Return to Pea Ridge

[James N.]

Above, a Confederate gun position on the second day of the Battle of Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern.

I recently returned from a late Spring visit to my nearest Civil War battlefield, Pea Ridge National Military Park, Arkansas. Since I posted a rather complete thread on the subject around the anniversary of the March 7 - 8, 1862, battle I will confine this thread mainly to captions describing the photos.

The Leetown Battlefield

On the morning of March 7, 1862, Union General Samuel Curtis was disturbed in his camp here on the Wire ( Telegraph ) Road by couriers alerting him that Confederate troops had gained the rear of his 10,500 man army which faced south along Little Sugar Creek awaiting an attack from Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn's combined Confederate force numbering half again as many troops.

Curtis sent one of his four small divisions under Col. Peter J. Osterhaus back to the hamlet of Leetown to investigate. This was the center of the tiny community that soon became a hospital for both sides in the conflict that soon followed in the woods and fields to the north. The path below lead north from Leetown to the scene of the battle and was taken by Osterhaus' men on the morning of March 7.

The battle began in the field below when Osterhaus and some of his cavalry accompanied by three cannon emerged from the woodline in the background and saw the 7,000 men of Brig. Gen. Ben McCullough's wing of Van Dorn's army spread out in column. The cavalry made an impetuous charge which was easily repulsed but bought time for Osterhaus' infantry to begin to arrive. Confederate cavalry led by Arkansas Brig Gen. McIntosh counter-charged across the middle distance capturing the three abandoned cannon which were soon engulfed by the milling Cherokees led by Brig. Gen. Albert Pike. The Indians must have thought these were the only "wagon guns" because when another Union battery soon opened on them they panicked and were useless for the remainder of the battle.

During the course of the morning Osterhaus waited as McCullough deployed his men for an attack that never came. McCullough was killed by a Federal soldier while scouting out the Federal lines and was soon followed in death by McIntosh who led a feeble attack by his Arkansas dismounted cavalry. This left no effective Confederate leader on the scene to direct the attack McCullough had intended.

The final action on this front occurred when one Louisiana and three Arkansas infantry regiments led by the senior colonel, Louis Hebert commanding the 3d Louisiana suddenly attacked through the woods to the east of the road. Parts of two regiments threatened the Union battery above, causing Osterhaus to wheel part of his force to meet them driving them back into the woods. Fortunately for the Federals, reinforcements led by Union Col. Jefferson C. Davis had begun to arrive and extended the flank to the east to meet Hebert's attack.

Another serious loss occurred when Hebert and two of his fellow colonels were captured in the thick woods leaving his men leaderless; they soon fell back to their starting point and the Leetown fight degenerated into a feeble artillery duel for the rest of the afternoon. Half of Van Dorn's force was therefore decapitated and rendered impotent, taking relatively little part in the remainder of the battle the following day. Pike attempted to assert his authority over McCullough's men but most refused to recognize his right to lead them. That night he led a portion of the demoralized Arkansans, Texans, and Louisianans to the rest of Van Dorn's army at Elkhorn Tavern.

 

[Union_Buff]

Amazing photos - thanks for posting them James

 

[James N.]

Elkhorn Tavern

The small building above which stands on the foundations of Elkhorn Tavern replaces the original which survived the battle only to be burned the following year by guerrillas. The heaviest fighting swirled around it on March 7 and 8 as it fell first to Van Dorn's Confederates and later back to Curtis' Federals. Of the four Federal divisions engaged in the battle here, by far the heaviest fighting and over half the combined Union casualties were suffered by that of Col. Eugene Carr who Curtis sent back toward the tavern to protect the army's supply trains nearby.

Like Osterhaus at Leetown, Carr was an aggressive fighter who chose to attack and blunt the Confederate drive, catching the normally combative Van Dorn by surprise. I had never visited this part of the park before, so was unaware of the four guns above, representing the 1st Iowa Battery who dueled here with many times their number of Missouri cannon on a nearby ridge. This is accessed only by the historic trace of the Wire Road north from Elkhorn Tavern and nothing suggests that the display is here. These guns are replica six-pounders, though all the other cannon in the park are originals.

Carr looked in vain all afternoon for reinforcements from Curtis, steadily falling back to and finally past the tavern as Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard and Missouri Confederate troops pushed forward late in the day. Carr made a stand in the woods bordering this field as Price's exhausted men made one final attack in the twilight.

