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Lesson Plans History Day Volunteers Donors. Josephy Jr. The Civil War in the American West. New York: Alfred Knopf, Time Period Civil War through Reconstruction - Type Event. Related Media Eugene Asa Carr. Civil War Events Map. Samuel Curtis. Elkhorn Tavern. Francis Herron. Pea Ridge Confederate Monument. Pea Ridge National Military Park. Battle of Pea Ridge. Albert Pike. Franz Sigel. Earl Van Dorn. Login to the CALS catalog! Track your borrowing.
Rate and review titles you borrow and share your opinions on them. Get personalized recommendations. View All Services. Entries Media All. Gender — Female Male. Battle of Elkhorn Tavern. Benton County. But their extra ammunition was in the rear.
Additionally, the Confederate forces by this time were exhausted. They had had no sleep and little food for almost two days; no sooner had they encountered the Federal force at Little Sugar Creek than they were on the move again, making another long trek through the cold winter night to reach jumping-off points in what was supposed to be the Union rear.
But the enemy rear had become the enemy front when Curtis ordered a timely about-face. Instead of a devastating surprise attack against the backs of an outnumbered and outmaneuvered enemy, the Confederates had encountered a determined and ready foe prepared to contest every yard of ground and not at all inclined to flee or succumb.
Elements of their early success now haunted the Confederate effort. Their Indian allies had enjoyed greatly their thumping of Osterhaus, but they adamantly refused to make another direct frontal assault against entrenched Union positions. Ultimately they withdrew from the battle altogether. On the same wing, Van Dorn suffered another crushing reverse when General McCulloch fell dead, shot by a green Illinois foot soldier as his men gathered for a last surge against the faltering enemy troops.
A legendary frontier fighter and friend of Davy Crockett, McCulloch had been a leader of the Texas Rangers and a key figure in the pre-Confederacy republic. His death so demoralized his soldiers that many stopped their charge in midstride and simply faded away into the countryside.
Meanwhile, on the east end of the ridge, Price had been stymied by a determined force that was half his size. He ordered Price forward for a late-afternoon assault despite the exhausted state of the troops and the severe shortage of ammunition. Once again the Confederate artillery did its deadly work, wrecking numerous Union pieces and pressuring the infantrymen crouched down among them. Carr, still calling for reinforcements, was forced to find another defensive line.
It was now sunset. Curtis sensed that the danger on his left had diminished, and he sent his reserve division under Brig. Asboth arrived in time to help Carr establish his fourth defensive perimeter of the day. By then the Confederates had shot their last bolt. Wearily, they fell to the ground seeking sleep. The fighting on the Union right dwindled away with the dusk. During the night, Curtis, who had carefully avoided committing his reserves until late in the day, now calculated correctly that his numerically superior opponent was exhausted.
In the darkness he moved more men to his right, opposite the largest remaining concentration of Rebel troops. The Confederate positions were now defensive. The Rebel dispositions and the inward curvature of their lines made it apparent to Curtis that the enemy was weakened and not inclined to renew the offensive the next day.
On March 8, the Federal troops enjoyed the benefit of a hot breakfast and the confidence that they had held out against superior numbers. The Confederates, meanwhile, were low on food and ammunition, and they were hardly disposed to make another inspired effort after the myriad frustrations of the previous day.
Undeterred, Van Dorn resumed hostilities with a booming cannonade from his still numerically superior artillery. The weakness of the barrage indicated to Curtis that the steam had indeed gone out of the Rebel effort. As the Rebel artillery ammunition dwindled, the Union gunners began knocking the Confederate cannons out, one by one.
Meanwhile, the Union infantry surged forward on the left and pushed the Rebels back from the ridge. Sigel, as much surprised as elated, urged his men forward.
The newfound enthusiasm was contagious. Curtis insisted on another precisely timed artillery barrage and a properly synchronized infantry assault. Their attack carried them over the same ground they had lost the previous day and pushed the dispirited Confederates back along the entire front. The Union victory was swift and almost anticlimactic. Curtis, his normally dour demeanor split by an infectious grin, rode among his men shouting, Victory!
For his counterpart across the way, the question now was how to hold his beaten force together. Van Dorn did not have to decide what to do—his men decided for him. The Confederates beat a hasty, disorganized retreat in three directions to the north. The Indian contingent simply melted away into the vast wilderness of Indian Territory to the west. A combination of factors had produced a major Union victory at Pea Ridge. The Union artillery, outnumbered throughout the battle, nevertheless displayed accuracy and aggressiveness, particularly on the second day.
The numerical advantage of the Confederate force was negated partly by fatigue, first-day battle losses, the refusal of their Indian allies to resume the fight, and low supplies of ammunition. And throughout the battle the Union commanders showed more initiative, flexibility, creativity and zeal than their Confederate counterparts. Above all, the clear thinking and composed leadership of Samuel Curtis had produced three important and correct decisions that directly affected the course of the battle.
All battles of the Pea Ridge Campaign. Full Civil War Map. Civil War Battle. Result: Union Victory Est. Casualties: 3, Union: 1, Confederate: 2, Related Battles. Battle Facts. Garfield, AR March 6, Union 10, Estimated Casualties.
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