement of large bodies of troops. Confederate troops followed Cove Creek on numerous occasions, most notably during the days leading up to the Battle of Prairie Grove. Federal troops, in turn, used the valley to move south prior to the fights at Dripping Springs and Van Buren.

Prairie Grove Battlefield - Ozarks Village

The first section of the Battlefield Trail at Prairie Grove Battlefield passes through a fascinating collection of historic structures saved from locations around the Ozark Plateau. None of these buildings were originally on the battlefield, but they were saved by the community and relocated to the site to provide visitors with a good understanding of the normal homes, churches and schools in the region during the Civil War. Beautifully restored and maintained, the village represents one of the few places that life in the Ozarks as it was lived during the 1860s can still be experienced.

The village area does not intrude on the primary battlefield and provides an interesting step back in time for visitors as they leave the modern park facilities around the visitor center and begin their walk through the battlefield.

We will continue our look at Prairie Grove over the next few days with more photographs and postings. In the meantime, visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com for more information on the battlefield. Just scroll down the page to the index and you will see the link under the "Arkansas" heading.