The next morning found Curtis' entire army assembled in a line of battle facing north around Van Dorn and Price's played-out force. Only a few of McCullough's men took part in the second day's fight, among them the 1st Texas Battery led by Capt. John J. Good whose position is shown in these photos. The park is continuing to return the landscape to its wartime appearance and work over this past winter is evident in the recently removed treeline which formerly backed this spot; the area with dead grass at right marks where the trees formerly stood.

Good remained in position until his ammunition was virtually exhausted and was replaced by the Arkansas battery of Capt. Hart which was then overrun by assaulting Missouri Federals. The Confederate artillery was severely handled by the Federal artillery in counter-battery fire which successively knocked out the Southern guns.

Curtis' line stretched entirely across the cleared area seen above and below; from left-to-right stood the divisions of Carr, Davis, Asboth, and Osterhaus. Cannon can be seen in the field denoting the positions of the Federal batteries which were supervised to devastating effect by Brig. Gen. Franz Sigel. Curtis correctly figured Van Dorn's army had exhausted itself in the furious attacks of the previous afternoon and sent his army forward to drive the Confederates away and restore his own line of communications.

Unfortunately for Van Dorn his own supply and ammunition trains had withdrawn westward and were nowhere near, while Price's Missourians were almost out of ammunition and none of the Confederates had gotten any rest for the past several days spent marching and fighting in the wintery conditions of snow and mud. They broke before the federal charge and scattered to the north, east, and west before coming together again back at Van Buren far to the south near Fort Smith.

 

[John Johanna]

Great pictures. I visited the battlefield a couple of years ago and was very pleased to see how well they've preserved the site. I remember being taken with a plaque that described how a Union officer, William Black, won the medal of honor early in the battle. His official citation is pretty prosaic: "Single-handedly confronted the enemy, firing a rifle at them and thus checking their advance within 100 yards of the lines." But the battlefield plaque gives a much more elaborate story. Something like he stopped the simultaneous charge of two Confederate officers by stabbing one and pistol whipping the other, all while being already wounded himself. He later went on to serve on the defense team for the Haymarket Riot trial in Chicago.

 

[James N.]

Great pictures. I visited the battlefield a couple of years ago and was very pleased to see how well they've preserved the site. I remember being taken with a plaque that described how a Union officer, William Black, won the medal of honor early in the battle. His official citation is pretty prosaic: "Single-handedly confronted the enemy, firing a rifle at them and thus checking their advance within 100 yards of the lines." But the battlefield plaque gives a much more elaborate story. Something like he stopped the simultaneous charge of two Confederate officers by stabbing one and pistol whipping the other, all while being already wounded himself. He later went on to serve on the defense team for the Haymarket Riot trial in Chicago.

Though I neglected to photograph the tablet describing Black's award of the Medal of Honor I remember it. There were four recipients at Pea Ridge including Col. Eugene Carr and each are mentioned along with a brief account and photo. Unfortunately the plaque I DID photograph containing one of these was of a soldier for whom no likeness is known.

 

[KansasFreestater]

So glad you posted this! I'm hoping to get there myself one of these days. Some friends were just recommending it to me recently, since it's close to us Kansans too!

 

[James N.]

So glad you posted this! I'm hoping to get there myself one of these days. Some friends were just recommending it to me recently, since it's close to us Kansans too!

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-battle-of-elkhorn-tavern-arkansas-march-7-8-1862.96408/

Glad you liked it! Here's a link to the more complete thread I posted back in March around the anniversary of the battle. I now have photos from three seasons: early Spring, here in full foliage, and Fall foliage.

 

[Blessmag]

Late spring????? We are just starting ours!

Great photos

 

[KansasFreestater]

James N., your photoessays are always just wonderful.

 

[KansasFreestater]

View attachment 37581

Like Osterhaus at Leetown, Carr was an aggressive fighter who chose to attack and blunt the Confederate drive, catching the normally combative Van Dorn by surprise. I had never visited this part of the park before, so was unaware of the four guns above, representing the 1st Iowa Battery who dueled here with many times their number of Missouri cannon on a nearby ridge. This is accessed only by the historic trace of the Wire Road north from Elkhorn Tavern and nothing suggests that the display is here. These guns are replica six-pounders, though all the other cannon in the park are originals.

So, James, how did you find this spot? Is it not on any of the maps? If I were to go to Pea Ridge, how could I find it?

 

[Patrick H]

Thank you, James. This is a very compelling account.

 

[Patrick H]

Coming back to this thread too late to edit the previous post. I just want to say that when I see photos like this, I am continually struck by how exposed the artillery positions often look. I don't doubt the accuracy of the people who mark the positions with cannon on these old battlefields. I am just amazed to see them so often in such exposed positions. It's almost like: "Okay, we'll unlimber and set up in the middle of this open field and fire towards the woods. They won't have any trouble seeing us and targeting us for return fire, but we don't care....." Has anyone else noticed that?

