Pea Ridge/Prairie Grove

[nbforrest]

Ok, since nobody beat me to the punch...let's talk Arkansas.

Pea Ridge should never have been fought. Certainly hindsight affects this, but it was a poor decision not to go east.

Prarie Grove was less of a fiasco...Hindman did a creditable job raising an army out of nothing...and his campaign was decent. But Hindman was just not the right man for the job. The battle itself was a mess.

Any thoughts?

Respectfully

 

[SpartanGSG]

Battle of Pea Ridge

Let's look at a couple scenarios in this campaign and discuss. This battle and campaign gets insufficient coverage especially in light the bearing it might have had on the fighting in the Trans-Mississippi at-large:and the 1862 campaigns in Tenn specifically:

Several questions for comments:
1. How close did Price actually come to breaking Carr near the Wire RD/Elkhorn Tavern sector and if he did,
did Curtis have enough reserves to prevent Davis and Osterhaus from being badly cut up in the likely pincer movement between Price and McCulloch/Pike?
2. Van Dorn promptly moved north to apparently make a lunge at St Louis, or at least cut the supply line and communications between STL and Rolla prior to his orders rerouting him east. Did Curtis have enough in the tank post Pea Ridge to stop him? If not, what was Federal strength in and around STl for it's defense. From what other sectors would Federal forces be drawn from?
3. What were Van Dorn's chances of taking STL?

 

[nbforrest]

Even had Van Dorn managed to drive off Curtis, it would have been impossible to permanently occupy Missouri. Even had Van Dorn been able to deal with the troops there, he would essentially be living off the land with a very long supply line. That in itself would render the idea of a Van Dorn conquest of any major section of MO as being suspect in my mind. Also, Pope was then in the process of reducing New Madrid/ Island No. 10. After he had secured those targets, he could have been diverted directly into southeast MO to deal with Van Dorn. The Confederacy would have been better served had Van Dorn met up with Johnston in time to fight at Shiloh.

Respectfully