The Pea Ridge Campaign
By
Franz Sigel, Major-General, U.S.V.

THE battle of Pea Ridge (or Elkhorn Tavern, as the Confederates named it) was
fought on the 7th and 8th of March, 1862, one month before the battle of Shiloh. It
was the first clear and decisive victory gained by the North in a pitched battle west of
the Mississippi River, and until Prices' invasion of 1864 the last effort of the South to
carry the war into the State of Missouri, except by abortive raids. Since the outbreak of
the rebellion, Missouri, as a border and slave State, had represented all the evils of a
bitter civil strife. The opening events had been the protection of the St. Louis arsenal,
the capture of Camp Jackson, the minor engagements at Boonville and Carthage, the
sanguinary struggle at Wilson's Creek on the 10th of August, forever memorable by
the heroic death of General Lyon. The retreat of our little army of about 4500 men to
Rolla, after that battle, ended the first campaign and gave General Sterling Price, the
military leader of the secessionist forces of Missouri, the opportunity of taking
possession of Springfield, the largest city and central point of south-west Missouri,
and of advancing with a promiscuous host of over 15,000 men as far as Lexington, on
the Missouri River, which was gallantly defended for three days by Colonel Mulligan.
Meanwhile, General Fremont, who on the 25th of July had been placed in command of
the Western Department, had organized and put in motion an army of about 30,000
men, with 86 pieces of artillery, to cut off Price's forces, but had only succeeded in
surprising and severely defeating about a thousand recruits of Price's retiring army at
Springfield by a bold movement of 250 horseman (Fremont's body-guard and a
detachment of "Irish Dragoons") under the lead of Major Zagonyi. Our army, in which
I commanded of division, was now concentrated at Springfield, and was about to
follow and attack the forces of Price and McCulloch, who had taken separate positions,
the one (Price) near Pineville in the south-western corner of Missouri, the other
(McCulloch) near Keetsville, on the Arkansas line. Although McCulloch was at first
averse to venturing battle, he finally yielded to the entreaties of Price, and prepared
himself to cooperate in resisting the further advance of Fremont. Between Price and
McCulloch it was explicitly understood that Missouri should not be given up without a
struggle. Such was the condition of things when the intended operations of General
Fremont were cut short by his removal from the command of the army (November 2d),
his successor being General David Hunter. The result of this change was an immediate
and uncommonly hasty retreat of our army in a northerly and easterly direction, to
Sedalia on the 9th, and to Rolla on the 13th; in fact, the abandonment of the whole
south-west of the State by the Union troops, and the occupation of the city of
Springfield for the second time by the enemy, who were greatly in need of more
comfortable winter quarters. They must have been exceedingly glad of the sudden
disappearance of an army which by its numerical superiority, excellent organization,
and buoyant spirit had had a very good chance of at least driving them out of Missouri.
As it was, the new-fledged "Confederates" # utilized all the gifts of good fortune,
organized a great portion of their forces for the Confederate service, and provided
themselves with arms, ammunition, and equipments for the field, while the Northern
troops were largely reduced by the hardships of miserable winter quarters, and the
Union refugees who had left their homes were in great part huddled together in tents in
the public places and streets of Rolla and St. Louis, and were dependent on the charity
of their sympathizing friends or on municipal support. The whole proceeding was not
only a most deplorable military blunder, but also a political mistake. To get rid of
Fremont, the good prospect and the honor of the army were sacrificed. It would be too
mild an expression to say that the Union people of Missouri, or rather of the whole
Weste, felt disappointed; there was deep and bitter indignation, even publicly
manifesting itself by demonstrations and protests against the policy of the
Administration, and especially against its political and military advisers and intriguers,
who sacrificed the welfare of the State to their jealously of an energetic and successful
rival.
To regain what was lost, another campaign-the third in the course of eight
months-was resolved upon. It was undertaken by the every same army, but under a
different commander, and greatly reduced on account of the prevalence of diseases and
the extraordinary mortality in the different camps during the months of inactivity; in
truth, the campaign from September to November had "to be done over again" in
January, February, and March, in the midst of a very severe winter, and with the
relations of numerical strength reversed. Toward the end of December, '61, when not
fully restored from a severe illness, I was directed by General Halleck (who, on
November 9th, had succeeded General Hunter, the command now being called the
Department of the Missouri) to proceed to Rolla, to take command of the troops
encamped there, including my own division (the Third, afterward the First)

#On the 29th of October, when I was engaged in a reconnaissance on Bloody Hill,
at Wilson's Creek, I heard the salute of one hundred guns fired at Neosho in
celebration of the act of secession, and of the sending of delegates to the
Confederate Congress by the Rump Legislature of Missouri.-F. S.

This body was composed of 39 representatives and 10 senators-each number being
far short of a lawful quorum.-EDITORS.

