tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

By the spring of 1862, Union forces had pushed Confederates south and west through Missouri into northwestern Arkansas. On the night of March 6, 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn and his 16,000-man Army of the West set out to counterattack the Union position near Pea Ridge. Hoping to move quickly, in a fateful decision, Van Dorn ordered the supply trains far to the rear. Learning of Van Dorn’s approach, some 10,000 Federals in Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis' Army of the Southwest marched to meet the Rebel advance the next day. The forces met near Elkhorn Tavern just three miles south of the Missouri border and fighting quickly ensued. Two Confederate generals, Brig. Gens. Ben McCulloch and James McQueen McIntosh, were killed in the action, halting the Rebel momentum. By nightfall, the Confederates controlled Elkhorn Tavern and the Telegraph Road. Curtis consolidated his force during the night, and the next day, counterattacked near the tavern and, by successfully employing his artillery, slowly forced the Rebels back. Running short of ammunition due to the absence of supply support, Van Dorn abandoned the battlefield, leaving Arkansas virtually defenseless. With the Confederate defeat, the Union controlled the border state of Missouri for the next two years.

I tried to recreate what might have been an original photo of the artillery on Pea Ridge. Also, a view of the Elkhorn Tavern where the fiercest fighting took place in close quarters. The original structure burned down many years ago, but this reconstruction still has the elk horns on top of the roof! I love Civil War history and the battlefields where the conflict was conducted.

Artillery position

(Download)

Elkhorn Tavern

(Download)

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

Super interesting thanks for sharing and pics are cool!

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Fine photos. The stately quiet of the canon shot surprised me, after reading your description of what must have been a terrible battlefield.

parishard

We live a couple of miles from Pea Ridge. The final battle took place on a gently sloping piece of ground of size about a few acres. When you stand there, it is hard to visualize 25,000 men some crouching up slope behind a few skinny trees ( confederates) and small Abraham Lincoln style fences (union) down slope trying to kill each other on such a minute piece of dirt. The cannon were essentially firing at each other at point blank range. It is mesmerizing every time we go there. The confederates finally retired and passed about a mile from our house on the way to Bentonville, Ar and then further south.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

What great work on the artillery position. It reflects the calm before the battle, everything is intact and you can tell it won't be that way for long.