Civil War II The Civil War Comes To Arkansas

Invasion of Arkansas Early in 1862 Missouri called Arkansas back into section. Union general, Samuel R. Curtis, pushed General Sterling Price’s Missouri Confederates out of the state into northwest Arkansas. Curtis followed price into Arkansas. Price joined with Arkansas’s General Ben McCulloch’s Confederate army in the Boston Mountains, 70 miles south of the Missouri border.

New Leadership Price and McCulloch, as usual, disagreed about what to do next. Finally the Confederacy sent a new general to take command of AR. General Earl Van Dorn was a West Point graduate with a good war record. His first issue is to deal with the threat to AR. Under Van Dorn’s command Price and McCulloch began working together.

Plans for Battle Confederate forces with 15,000 men decide to attack Cutis’s Union army of 10,500 men. This Confederate Army includes two regiments of Cherokee under General Albert Pike. Van Dorn Ordered his army northward toward the Federal army. Some loyal Unionists in Fayetteville rode North to warn Curtis that the Confederates were coming.

Pea Ridge The two armies met just South of the Missouri border on a road that ran past Elkhorn Tavern stage stop, next to a long low hill called Pea Ridge. Since Curtis had been warned he took up a defensive position with the hill at his back.

Van Dorn’s Daring Plan The night of March 6, he ordered the soldiers to leave their camp fires burning to fool the enemy. Then he moved his army on a night march, around Curtis’s forces, to come up behind them. But the army split, when morning came on March 7, Van Dorn and Price were north of Curtis but McCulloch and Pike were still two miles away to the west.

The Battle of Pea Ridge The fighting began mid-morning. The Confederate line to the west collapsed when McCulloch was killed. The Confederate Cherokee began scalping and murdering the federal wounded. Van Dorn and Price’s troops fought hard all day but could not break Federal lines.

That night both armies slept around Elkhorn Tavern. In the morning the Federals attacked and forced the Confederates to retreat. The Union army lost 1,384 men. The Confederates lost nearly 2,000 men. The Federal army still controlled the road to Missouri. The Arkansas Confederate army was in disarray.

The Results Pea Ridge was the largest battle fought west of the Mississippi River. It made the idea of the Confederates winning Missouri impossible. Arkansas, with its depleted army, was now open to Federal attack.

The Western Theatre Things weren’t going well for the Confederacy in the western theatre. The Union army had captured Forts Henry and Donelson in February. The Federals captured Shiloh in April. They took New Orleans in April and Memphis in June. Only Vicksburg held out as a Confederate strong hold on the Mississippi River.

Curtis Begins to Move Curtis led his army from Pea Ridge, across northern Arkansas to Batesville. There was not a big battle at Batesville, he just moved in and set up headquarters. From there he moved South to Helena in the summer of Union soldiers stripped the land bare of food, horses, and firewood as they went.

At the Cache River, near Cotton Plant, a small battle took place on July 7. A small force of Confederate cavalry tried to block the road to Helena. They were easily defeated.

A Second Secession? Governor Rector was convinced the Confederacy had abandoned Arkansas. He even threatened to recommend that Arkansas secede from the Confederacy to form a free standing state. The Confederacy sent Thomas C. Hindman, now a General, to take control of events in Arkansas.

“Total War” Hindman took a “total war” approach to Arkansas. He took money, weapons, medical supplies, and men wherever he could find them. He encouraged the cruel, uncontrolled guerilla fighting of the mountain people. He put the state under martial law-military rule. He shot deserters without a trial. He burned all of the cotton he could find.

Prairie Grove The Union tried to attack Arkansas again in the Northwest. Their small army was being led by General G. Blunt. Hindman marched his Confederate army to meet Federal troops at Prairie Grove, southwest of Fayetteville.

The Battle of Pea Ridge These armies met on December 7, 1862, and each side had about 10,000 men. The Confederates took up an advantageous position on a hill. Federals lost 1,251 men. Confederates lost over 1,300 men. Hindman retreated to Little Rock and the Union followed, raiding Van Buren and destroying supplies.

More Losses in Arkansas January 10-11, 1863, a large Union army forced a small Confederate force of 4,500 out of Arkansas Post. In July, 1863, a Confederate force tried to take pressure off of Vicksburg by retaking Helena. They failed and suffered heavy losses. That same day, July 4, Vicksburg fell.

Moving the Capital The Confederate government fled Little Rock because it was open to capture. The Capital moved to Washington in the southwest. General Frederick Steele led Federal troops into Little Rock in September Fort Smith Fell to the Union army the same month.

General Steele’s Campaign In spring 1864, the Union army planned the Red River Campaign. The goal was to take Shreveport, LA. General Steele, in Arkansas, was ordered to meet approaching Federal troops at Shreveport. Steele moved South from Little Rock with 5,000 men. They took over Camden, but Steele ran short of supplies.

He sent 700 men to find food for his soldiers. A Confederate force met them at Poison Springs and wiped them out. They executed the black Union soldiers. At the Battle of Mark’s Mill the Confederates captured Steele’s supply train coming from Pine Bluff. Because of a lack of supplies, Steele had to go back to Little Rock. When Steele’s men slowed to cross the Saline River, 10,00 Confederates attacked. Steele managed to fight them off and escape to Little Rock.