and General Asboth's (the Fourth, afterward the Second), and to prepare them for
active service in the field. I arrived at Rolla on the 23d of December, and on the 27th,
when the organization was completed, I was superseded by General Samuel R. Curtis,
who had been appointed by Halleck to the command of the District of South-west
Missouri, including the troops at Rolla. The campaign was opened by the advance of a
brigade of cavalry under Colonel E. A. Carr on the 29th of December from Rolla to
Lebanon, for the purpose of initiating a concentration of forces, and to secure a point
of support for the scouting parties to be pushed forward in the direction of Springfield,
the supposed headquarters of the enemy.
On January 9th, after toilsome marching, all the disposable forces were assembled at
Lebanon. Here, by order of General Curtis, the army was organized into 4 division of
2 brigades each, besides a special reserve.
Before we reached Lebanon I was doubtful about my personal relations to General
Curtis, which had been somewhat troubled by his sudden appearance at Rolla and the
differences in regard to our relative rank and position, but the fairness he showed in
the assignment of the commands before we left Lebanon, and his frankness and
courtesy toward me, dispelled all apprehensions on my part, and with a light heart and
full confidence in the new commander, I entered into the earnest business now before
us.
The army left Lebanon on the 10th of February, arrived at Marshfield on the 11th, at
McPherson's Creek, about 12 miles from Springfield, on the 12th, where a light
engagement with the rear-guard of the enemy's troops occurred, and took possession
of Sprignfield on the 13th. Price's army of Missourians about 8000 strong, had retired
and was on its way to Cassville. On entering Springfield we found it pitifully
changed,-the beautiful "Garden City" of the South-west looked desolate and bleak;
most of the houses were empty, as the Union families had followed us to Rolla after
the retreat of General Hunter in November, 1861, and the secessionists had mostly
followed Price. The streets, formerly lined with the finest shade trees, were bereft of
their ornament, and only the stumps were left. General Price had applied his
vacation-time well in organizing two brigades under Colonel Little and General Slack
for the Southern Confederacy, had spread out his command as far as, and even beyond,
the Osage River, and would have been reenforced by several thousand recruits from
middle Missouri, if they had not been intercepted on their way South by Northern
troops. As it was, he took whatever he found to his purpose, destroyed what he could
not use, and feeling himself not strong enough to venture battle, withdrew to Arkansas
to seek assistance from McCulloch. We followed him in two columns, the left wing
(Third and Fourth Divisions) by the direct road to Cassville, the right wing (First and
Second Divisions), under my command, by road to Little York, Marionsville, and
Verona, both columns to unite at McDowell's, north of Cassville.
I advanced with the Benton Hussars during the night of the 13th to Little York, and
as it was a very cold night, the road being covered with a crust of ice, we had to move
slowly. On this might march about eighteen horsemen, including myself, had their feet
frozen. In the neighborhood of Marionsville we captured a wagon train and 150
stragglers of the enemy, and arrived at McDowell's just at the moment when, after a
short engagement, the left wing had driven Price's rear-guard out of the place. From
this time our army moved, united, to Cassville and Keetsville, forced without great
trouble Cross Timber Hollows, a defile of about ten miles in length across the
Missouri-Arkansas State line, leading to Elkhorn Tavern, and arrived at Sugar Creek
on the 18th of February. We were now over 320 miles from St. Louis, and 210 miles
from our base at Rolla. The Third and Fourth Divisions advanced from this position 12
miles farther south to Cross Hollows, where also to headquarters of General Curtis
were established, and the First and Second to Bentonville, 12 miles to the south-west,
while a strong cavalry force under General Asboth went to Osage Springs. On the 23d
General Asboth made a dash into Fayetteville, twenty miles in advance, found the city
evacuated, and plated the Union flag on the court-house. To balance things somewhat,
a riding party of the enemy surprised our foragers near Huntsville, and another party
ventured as far as Keetsville, in our rear, playing havoc with the drowsy garrison of
the place.
On March 1st Colonel Jeff. C. Davis's division withdrew from Cross Hollows and
took position immediately behind Life Sugar Creek, covering the road which leads
from Fayetteville, Arkansas, by Elkhorn Tavern to Springfield, and as an approach of
the enemy was expected to take place on that road from the south, Colonel Davis made
his position as strong as possible by crowning the hills north of the creek with abatis
and parapets of felled trees; he also protected one of his batteries in the rear of the
bridge with intrenchments. As we shall see, these works never became of any practical
value.
On the 2d of March the First and Second Divisions moved 4 1\2 miles south of
Bentonville to McKissick's farm. Colonel Schaefter, with the 2d Missouri Infantry,
and a detachment of cavalry, was sent to Smith's Mills (Osage Mills), 7 miles east of
McKissick's farm, as a post of observation toward Elm Springs, and for the purpose of
protecting and working the mill-at that time and under our circumstances a very
important "strategic object."
Another detachment of cavalry was stationed at Osage Springs to hold connection
with the division at Cross Hollows (south of Elkhorn Tavern), and to scour the country
toward Fayetteville and Elm Springs. On the 5th, a detachment under Major Conrad
was on its way from McKissick's farm to Mayseville, 30 miles west of McKissicks'
farm; by order of General Curits, another detachment under Major Mezaros went to
Pineville, 25 miles north-west, while from Carr's division a detachment under Colonel
Vandever had been sent as far east as Huntsville, 40 miles from Cross Hollows,
making the line of our front about seventy miles from Mayseville in the west of
Huntsville in the east. Since the 18th of February, when we took our first position at
Sugar Creek, Price had made his way to the Boston Mountains (Cove Creek), between
Fayetteville and the Arkansas River, where he united with McCulloch.
Although serving the same cause, there never existed an entente cordiale between the
two champions of Missouri and Arkansas; the two men were too different in their
character, education, and military policy to understand each other perfectly, to agree in
their aims and ends, and to subordinate themselves cheerfully one to the other.
McCulloch was a "rough-and-ready" man, not at all speculative, but very practical, to
the point, and rich in resources to reach it. In his youth he was a hunter and trapper; he
served under Sam Houston, with the artillery, in the battle of San Jacinto, participated
in the Mexican war as captain of a company of Texas rangers, and when the war for the
Union broke out, he was very active in Texas in securing much war material from the
United States troops to surrender. He was a good fighter, energetic in battle, and quick
in discerning danger or espying the weak point of his antagonist; and excellent
organizer, disciplinarian, and administrator, indefatigable in recruiting and equipping
troops. His care for them was proverbial, and his ability in laying out encampments
was extraordinary, and challenged the admiration of our troops.
In a strategical point in view, McCulloch was more bent to the defense of the
Trans-Mississippi region, especially Arkansas and the Indian Territory, which district
had been put under his command, than to aggressive movements beyond the borders of
Arkansas. Price had also had military experience in the Mexican war, which
circumstances, combined with his political position, his irreproachable personal
character and sincere devotion to the cause which he embraced, after the catastrophe of
Camp Jackson, had made him the military head of the secession forces in the State.
Brave, and gifted with the talent of gaining the confidence and love of his soldiers, he
was undoubtedly the proper man to gather around him and told together the
heterogeneous military forces; but, having, no organized State or Government to back
him, he seldom could rise above the effectiveness of a guerrilla chief, doing business
on a large scale and almost on his own account. His army was an ever-changing body,
varying from week to week, advancing and retreating, without stability of quarters and
security of resources, and therefore not disciplined in a manner to be desired.
Sometimes there were men and no arms for them, or muskets without caps and horse
without riders; at other times the army of camp-followers and poorly mounted infantry
was almost as large as the fighting force of infantry. No wonder then that in spite of
the great popularity of the champion of Missouri, McCulloch became disgusted in
meeting the half-starved "State Guards" of Missouri with their "huckleberry" cavalry
and their great crowd of unarmed, noisy camp-followers.
It was therefore fortunate for the Confederate that on the 10th of January, 1862,
Major-General Earl Van Dorn was appointed by Jefferson Davis to the command of the
Trans-Mississippi Department, and that he took charge of the combined forces about to
confront Curtis. He was a graduate of West Point and had served with honors in the
Mexican war as lieutenant of infantry, and was in the United States service as major at
the opening of the war. Having joined the Confederacy, he was appointed colonel, and
already in Texas had been of great service to his cause. On the 14th of February,
1862,-the very day when the Army of the South-west took possession of
Springfield,-he wrote to Price from his headquarters at Pocahontas, stating in detail his
plan for "attempting St. Louis and carrying the war into Illinois." Our appearance in
Arkansas suddenly changed the situation. Van Dorn at once hastened from Jacksonport
to Van Buren on the 24th of February, issued a very flourishing proclamation on the 2d
of March, and on the 3d the Confederate army was on its way from the Boston
Mountains to Fayetteville and Elm Springs, at which latter place its advance arrived on
the evening of the 5th. On this march Price's troops were leading, followed by the
division of McCulloch, while General Albert Pike, who had come from the Indian
Territory by way of Evansville with a brigade of Indians, brought up the rear. The
secrecy of the movement was so well kept that positive news did not reach us until the
5th, when the Confederates were about a days' march from my position at McKissick's
farm. It was the intention of Van Dorn to move early on the 6th and "gobble up" my
two divisions before they could prepare for defense or make good their retreat; I had,
however, ample time to guard myself against the attempted capture, as I had not only
been advised by General Curtis on the 5th, after nightfall, of the advance of the enemy,
but also had received positive proof of the movement from Colonel Shaefer at Smith's
Mill, whose outposts had been attacked on the evening of the same day, which fact he
immediately reported. It was now necessary for us to concentrate to meet the enemy's
advance, and Colonel Shaefer was then directed to fall back during the night to
Bentonville and await further instructions. The time for the two divisions to leave
McKissick's farm and march by Bentonville to Sugar Creek was fixed for 2 o'clock A.
M. of the 6th, but, before the movement began, the commanders of divisions and
brigades, with their staff-officers, met at my headquarters at 1 o'clock A. M. of that
day, to be informed of the enemy's movements and to receive verbal instructions
respecting the order of march, and the precautions to be taken during the retreat. At
precisely 2 o'clock A. M. of the 6th, General Asboth's division left McKissick's farm
with the whole train, followed by the division of Colonel Osterhaus. They passed
through Bentonville from 4 to 8 o'clock A. M., and arrived at the camp behind Sugar
Creek at 2 P. M., where the Union army was to concentrate.
For the purpose of defending the main column on its retreat, and with the intention
of finding out whether the enemy was approaching in strong forced, and whether he
was advancing from Smith's Mill on the road to Bentonville, or by Osage Springs, or
on both roads at the same time, I remained at Bentonville with about 600 men, and a
battery of 6 pieces, after the all troops had left the place.@
During this time Colonel Nemett, who had been sent out with the Benton Houssars
to reconnoiter, reported to me that he had met the enemy's cavalry, and that several
thousand men, cavalry, and infantry were forming in line of battle about a mile from
Bentonville on the open fields south of the village. From personal observation I found
out that this was correct, and, therefore, had not the least doubt that we had the
advance of an army before us. This was at precisely 10 o'clock. I state these facts to
show how egregiously Van Dorn was mistaken in supposing that if he had arrived an
hour sooner-Maury says 30 minutes sooner-"he would have cut me off with my whole
forece [of 700 men], and certainly have beaten the enemy [our army at Sugar Creek]
the next day." As it really was, he only found my rear-guard of 600 men in his front,
because at the hour when his troops advanced against Bentonville, the leading division
(Asboth's) of our retreating column crossed Sugar Creek, 10 miles from Bentonville.
Van Dorn officially says, "We followed him [Sigel], our advance skirmishing with his
rear-guard, which was admirably handled, until we gained a point on Sugar Creek,
about 7 miles beyond Bentonville, and within 1 or 2 miles of the strongly intrenched
camp of the enemy." Van Dorn then ascertained, in a conference with McCulloch and
McIntosh, that by making a detour of eight miles he could outflank our position on
Sugar Creek, and reach the Telegraph road in our rear, which movement he commenced
soon after dark, Price's division leading. He expected to reach the point in our rear,
north of Elkhorn Tavern, before daylight, but on account of obstructions placed that
Price's division did not gain the Telegraph road until nearly 10 A. M. of the 7th, the
first day of the battle, while McCulloch's division, and the Indian brigade under Pike,