 

[James N.]

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So, James, how did you find this spot? Is it not on any of the maps? If I were to go to Pea Ridge, how could I find it?

Kansas, as you can see better from this photo from my other thread ( linked above ) 2 roads intersect right in front of the tavern; parking is in a large lot to the south ( left from this view ). These historic roads are the Old Wire ( Telegraph ) Road which the tavern fronts; and the one above which leads eastward from it. Both are now park trails closed to vehicular traffic and are marked as such on the park folder. I'd been down the east-leading one as far as a large field that saw fighting between Carr's Federals and Price's Missourians but I don't remember anything to be seen there. The Old Wire Road however leads north into the woods to the site of the tanyard where Van Dorn formed Price's men for the attack and farther back to the site of a Confederate field hospital. ( In the photo below it's behind and in the direction the cannon are pointing. ) I'd never bothered to explore this area before so was surprised to find this display about halfway between the tavern and the tanyard. I walked as far as where the plateau Carr positioned his troops on begins to drop off into the lowlands where the tanyard sat, but in the woods with a good north breeze and overcast skies it was getting pretty chilly and looked like it might rain so I decided "discretion was the better part of valor" for this particular visit and turned back. Later I asked in the visitor center if there were any other signs or displays farther along the trail and was told no.


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[James N.]

I just want to say that when I see photos like this, I am continually struck by how exposed the artillery positions often look. I don't doubt the accuracy of the people who mark the positions with cannon on these old battlefields. I am just amazed to see them so often in such exposed positions. It's almost like: "Okay, we'll unlimber and set up in the middle of this open field and fire towards the woods. They won't have any trouble seeing us and targeting us for return fire, but we don't care....." Has anyone else noticed that?

Of course that's the reason the NPS removed the stand of trees behind the position of Good's and Hart's batteries ( seen above in a different photo ), better to match the picture on the marker which was painted postwar by Good's son-in-law Andrew Jackson Houston, son of Sam. No doubt Houston followed directions provided by Good in painting it because it properly shows a battery deployed according to regulation with proper spacing between guns, limbers, caissons, etc. and all the members of the battery in their proper places. Keep in mind that artillery pieces, even smoothbores like the guns used here at Pea Ridge, had ranges greater than the rifles and ( mostly ) smoothbore muskets of the infantry so the main threat until an actual assault was opposing artillery. Sigel's use of concentrated artillery fire was rather novel and caught the Confederate gunners completely off guard. Good maintained his position until running low on ammunition he withdrew; Hart replaced him just in time to face the infantry attack and lose 2 guns and a caisson trying to get away.

 

[Carronade]

Good series! This was a smaller battle than some of the famous ones, but in its theater it had a more profound effect than many of the big battles did in theirs.

 

[James N.]

Good series! This was a smaller battle than some of the famous ones, but in its theater it had a more profound effect than many of the big battles did in theirs.

Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern has been called variously "The Gettysburg of the West" and "The battle that saved Missouri for the Union", as well as "the battle with cowboys, Indians, and Wild Bill Hickock too!" ( Hickock was present as a hired teamster for Curtis. ) I also found out on this visit that Capt. Frederick Benteen of later Little Bighorn fame was here as well, whose Missouri cavalry company escorted a section of guns to Carr's assistance at the tavern.

Edit: Pea Ridge is also notable among most Civil War battlefields as having had virtually all of the actual battle sites protected within the park when it was created requiring little in the way of additional land acquisition.

 

[unionblue]

Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern has been called variously "The Gettysburg of the West" and "The battle that saved Missouri for the Union", as well as "the battle with cowboys, Indians, and Wild Bill Hickock too!" ( Hickock was present as a hired teamster for Curtis. ) I also found out on this visit that Capt. Frederick Benteen of later Little Bighorn fame was here as well, whose Missouri cavalry company escorted a section of guns to Carr's assistance at the tavern.

Edit: Pea Ridge is also notable among most Civil War battlefields as having had virtually all of the actual battle sites protected within the park when it was created requiring little in the way of additional land acquisition.

James N.,

Another excellent thread filled with wonderful photographs!

Thanks again for taking the serious time and effort to give the forum something special.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

 

[James N.]

*BUMP* for the 154th Anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge.

 

[Bee]

*BUMP* for the 154th Anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge.

James, this photo is STUNNING! I love your walking tours (especially when I have a little familiarity with the battle) Thank you for bringing this thread up.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Wonderful, James!