The Battle of Pea Ridge

Experience the Battle of Pea Ridge, also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, and experience the events of the American Civil War during the first half of 1862 in the Trans-Mississippi Theater in this captivating book on the Arkansas campaign of Pea Ridge.

The Pea Ridge campaign is considered the most important series of events in the Trans-Mississippi Theater. The Battle of Pea Ridge, which took place from March 6th to March 8th, 1862, was the climax of the campaign, in which the Union Army was ultimately victorious. The campaign began in a winter snowstorm when the Federal Army of the Southwest flushed the Rebels from southern Missouri into northern Arkansas. The Yankees lay camp along the northwestern border of Arkansas to prevent both the Confederate volunteer army and the Missouri State Guard from reinfiltrating Missouri.

Southern General Earl Van Dorn was dispatched to concentrate Rebel forces in Arkansas into the Army of the West and retake the state before capturing Missouri. In freezing conditions, Van Dorn moved his army through treacherous terrain to encircle the Yankees in a surprise attack. The conservative commander of the Yankees, General Samuel Curtis, neither fled nor panicked. Instead, he spun his army’s front 180 degrees to face north toward the oncoming threat of Rebel forces.

Despite being heavily outmanned and outgunned, the Federals proceeded to execute a near-perfect military defense over March 7th and 8th, ending in a Southern rout. The fleeing and deserting Rebels left a trail of paraphernalia in their wake—weapons, ammunition, clothing, supplies, and, most telling of all, their Southern flags. Some never returned to fight in the Civil War, while others returned to the Indian Territory or fought along the frontier borders.
These events went relatively unnoticed at the time, but the battle has since been recognized as pivotal.

In this book, you will learn:
That the Trans-Mississippi Theater was the most treacherous of all
How Missouri was the key to the West
Why the Federals remained dangerously static and entrenched upon Pea Ridge
About the unlisted guerilla-style troops of the Missouri State Guard
Why the Rebel Army was forced to march through an icy winter with few provisions
The decisions and events that resulted in a clear win
A little about the role of the Native Americans in the Civil War
How the Northern victory at Pea Ridge proved vital to later battles