@Colonel Frederick Schaefer's 2d Missouri regiment was also to be retained, to
from a part of the rear-guard, but by some misunderstanding he followed the
division of Colonel Osterhaus toward Sugar Creek; he was ambuscaded on the way,
and lost thirty-seven men.-F. S.

had only reached a point opposite Leetown, about five miles distant from where Price
struck the Telegraph road. (See map. p, 322.)

During the night of the 6th our army rested quietly in its position behind Sugar Creek.
General Asboth's division had the extreme right, on the entrance of the Bentonville
road, Colonel Osterhaus's was on his left, Colonel Davis's in the center, and Colonel
Carr's, which during the 5th had retreated from Cross Hollows (Camp Halleck) behind
Sugar Creek, was posted on the extreme left. Asboth's division was facing west and
south-west; the other two divisions were facing toward the south. Curtis expected to be
attacked from the south, and had made all his preparations accordingly. I was,
however, doubtful whether the enemy would knock his head against a position
naturally so strong, and for this reason expected the main attack from the direction of
Bentonville against Asboth's division, i. e., against our right flank and rear. To
ascertain, therefore, what was going on during the night in the direction mentioned, I
sent out two of my scouts (Brown and Pope) with some cavalry, to proceed as far as
possible toward the west and north-west, and reported any movement of hostile troops
immediately. Toward morning they reported that during the night troops and trains
were moving on the back road, round our position toward Cross Timber; that they had
heard the noise of wagons or artillery, but they had not seen the troops. I then ordered
Lieutenant Schramm, of my staff, to go out with an escort and bring in more
information. This was at 5 o'clock in the morning. His report, made a little after 6
o'clock, left no doubt in my mind that the enemy was moving around our position
toward the north-east (Springfield road). I now went out myself and saw clearly trains
and troops moving in the direction mentioned. At about the same time when the
flanking movement of the enemy was discovered on our right, Major Weston of the
24th Missouri Infantry, who was posted in our rear, at Elkhorn Tavern, was informed
by his outposts of the advance of some of the enemy's cavalry on the roads from
Bentonville and Cassville, toward his position. Between 6 and 7 in the morning,
skirmishing had begun near the tan-yard, on the Cassville road, north of Elkhorn
Tavern, so that his reports and those sent in by myself reached General Curtis during
the early morning of the 7th. A meeting of the division commanders was called by him
for 8 o'clock at Pratt's store, and after a short consultation he directed Colonel Carr to
take position at Elkhorn Tavern, while Colonel Bussey was directed to proceed with
the cavalry of the different commands (except the 3d Illinois), and with three pieces of
Elbert's battery to move by Leetown against the enemy, supposed to be advancing in
that direction. Colonel Osterhaus was also requested to accompany Colonel Bussey for
the purpose of taking control of the movement. As up to that time not even a
demonstration had been made against our front on Little Sugar Creek, and there was no
doubt in my mind that the main forces of the enemy were working around our flank, I
suggested the necessity of supporting our cavalry by at least a brigade of infantry and
another battery of my command, because a repulse of the cavalry might lead to serious
consequences. The proposition was immediately accepted, "The Missouri army by a
long night march had passed completely around the Federal right flank, marching to the
north-east of Big Mountain, then forming line of battle facing south on the Keetsville
and Fayetteville or 'Wire' road, directly in General Curtis' rear. The country on this
side of the hill is broken with high ridges and deep hollows through which the Wire
road runs. The column entered by what is called Cross Timber Hollow. Some of the
ridge are 150 feet high. In the valley of this defile is located what is known as than
tan-yard, three-quarters of a mile from Elkhorn Tavern. From the tan-yard there is a
gradual ascent, and alongside the road runs a deep hollow reaching up to the spring
near the tavern. At the head of this and crossing it is a 'bench' along the base of the
mountain. A long this beach was the United States Cavalry under General Carr. Along
the read leading down from the tavern were the Iowa troops with artillery, and on their
right, reaching to the east of the Van Winkle road, on which there are a few clearings,
General Curtis prolonged his line of battle. Another hollow leads from the tan-yard to
the south-east, and at head of this hollow rested the Federal right . . . The battle was
opened by the Iowa Battery [Hayden's] of 4 guns, on the Wire road, supported by the
Iowa troops until with 2 guns 150 feet further up the road, to which Guibor's battery
responded from the opposite ridge at a distance of 250 yards. The other Confederate
batteries with the infantry arriving by the same road, took position further to the left,
and opened on the enemy's right wing."
Mr. Wilson says of the first Confederate line:

"Some State Guard Cavalry under Bob McCulloch and Congreve
Jackson formed on the extreme left. Then on their right came Bledsoe's
and Clark's and McDonald's batteries, Rains's infantry, Wade's
battery, a regiment of infantry, and then Guibor's battery. This filled
out the ridge. Little's Confederate brigade was on the right across the
tan-yard hollow. Within an hour the Iowa Battery was obliged to
withdraw. Soon after, Gates's regiment of cavalry came up the hollow
in front of the guns, and went half-way up the slope, dismounted, every
fourth man holding the horses, then formed and moved up the brow of
the hill. At the same time, Little's Confederate brigade, which had by
this time come into line, opened on the Iowa troops in their rear, with
Gates in their front. After a fierce contest of musketry, Little's brigade
swung around and cut off part of the Federal line, the remainder
retreating up to the tavern, Guilbor's battery now moved around to the
position which had been held by the Iowa Battery. Guibor's battery had
gone up with Little's line and the fight was renewed on the new line."

He thus describes the Confederate advance:

"The fire in front began to lull, and Slack's brigade with Rives's and
Burbridge's regiment came up on a left-wheel, with Rains on their,
across to the hollow, and the whole line charged up with a wild cheer.
Captain Guibor, who well understood how to fight artillery in the
brush, took all the canister he could lay his hands on, and with two
guns went up in the charge with the infantry. General Rains's brigade
on the left, led by Colonel Walter Scott O'Kane, and Major Rain water
made a brilliant dash at the redoubt and battery which had been
throwing on them for an hour or more from its position in and old field.
Eight guns were captured along the line. The Federal troops being
dislodged from the woods began forming in the fields and planted some
new batteries back of the knobs in the rear. And now the fight grew
furious. Gorham's battery could not hold its position, and fell back to
its old place. Guibor planted his two guns directly in front of the tavern
and opened at close quarters with grape and canister on the Federal line,
in which great confusion was evident, as officers could be seen trying
to rally and re-form their men.
"The entire Confederate line was charging up to the Elkhorn Tavern;
Colonel Carr, the Federal cavalry commander, had withdrawn his
command from the bench of the mountain on the Confederate right. The
Illinois Battery, at first planted in the horse-lot west of the tavern, had
limbered to the rear and taken a new position in the fields. The Federal
Mountain Howitzer Battery had also moved away. The 8th Iowa Battery,
which had poured such a hot fire down the road upon Guibor and
Gorham, had by this time lost the use of two of its guns, dismounted by
the fire of Guibor's battery, but continued to fight its two remanding
guns until the Confederate regiment of Colonel Cliut Burbridge was
upon them; when, their horses being killed, that regiment took them in,
and at nightfall brought them down the road. To the left on the Vau
Winkle road the [Confederate] batteries of McDonald, Bledsoe, and
Wade had been engaged in a severe artillery duel in which the Federal
batteries held their own until the Confederate infantry got within range,
when they were forced back, leaving two guns captured by Rains's men
led by the gallant O'Kane. The cavalry on the extreme left, under
General John B. Clark and Colonel Robert McCulloch, had turned the
Federal right wing, and the latter's entire line was falling back to meet
reenforcements hurrying to their assistance from Sugar Creek on their
left rear. The Federals placed 18 or 20 guns to command the tavern.
Guibor moved up with the Confederate line, or a little or a little in
advance, and formed in battery in the narrow road in front of the tavern,
losing several horses in the movement. And now commenced a hot
fight. The rapid fire of the twenty pieces of Federal artillery . . .
commenced waving and blazing in his front, while the two guns were
replying with grape an canister. Now came the crisis. A regiment of
United States infantry moved out of the timber on the left front of the
guns, about one hundred yards distant, with a small field intervening,
the fences around it leveled to the ground. On Guibor's right was the
tavern, on his left a blacksmith's shop, and in the lot some corn-cribs.
Behind these buildings 'Rock' Champion had placed his company of
cavalry to protect their horses from thickly flying bullets. Rock's quick
eyes saw the bright bayonets as they were pushing through the brush,
and, riding up, he yelled in his rough-and-ready style, 'Guibor, they're
flanking' you!' 'I know it, but I can't spare a gun to turn on them,' was
the reply. There was no supporting infantry on his left. Said Rock, 'I'll
charge them!' This meant to attack a full regiment of infantry advancing
in line, 700 or 800 strong, with 22 men . . . Galloping back a few paces
to his little band, his clear, ringing voice could be heard by friend and
enemy. 'Battalion, forward, trot, march, gallop, march, charge!' and
with a wild yell in they went, their gallant chief in the lead, closely
followed by 'Sabre Jack' Murphy, an old regular dragoon;
Fitzsimmons, Coggins, O'Flaherty, Pomeroy, and the others. The last
named were old British dragoons; three of them had ridden with the
heavy squadrons at Balakiava and all well knew what was in front of
them . . . Whitin thirty seconds they were right in the midst of the
surprised Federal infantry, shouting, slashing, shooting. Corporal
Casey charged on foot. Guibor's two guns were at the same time turned
left oblique and deluged the Federal left with canister. The result was
precisely what Champion had foreseen, and proved his reckless courage
was directed by good judgment. The attack was a clear surprise, the
result a stampede; the infantry an aimless, scattering volley, then,
expecting a legion of horsemen to fall on them, fled in confusion.
Champion did not follow. Knowing when to stop as well as to
commence, he secured their flag and quickly returned to the battery
which he had saved, with a loss of only three of his gallant
rough-riders."

and so it happened that after the disaster which befell our cavalry,@@ the advance and
onslaught of McCulloch's troops were checked by the command of Osterhaus. The
speedy arrival of Colonel Jeff. C. Davis's division on the right of Osterhaus, and its
energetic advance, turned a very critical moment into a decisive victory of our arms.
McCulloch and McIntosh fell while leading their troops in a furious attack against
Osterhaus and Davis. Hebert and a number of his officers and men were captured by
pickets of the 36th Illinois (cavalry) under Captain Smith and of the 44th Illinois
infantry under Captain Russell. Thus the whole of McCulloch's column, deprived of its
leaders and without unity of command, was thrown into confusion and beaten back.
During the night of the 7th scarcely two-thirds of it reach the wing under Price, near
Elkhorn Tavern.*
Though a great advantage was gained on our side by the death or capture of those
leaders, the principal cause of our success was rather the quick rallying and the
excellent manoeuvring of Osterhaus's and Davis's forces, as well as the coolness and
bravery of their infantry, supported by Welfley's, Hoffmann's, and Davidson's
batteries. Osterhaus changed his front twice under the fire of the enemy, to meet the
dangerous flank attack and pressure of Herbert's Louisiana and Arkansas infantry,
while the brigades of Davis, by striking the left of McCulloch's advancing column,
threw it into disorder and forced it to retreat. It was during the conflict that two
officers, Major John C. Black of the 37th Illinois and Major Sidney Post of the 59th
Illinois, although both severely wounded in the right arm, refused to leave the field
until peremptorily ordered to do so. Here fell Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Hendricks of
the 22d Indiana, receiving two mortal wounds.
While our left wing was thus successful against about 11,500 of the enemy, the
right wing under Carr had been sorely pressed by the 6500 Missourians under Van
Dorn and Price. In spite of the heroic resistance of the two brigades of Dodge and
Vandever, and the reenforcements sent to them during

@@Elbert, Bussey, and the Houssars were repulsed by Pike with Drew's and Stand
Watie's Indian regiments, and Sims's and Welch's cavalry. McCulloch was father to
the left with Hebert and McIntosh, who became engaged with Davis's division-at
first with the brigade of Julius White, who retired a short distance when Pattison
came up and aided him in flanking McCulloch's line.-EDITORS.

*Of McCulloch's column, Drew retreated to the south-west toward Bentonville.
Watie, Walech, and Greer joined Van Dorn in the night, but Watie retreated to
Bentonville during the next day's fight. Pike himself remained. Greer, who
succeeded McCulloch in command of the wing, moved with the remainder of the
force and joined Van Dorn, taking position on the left, as shown on the map, page
322.-EDITORS.

the afternoon,** they were forced back from position, until Elkhorn Tavern was taken
by the enemy, and our crippled forces, almost without ammunition, their artillery
reduced by losses of guns, men, and horses, their infantry greatly reduced, had to seek
a last shelter in the woods and behind the fences, separated from the enemy's position
by open fields, but not farther than a mile from our trains. There they formed a
contracted and curved line, determined to resist, not disheartened, but awaiting with
some apprehension another attack. Fortunately, the enemy did not follow up his
success, and night fell in, closing this terrible conflict. While this engagement of our
right wing was in progress, I received an order from General Curtis at 2 o'clock P. M.
to reenforce Colonels Osterhaus and Davis with the remainder of the troops of the First
and Second Divisions, held in reserve near our original position, between Sugar Creek
and Elkhorn Tavern. Before receiving this order I sent Major Poten with the 17th
Missouri, 2 companies of the 15th, 2 companies of the 3d Missouri, a section of
artillery (Elbert's 2 pieces), and a squadron of Benton Hussars under Major Heinrich,
toward the south-west, to try to gain the rear of a hostile force stationed there. Leaving
a small detachment as a guard in our camp, I moved with all the other troops by
Leetown to the battle-field north of the town. We arrived just in time to give a send-off
to the retreating hostile forces, and, joined by Osterhaus' brigade, advanced toward the
east, parallel with the curve formed by the chain of hills called Pea Ridge, with the
intention of bringing assistance to our right wing, where the noise of the engagement
with Van Dorn and Price was unabating.
We had to move slowly and cautiously, as a part of the enemy's forces evidently
tried to rally on our left flank but withdrew after some little skirmishing with the 44th
Illinois. Reaching finally an open field about half a mile from the least spur of the
hills, looking down upon Elkhorn Tavern, we halted, and report was sent to General
Curtis's headquarters, describing our position and asking for orders. At that time it
had become dark, firing on the right had almost ceased, and as we had not sufficient
knowledge of the position of the enemy, or our own troops on the right, I concluded
to

**Five companies of the 8th Indiana and 3 pieces of Klauss's Indiana battery; part
of the Second Division, 4 companies of the 2d Missouri, 4 pieces of Chapman's
battery, 5 companies of the 25th Illinois, a section of Hoffman's battery, Bowen's
cavalry battalion, and mountain howitzers.-F. S.

stay where we were, and took the necessary precautions to make our position secure.
To conceal it as much as possible, no camp-fires were allowed, and the troops lay
silently on the field resting on their arms. Between 12 and 1 o'clock the outposts
reported some noise at a distance from our left, as if troops were moving toward the
north-east. I therefore went out with one of my staff-officers as far as our line of
outposts, and remained there about half an hour, but could hear nothing. I, however,
saw distinctly the camp-fires of Price's troops extending from the heights near Elkhorn
Tavern far down toward the south-east. Toward the west and south-west the sky was
illumined by two large, isolated camp-fires, one about midway between Elkhorn Tavern
and Leetown, and the other four or five miles farther off in the direction of
Bentonville. This, in connection with what we had seen during the afternoon, when
some of the enemy's troops were moving along the heights of Pea Ridge toward
Elkhorn Tavern, and others toward the south-west, and with what the outposts had
reported, made it clear to my mind that the enemy would not venture battle again near
Leetwon, but that McCulloch's troops would join those of Price, and by a united effort
try to overwhelm our right wing at Elkhorn Tavern. For this reason, and to give our
worn-out and hungry troops something to eat, good camp-fires and rest, I resolved to
withdraw them from their position, moved them back to our camp, and lead them
forward again in the morning to the same ground, to fall upon the enemy's right flank
and rear, as soon as he should being his attack. Leaving the Benton Hussars and a line
of outposts with a reserve of infantry on the field, to guard our position, I marched off
room the left, called in all the detachments from wherever they were, and formed the
two divisions in such a manner on the road leading from my headquarters to the ground
we had left, that, by reaching it with the head of our column, we could bring it in the
shortest possible time on the right into line, and come into action at the very moment
the first regiment and battery had taken their position. All these preparations were
completed before daybreak of the 8th.
During the night of the 7th the division of Colonel Davis had been called in by
General Curtis from Leetown, and in the morning it took position on the Telegraph
road, in place of Carr's division, which had borne the brunt of the battle of the day
before, and was now withdrawn, and the greater part of it held in reserve. Pattison's
brigade, of Davis's division, found on the right of the Telegraph road, with Klauss's
battery before the center of the line; the second brigade (the 37th and 59th Illinois),
under Colonel White, formed on the left of the road, supported by Davidson's battery.
Colonel Carr, although wounded, assisted in placing these troops.
It was a little after 6 o'clock in the morning when I sent out Colonel Osterhaus with
Captain Asmussen of my staff to reconnoiter the ground on which I intended to deploy,
and to find the nearest road leading to it. The 44th Illinois followed the two officers
for the purpose of marking the right of the position to be taken, but with orders to keep
concealed as much as possible, and not to enter into an engagement unless attacked.
Half an hour later, I was standing in front of my tent, ready to mount, and anxiously
awaiting the return of the staff-officers, when suddenly a few cannon-shots in our
front, from Davison's Union battery, announced the conflict. At this moment General
Curtis, to whom I had sent word during the night were my two divisions were
assembling, and that they would be ready for action in the morning, rode toward me
from the direction where the firing had begun, and, something; Davis is already there.
Please bring your troops in line as quickly as possible." I confess that I did not
understand the reason why a cannonade was commenced on our side when we were not
ready to meet a counter-attack of the enemy with a good chance of success, the more
so, as I had been out in our front before General Curtis met me, and had found that our
line was weak, stretched out in an open field, the Telegraph road obstructed by
artillery, ammunition-wagons, and other vehicles, and that there was no room to
deploy my divisions, except behind the first line and masked by it; nor on the left,
unless immediately exposed to and raked by the fire of the enemy, whose batteries
were supposed to be posted in the margin of the woods, whence they could reach my
troops at point-blank range. I explained this to General Curtis, made him acquainted
with the object in view, told him that I expected Colonel Osterhaus and Captain
Asmussen back every moment, and finally asked him to give me ten minutes' time to
wait for them, when I would move immediately to the position selected and commence
the attack. Even if our troops on the right should be compelled to yield, it could only
be momentarily, as the enemy would have to direct his whole attention to my attack on
his flank and rear. I never felt more relieved than when General Curtis, evidently
encouraged by this proposition, said: "Well, General, do what you propose." I must
add here that I had not seen, General Curtis during the night and before I met him near
my tent; he could, therefore, not have been fully aware of what I had experienced in
my position away from him on the left, and what my intention was to do in the
morning, although I had sent Captain Asmussen to his headquarters to report to him,
receiving, however, no orders from him in return. After our conversation, which lasted
only a few minutes, the two officers came back in all haste, and reported that they had
found an excellent position; that no enemy was in sight, and that Colonel
Knobels-dorff, with his regiment, was posted as directed. General Curtis declared
himself satisfied and rode off, but scarcely had he left me when the cannonade in front
became very brisk, some of the hostile missiles bursting over our heads.
I mounted, told Colonel Osterhaus to take charge of our column and move it to the
position to be occupied; then, accompanied by Captain Asmussen, I rode to the front,
where Davis's division had formed into line, to see what was going on. I found one of
our batteries hotly engaged, but compelled to withdraw, which exposed the infantry on
the right to an enfilading fire, and also forced it to change its position. One of the
regiments-I think it was the 22d or the 8th Indiana-was thrown into momentary
disorder by this surprise, and the men fell back toward an eminence on the right of the
road on which I was halting. I assisted their brave commander to rally them, which did
not take long, and spoke a few words to them, saying that if the right could hold out
for half an hour, assistance would come, and all would be well. Meanwhile another
regiment had formed on the left, the battery had taken position again and was
supported by four other guns (of White's brigade), farther to the left, diverting the
enemy's fire. The line stood firm, and as no hostile infantry appeared, I took leave of
the commander of the "Indiana boys," and hastened to my own troops. I reached the
head of the column when it was just debouching from the woods, and the first battery
that arrived took position on the left of the 44th Illinois, which was kneeling behind a
fence. In about 15 minutes the First Division (Osterhau's) was formed into line, with
the artillery in the intervals between the infantry, the Second Division, in reserve,
about 250 paces behind our right, with General Asboth at its head, who, in spite of his
wound received on the 7th, was again in the saddle. Our position, in full view of the
open fields, which sloped gently down toward the long skirt of woods, where the
enemy's artillery were posted, was excellent, and allowed the full development of our
forces. The enemy's batteries received us well, but many of their shots were either
aimed too high, or struck the ground and were buried a short distance in front of us.
When well in action, we advanced slowly from position to position, at the same time
contracting our line, the infantry following, rising quickly, and as soon as they had
reached a new position lying down again. During this time the whole cavalry force of
the two divisions had formed behind the extreme left of our line, supported by the 2d
Missouri and Elbert's flying battery of General Asboth's command. The 17th Missouri,
underso caentonville road, and was posted on the left. On our right, communication
was established with the right wing, and the two batteries of Klauss and Davidson
were brought into line with our own, while the two brigades of Colonels Julius White
and Thomas Pattison held the left of the enemy's line in check until our whole line
advanced.
It was now a little after 11 o'clock; most of the enemy's batteries (about fifty guns)
were silenced one after another, by our concentric fire; his infantry, not venturing out
of the woods into the open fields, was now treated with a showed of shell and
shrapnel. Opposite our extreme left, however, near Elkhorn Tavern, Van Dorn made a
determined effort to hold the high spur of hills, the top of which was crowned and
protected by rocks and bowlders. Some of Price's infantry had already taken
possession of it, and a battery was being placed in position, when Hoffman's and
Elbert's batteries were ordered to direct their fire against them chiefly with solid shot.
Not more than fifteen minutes elapsed the enemy evacuated this last stronghold, while
our infantry on the left-the 36th Illinois, and the 2d, 3d, and 17th Missouri-rushed up
the steep hill and forced the remnants of the enemy's troops down into Cross Timber
Hollow. Almost simultaneously the 12th Missouri, the 25th and the 44th Illinois
advanced in double-quick from the center and right into the woods, engaged the
enemy's infantry, drove it back, and one of our regiments (the 12th Missouri) captured
the "Dallas Battery." On the extreme right, where General Curits had directed the
movements of the troops, Davis's division and a part of Carr's, assisted by Hayden's
and Jones's batteries (the latter commanded by Lieutenant David), pushed forward
against the left wing of the enemy and forced it to leave the field. The army of Van
Dorn and Price, including about two-thirds of McCulloch's troops under Churchill and
Greer, and one-third of Pike's Indian Brigade, all of whom had joined Price during the
night, were now inn precipitate retreat in all directions, pursued by the First and
Second Divisions as far as Keetsville, 9 miles to the north, and by a cavalry force
under Colonel Bussey with 2 mountain howitzers to the south-west beyond
Bentonville. So ended the battle of Pea Ridge, and our little army, instead of being
"beaten and compelled to surrender," had gained a decisive victory.#

#The picture on the next page shows Big Mountain in the right background, as it
appeared in March, 1862. When I visited the battle-field a few weeks ago (July 6th,
1887) the whole range of mountain was covered by a dense forest, and the rocky
summits of Big Mountain were not discernible from the fields below, where our
troops had been posted. In other respects there were not great changes. The rising
ground stretching across the fields from east to west, with its highest elevation in
the center, and on which my artillery was posted, shows at once how great our
advantage must have been against the hostile batteries, which were planted behind
the margin of the woods in the lower ground. The surface of the cultivated fields is
now widened by the clearing of the adjacent woods, so that the whole interior space
of the battle-field seems much larger. The house and barn to which our extreme left
extended on the second day (March 8th) are still standing, and even the new Elknorn
Tavern stands on the old site. Mr. Cox, who lived there in 1862, was obliged, with
his mother and his young wife, to seek protection in the cellar, where they
remained for two days, being under fire thirteen hours. Late in the war the tavern
was burned, but Mr. Cox rebuilt if after the plan of the old one, and still lives
there. He is, of course, familiar with the battle-field, and tramped over it with me
and my driver. Pratt's store, near which General Curtis's headquarters tent was
pitched, is still there.-F. S.

The losses of our army were: killed, 203; wounded, 980; missing, 201,-total, 1384.
The enemy's losses on the battle-field were about equal, if not greater than, ours, but
they have never accurately stated. On the 7th we lost more on our right, against Price,
than he did; the enemy (McCulloch's troops) more on his right against our left. On the
8th, when our forces were concentrated against Van Dorn and Price, the enemy's loss
was much more severe than ours.
In reviewing the period from the 13th of June, 1861, when the first expeditions
started from St. Louis to the north-west and south-west of Missouri, and comprising
the three campaigns under General Lyon, Fremont, and Curtis, we must acknowledge
the extraordinary activity represented in these movements. As war in its ideal from is
nothing else than a continuous series of action and reaction, that side which develops
the greater energy will, other conditions being equal, become master of the situation. It
was the energy of the South in the first period of the War of the Rebellion which in
less than three months organized a powerful insurrection and threatened the existence
of the Union. And so, on a smaller scale, isolated and left almost to its own resources
at the beginning of the conflict, the Union element of Missouri, led by a few energetic
men, saved the city of St. Louis, then the chief city of the West, and by successive,
rapid blows became master of the whole State. In on other State of the North was
greater activity shown, or more undertaken, endured, or accomplished. There were
regiments which traversed the State three times in 8 months, forward and backward, a
distance of over 1200 miles (the line of railroad from St. Louis to Rolla not taken into
account), and this, especially during the first new months, with the most miserable
outfit,-without tents, without knapsacks and other accouterments, the men carrying
their cartridges in their pockets and sleeping on the bare ground, braving hunger and
disease.
The battle of Pea Ridge was the ridge respite gained by the almost incessant activity
and the unflinching courage of our little army,-the Army of the South-west. It was not
a "great" battle, like that of Gettysburg or Chattanooga; it was not of such
preponderating national importance; it did not "break the backbone of the Rebellion,"
but it virtually cleared the South-west of the enemy, gave peace to the people of
Missouri, at least for the next two years, and made it possible for our veterans to
reenforce the armies under Buell, Rosecrans, Grant and Sherman. It was a battle of all
kinds of surprises and accidents, of good fighting and good manoeuvring. Van Dorn
was evidently "surprised" when he found that his plan to take St. Louis, and to carry
the war into Illinois in April, 1862, was anticipated by our unexpected appearance; he
was badly "surprised" when on the 6th of March, instead of "gobbling up" my two
divisions at McKissick's farm, as he confidently expected, he only met a rear-guard of
600 men, which he could not gobble up during nearly 6 hours of its march of 6 miles;
he was also surprised to find, on his detour around our left flank and rear, that the
road was at different places as blocked up, that instead of arriving in our rear, on the
road to Springfield, with the divisions of Price's, at daylight of the 7th, he did not
reach that point before 10 o'clock in the morning, by which delay Price's and
McCulloch's forces became separated and could not assist each other at the decisive
moment, while we gained time to make our preparations for the reception of both.
Finally, on the 8th, Van Dorn was greatly "surprised to find himself suddenly
confronted by a new, unexpected force," attacked in flank and rear, and compelled to
retreat. On the other hand, Curtis was "surprised" by the sudden turn things had taken,
and much disappointed because the enemy did not make the attack against our front, a
position not only very strong by nature, presenting a chain of high hills, but also
strengthened by intrenchments and abatis, the access to it being also protected and
impeded by a deep creek running along our line of defense. He would have been much
more "surprised" had it not been for the discovery, by our scouting parties, of the
enemy's flanking movement.##

##The report of Generals Van Dorn and Price make it evident that they intended and
were prepared to renew the battle, or, as Van Dorn says, "to accept the gage," on
the morning of the 8th; the determination to retreat was therefore forced upon them
during the course of the morning by the advantages we gained. The results obtained
in this three-days struggle consisted not only in the immediately losses, which, as
mentioned before, were about equal, but also, and much more so, in the condition
into which the Southern forces were thrown at the beginning of and after their
retreat from the battle-field; their separation by following diverging lines, the
disorganization of their artillery, the dissolution of the "Indian Brigade," and of a
part of the Arkansas troops, and finally by the impossibility of restoring order and
bringing together all their forces north of the Boston Mountains. A report of the
actual strength of McCulloch's division on March 11th, three days after the battle,
shows only 2894 men out of a total effective of 8384, present at "Strickler's,"
March 2d, four days before the battle. On the 12th of March Van Dorn wrote or
telegraphed from Van Buren to Colonel B. W. Share, 3d Texas Cavalry, to join "the
army" at its encampment on the Frog Bayou road, about seven miles from that town
(Van Buren), which shows that the Southern army was very considerably scattered
for several days after the battle, and that Curtis could have followed it as far as the
Boston Mountains without meeting any serious resistance. If Van Dorn had
succeeded in his bold manoeuvre against us, had "cornered" our army had forced it to
surrender, he would have come into possession of such material of war as would
have enabled him to move with thirty thousand men to Springfield and Rolla, and,
by a least "threatening" St. Louis, he might have seriously disconcerted the plans
of Halleck. The consideration of such an exigency lends additional importance to
the success of the Union forces at Pea Ridge.-F. S.

In a strategical and tactical point of view, the battle of Pea Ridge forms a
counterpart to the battle of Wilson's Creek. In the latter battle we were the outflanking
party, approaching the camp of McCulloch and Price, by a night march, completely
surprising and attacking their forces in the morning, but making our attack in front and
rear, without being able to communicate with and assist each other. My own brigade of
1118 men, which had gained the enemy's rear, was beaten first, and then the forces of
General Lyon, 4282 men, after a heroic resistance were compelled to leave the field.
The enemy held the "interior lines," and could throw readily his forces from one point
to the other. At Pea Ridge the same advantage was with our army, although the enemy
had better facilities of communication between his left and right wing, by the road
leading from Bentonville to Elkhorn Tavern, than we had had at Wilsons' Creek. There
we had had to meet substantially the same troops we encountered at Pea Ridge, with
the exception of the Indian Brigade under Pike.
From the result of the batteries of Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge, it will be seen that
the manoeuvre of outflanking and "marching into the enemy's rear" is not always
successful. It was not so to Wilson's Creek, when we had approached, unobserved,
within cannon-shot of the enemy's lines; however, we were only 5400 against about
11,000, while at Pea Ridge the enemy had 16,202 men in action against our 10,500. In
a manoeuvre of that kind, the venture of a smaller army to surprise and "bag" an
enemy, whose forces are concentrated and who holds the "interior lines" or "inside
track," will always be great, unless the enemy's troops are inferior in quality, or
otherwise at a disadvantage.@

@During the war there was not, I believe, a single case where an army tried such a
"bagging" process and succeeded in it, except in the attack of posts and intrenched
positions, as, for instance, at Harper's Ferry during the advance of Lee into
Maryland in September, 1862, and with partial success at Winchester, June 15th,
1863. There are instances where flanking manoeuvres of great detachments from the
main army have been successful, but more through non-interference with them than
for other reasons. Jackson's detour into the rear of the Army of Virginia, in
August, 1862, was a strategical surprise, that was only successfully executed
because it was not discovered in time, or rather because, when discovered, it was
not properly met. The flanking movement and attack by Jackson, against the
Eleventh Corps at the battle of Chancellorsville, was very successful from a
strategical and tactical point of view, as the enemy not only gained the right flank
of our army without being interfered with, but also fell on the Eleventh Corps
before proper arrangements were made to meet the attack. It may therefore be said,
that in all such maneouvres going on at a reaching distance from our own position,
we are as much on the flank of the enemy as he is on ours. The case is similar,
when an army has succeeded in gaining the rear of another, at the same time giving
up its own base; because the two parties have then simply exchanged their
positions and are in each other's rear. So it was at Pea Ridge, when, after the defeat
of McCulloch's, Van Dorn and Price had "settled down" on our line of
communication with Springfield, while we held theirs to position, and it was only
by good fortune that the Confederates came off as well as they did.-F. S.

The movement of Van Dorn during the night of the 6th, was bold, well conceived,
and would probably have been more successful if it had not been purchased too far out.
If Van Dorn had formed his line with the left of Price's forces resting on the heights,
west of Elkhorn Tavern, and McCulloch's immediately on its right, he would have
gained three or four hours' time, and could have swept down upon us before 8 o'clock
in the morning, when no preparations had been made to receive him; this two wings
(Price's and McCulloch's) would not have been separated from each other by an
interval of several miles, and his communications between Bentonville and his position
would have been protected. Instead of following this course of action demanded by the
unforeseen impediment on the road, he passed several miles farther to the north-east,
and after gaining the Springfield road, he shifted the whole of Price's forces around to
the south-east (toward the Huntsville road), consuming again much valuable time. In
fact, instead of commencing his attack by the left at daylight on the 7th, as he expected
to do, he did no commence it earnestly before 2 P. M., and instead of gaining the
desirable position on the heights and fields which my divisions occupied the next day,
he made his attack in Cross Timber Hollow, where our inferior forces had the
advantage of defense and of concealing their weakness in the woods, ravines, and
gullies of that wilderness. Price's troops fought very bravely, but so did ours; it
therefore happened that when Carr's division had been forced back, even half a mile
beyond Elkhorn Tavern, the assailants had spent so much of their force and sustained
so great a loss, that they were unable to follow up their success by a lost assault on
our reduced and contracted line. Price's 6500 men with 38 guns could not overwhelm
about 4500 with 23 guns (including the reenforcements from the First and Second
Divisions). The fight on this part of the field was, at the beginning, a wild, isolated,
irregular struggle of single batteries and their supports, sometimes almost hand to
hand, instead of in serried and well-defined lines;-this accounts for the great losses on
both sides. It was here that the two brigades of Vandever and Dodge, with the 9th and
4th Iowa, the 35th Illinois, the 24th and Phelp's Missouri regiment, Hayden's and
Jones's batteries, and two mountain howitzers of Bowen's battalion, assisted by a part
of the 1st Missouri and 3d Illinois Cavalry, withstood the incessant onslaught of the
two Confederate brigades of Colonel Little and General Slack and the Missouri State
Guards with the greatest tenacity, yielding only step by step, when exhausted by losses
and without ammunition.
The death of McCulloch was not only fatal to his troops, but also a most serious
blow to Van Dorn. Until 2 o'clock on the 7th, the latter had confidently expected to
hear of successful action against our left wing; but he received no answer to the
dispatch he had sent, and began to push forward his own wing. He succeeded, and
when nigh fell made his headquarters at Elkhorn Tavern, where Carr and Major Weston
of our army had been in the morning. But here he stopped. He says that by some
misunderstanding the troops in the advance were called back (as they were as Shiloh);
the true reason for their withdrawal, however, seems to have been their satisfaction
with what they had done, and the assurance of completing the work in the morning.
The Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes were the only
Indian tribes who took an active part in the civil war. Before the war very few of the
Indians of these tribes manifested any interest in the question of slavery, and only a
small number owned slave property. Slavery among them was not regarded in the same
light as among the whites, for in many instances the slaves acted as if they were on an
equality with their masters. But the tribes named occupied valuable territory, and the
Confederate authorities lost no time in sending agents among them to win them over.
When the Confederate agents first approached the full-blood leaders of the Cherokee
and Creek tribes on the subject of severing their relations with the United States, the
Indian expressed themselves cautiously but decidedly as preferring to remain neutral.
Conspicuous among these who took a decided stand against organizing the Indians
to oppose the Federal Government was Hopoeithelyohola, the old chief of the Creek
tribe. The Confederate agents had succeeded in winning over ex-Chief McIntosh, by
appointing him colonel, but, perhaps, two-thirds of the people preferred to be guided
by the advice of their valuable old chief, Hopoeithleyohola.
In the fall of 1861, Colonel Douglas H. Cooper, commanding the department of
Indian operations under authority from the Confederate Government, made several
ineffectual efforts to have a conference with the old chief of for the purpose of
effecting a peaceful settlement of the difficulties that were dividing the nation into two
hostile camps. Finding Hopoeithleyhola unwavering in his loyalty to the United States,
Colonel Cooper determined to force him into submission, destroy his power, or drive
him out of the country, and at once commenced collecting forces, composed mostly of
white troops, to attack him. In November and December, 1861, the battles of Chusto
Talasah and Chustenhlah were fought, and the loyal Indians finally were defeated and
forced to retire to Kansas in midwinter.
In the spring of 1862 the United States Government sent an expedition of five
thousand men under Colonel William Weer, 10th Kansas Infantry, into the Indian
Territory to drive out the Confederate forces of Pike and Cooper, and to restore the
refugee Indians to their homes. After a short action at Locust Grove, near Grand
Saline, Cherokee Nation, July 2d, Colonel Weer's cavalry captured Colonel Clarkson
and part of his regiment for Missourians. On the 16th of July Captain Greeno, 6th
Kansas Cavalry, captured Tahlequah, the captain of the Cherokee Nation, and on the
19th of July Colonel Jewell, 6th Kansas Cavalry, captured Fort Gibson, the most
important point in the Indian Territory.
The Confederate forces were now driven out of all that part of the Indian country
nor of the Arkansas River, and the loyal Indians of the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole
nations were organized, by authority of the United States Government, into three
regiments, each fully a thousand strong, for the defense of their country. The colonel
and part of the field and line officers of each regiment were white officers. Most of the
captaiwere IWilliam A. Phillips, of Kansas, who was active in organizing these Indian
regiments, commanded the Indian brigade from its organization to the close of the war.
He took part with his Indian troops in the action at Locust Grove, C. N., and in the
battles of Newtonia, Mo., Maysville, Ark., Prairie Grove, Ark., Honey Springs, C.
N., Perryville, C. N., besides many other minor engagements.
In all the operations in which they participated they acquitted themselves creditably,
and to the satisfaction of the Federal commander in the Indian Territory.
On the Confederate side, General Albert Pike and Colonel Douglas H. Cooper, in
the all and winter of 1861, organized three regiments of Indians from the Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole nations or tribes, for service in the Indian
Territory. These regiments, under General Pike, participated in the battle of Pea Ridge,
Ark., on the 7th and 8th of March, 1862. In the five tribes named a battalion and parts
of four regiments were raised for the Confederate service, but these amounted in all to
perhaps not over 3500 men.
At the close of Mr. Buchanan's administration nearly all the United States Indian
agents in the Indian agents in the Indian Territory were secessionists, and the moment
the Southern States commenced passing ordinances of secession, these men exerted
their influence to get the five tribes committed to the Confederate cause. Occupying
territory south of the Arkansas River, and having the secessionists of Arkansas on the
east and those of Texas on the south for neighbors, the Choctaws and Chickasaws
offered no decided opposition to the scheme. With the Cherokee, the most powerful
and most civilized of the tribes of the Indian Territory, it was different. Their chief,
John Ross, was opposed to hasty action, and as first favored neutrality, and in the
summer of 1861 issued a proclamation, enjoining his people to observe a strictly
neutral attitude during the war between the United States States. In June, 1861, Albert
Pike, a commissioner of the Confederate States, and General Ben. McCulloch,
commanding the Confederate forces in western Arkansas and the Department of Indian
Territory, visited Chief Ross with the view of having him make a treaty with the
Confederacy. But he declined to make a treaty, and in the conference expressed himself
as wishing to occupy, if possible, a neutral position during the war. A majority of the
Cherokees, nearly all of whom were full-bloods, were known as Pin Indians, and were
opposed to the South.
Commissioner Pike went away to make treaties with the less civilized Indian tribes
of the plains, and in the mean time the battle of Wilson's Creek was fought, General
Lyon killed, and the Union army defeated and forced to fall back from Springfield to
Rolla.
Chief Ross now thought that the South would probably succeed in establishing her
independence, and expressed a willingness to enter into a treaty with the Confederate
authorities. On his return from the West in September, 1861, Commissioner Pike, at
the request of Mr. Ross, went to Park Hill and made a treaty with the Cherokees. The
treaties made with each tribe provided that the troops it raised should be used for home
protection, and should not be taken out of the Indian Territory. Even before the treaty
with Commissioner Pike, Chief Ross had commenced to organize a regiment composed
nearly altogether of Pin Indians. John Drew, a stanch secessionist, was commissioned
colonel, and William P. Ross, lieutenant-colonel, of this regiment. Colonel Stand
Watie, the leader of the secession party, had also commenced to raise a regiment of
half-breeds for General McCulloch's division. As already stated, there were two facing
among the Creeks, one of which was led by Hopoeithleyohola and the other by D. N.
and Chitty McIntosh, who were sons of General William McIntosh, killed in 1825 by
Hopoeithleyhola and his followers in Georgia, for making the treaty of Indian Springs.
It is asserted by General Pike and others that will Hopoeithleyohola it was not a
question of loyalty or disloyalty to the United States, but simply one of
self-preservation; that when he found the Confederate authorities had commissioned D.
N. McIntosh as colonel of a Creek regiment, and Chitty McIntosh as lieutenant-colonel
of a battalion of Creeks, he left certain that the Indian troops thus being raised would
be used to persecute and destroy him and his followers. In November, 1861, he started
for Kansas, and was pursued and overtaken by the Confederate Creeks, Choctaws,
Chickasaws, Cherokee, and Texans under Colonel Douglas H. Cooper. A fight took
place in the night, and Colonel Drew's regiment of Cherokees, which had been raised
by Chief Ross, went over to Hopoeithleyohola, and fought with him in the next day's
desperate battle (known as the battle of Chusto Talasah), in which five hundred of the
Union Indians were reported by Colonel Cooper to have been killed and wounded.@@
The Confederate Indians of Colonel Stand Watie's regiment, and those of Colonel
Drew's regiment, who had returned to the Confederate service under Pike and Cooper,
also participated in the battle of Pea Ridge in March, 1862, where they were charged
with scalping and mutilating the Federal dead on the field. General Pike, hearing of the
scalping, called up the surgeon and assistant-surgeon of his field-hospital for reports,
and in their reports they stated that they found one of the Federal dead who had been
scalped. General Pike then issued an order, denouncing the outrage in the strongest
language, and sent a copy of the order to General Curtis. General Pike claimed that
part of the Indians were in McCulloch's corps in the first day's battle; and that the
scalping was done at night in a quarter of the field not occupied by the Indian troops
under his immediate command. After Pea Ridge the operations of the Confederate
Indians under General Cooper and Colonel Stand Watie were confined, with a few
exceptions, to the Indian Territory. In connection with while troops from Texas, they
participated in several engagements with the Federal Indian brigade under Colonel
Phillips, after he recaptured Fort Gibson in the spring of 1863; and they made frequent
efforts to capture Federal supply trains from Fort Scott to Fort Gibson and Fort Smith,
but were always unsuccessful. They fought very well when they had an opportunity to
take shelter behind trees and logs, but could not easily be brought to face artillery, and
a single shell thrown at them was generally sufficient to demoralize them and put them
to flight.

@@The position chosen by Hopoeithleyhola at Chusto Talasah, where he
determined to make a stand and fight the Confederate forces, was naturally a very
strong one to resist an attack made with small-arms. It was at a gorge of a bend of
Bird Creek, the bend being in the form of a horse-shoe, and fourth hundred yards in
length. The creek made up to the prairie on the side approached by the Confederate
forces in an abrupt and precipitous bank about thirty feel high. On the opposite
side of this precipitous bank was the inside of the horse-shoe or bend, which was
densely covered with heavy timber cane, and tangled thickets. The position was also
strengthened by felled trees and by the creek forming the bend or horse-shoe. The
creek was deep and was fordable only at certain places known to the Union Indians.
In this been Hopoeithleyhola's forces were posted after they were obliged to fall
back in the preliminary skirmish. A house and crib at the mouth of the bend served
as a shelter for a while, from which his sharp-shooters kept back the Confederate.
The Union Indians, however, were finally driven from this position back into the
bend, contesting the ground with much obstinacy. The Confederate troops made
repeated efforts to dislodge them from the bend, but without success. Every time a
detachment of Hopoeithleyhola's warriors showed themselves in an opening or in
the prairie, the Confederates charged them to the timber, when a volley from the
concealed Union Indian threw the charging column into confusion and sent it back
in a hasty retreat. Night coming on put an end to the fight.-W. B.

The composition and losses of each army as here stated give the gist of all the date
obtainable in the Official Records. K stands for killed; w for wounded; m w for
mortally wounded; m for captured or missing; c for captured.-EDITORS.

FIRST AND SECOND DIVISIONS, Brig.-Gen. Franz Sigel. First Division, Col.
Peter J. Osterhaus. First Brigade: 25th Ill., Col. William N. Coler; 44th Ill., Col.
Charles Knoblesdroff; 17th Mo., Major August H. Poten. Brigade loss; k, 4; w, 22; m,
11==37. Second Brigade, Col. Nicholas Greusel. 36th Ill., Col. Nicholas Greusel;
12th Mo., Major Hugo Wangelin; Illinois Cavalry (2 Cos.), Captains Albert Jenks and
Henry A. Smith. Brigade loss; k, 7; w,66; m, 36==109. Artillery: Mo. Battery, Capt.
Martin Welfley; 4th Ohio Battery, Capt. Louis Hoffman. Loss: w, 6; m, 4==10.
Second Division, Brig.-Gen. Alexander Asboth (w). Staff loss: w, 1. First Brigade,
Col. Frederick Schaefter; 2d Mo., Lieut.-Col. Bernard Laiboldt; 15th Mo., Col.
Francis J. Joliat. Brigade loss: k, 8; w, 34; m, 22==64. Unattached: Fremont Hussars
Mo. Cavalry, Major Emeric Meszaros; 5th Mo. Cavalry (Benton Hussars), Col. Joseph
Nemett; 1st Mo. Horse Battery, Capt. G. M. Elbert; 2d Ohio Battery, Lieut. W. B.
Chapman. Loss: k, 12; w, 29: m, 14==55.

Source: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War

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