I have always been fascinated by this little known battle as it displayed superior generalship by Curtis and highlighted how an overzealous commander, Van Dorn, could have the tables turned on him while expecting to mop up the Federal army on the second day’s fight. I also consider Pea Ridge Military Park to be one of the best preserved battlefields in the United States, looking much as it did nearly 150 years ago.

For more information on the Battle of Pea Ridge, see my blog article by clicking HERE. If you are interested in seeing pictures of the Pea Ridge National Military Park, click on the following link.

Mike’s Photo essays on Pea Ridge National Military Park

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The 2d Iowa Infantry was recruited largely from the area of Keokuk, Iowa.  Its ranks included farmers, laborers, clerks and business men.  Mustered into Federal service on May 27, 1861, its commanding officer was Colonel Samuel R. Curtis.  Curtis would eventually reach the rank of major general and would command the Army of the Southwest, the District of Missouri and later the Department of Kansas and the Indian Territory (Oklahoma).  Other officers from the 2d Iowa would become general officers including James M. Tuttle and Marcellus Crocker.

Its earliest service would be at St. Joseph, Missouri where it was assigned to guard the railroads until July 1861.  It would witness its first major engagement at the Battle of Fort Donelson, on February 15, 1861, where it would be the first regiment to place its flag on the enemy parapets.  The following quote, from Woodworth’s excellent book, prompted my desire to write this article.  It paints a vivid picture of the courage of soldiers attacking a prepared position.

“‘Come on, you volunteers, come on,’ roared [Brigadier General Charles F.] Smith.  ‘This is your chance.  You volunteered to be killed for love of country and now you can be.’  …..[original color bearer Harry Doolittle took four bullets and the colors were quickly picked up by  Scehencius "Solomon" G. Page who would be killed] Page was dead by this time, and Cpl. James Churcher carried the colors of the 2nd Iowa.  The regiment broke free of the abatis at last and plunged forward to cover the last few yards to the breastworks.  A bullet broke Churcher’s arm, and the colors fell for a third time in the charge.  Cpl. Voltaire P. Twombley, last man in the color guard, snatched them up.  Almost at once a spent bullet slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.  [General Charles F.] Smith was already leaping his horse over the Rebel breastworks.  Twombley scrambled to his feet, climbed the breastworks, and planted the colors atop the Rebel parapet.  The 2nd Iowa surged by all around him.  Most of the Rebels fled, and the attackers bayoneted those who stayed to fight.  Then as the defenders tried to form up for resistance a hundred yards or so in the rear of the breastworks, the Iowans quickly capped their rifles and poured a devastating fire into them [Smith had ordered them to charge with their muskets loaded but not capped so they would not stop to fire, slowing them down].”(i)

All told, during their assault, the 2d Iowa would lose three color bearers, with the fourth, Twombley, wounded.  They would remain close to the enemy’s lines, through the bitterly cold night of February 16, until CSA Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner surrendered the fort later in the day.

The regiment would remain at Fort Donelson until March 5 when they were sent to Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.  They were part of Colonel James Tuttle’s First Brigade of Brigadier General W.H.L. Wallace’s Second Division.  They would bivouac at Pittsburg Landing for several weeks while they prepared to attack CSA General Albert Sidney Johnston’s Army of Mississippi at Corinth, Mississippi.  On April 6, Johnston would attack first, in a battle named for a small church near their camp – Shiloh.  The initial assault was against US Brigadier General William T. Sherman’s Fifth Division.  Sherman’s forces, and those of Major General John A. McClernand’s First Division, would be surprised by the assault and would be pushed back several hundred yards.  The 2d Iowa Infantry, commanded at this time by Lieutenant Colonel James Baker, would quickly be sent forward to reinforce the rapidly crumbling Federal position.  They would take position along an old sunken farm road with a small open field separating them from their adversary.  The Iowans would endure repeated attacks.  Known as the Hornet’s Nest, it would witness some of the most brutal fighting of the Civil War.  Eventually, facing a numerically superior force with significant artillery support, they would fall back towards their camps near Pittsburg Landing Road.  Wallace would be mortally wounded during the fight and would die a couple days later.  Overnight, with the arrival of US Major General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio, Major General Ulysses S. Grant would plan an attack for the next morning – a devastating unsuspected attack that would push the Confederate Army of the Mississippi all the way back to Corinth.

Over the next several months, the 2d Iowa would take part in the fighting to capture Corinth.  They would capture the town in October 1862 and would be garrisoned there through April 1863.  The 2d Iowa Infantry would continue to see action in parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama through November 1863 when they were sent to Pulaski, Tennessee to guard the Nashville & Decatur Railroad.  They would eventually be sent to Decatur, Alabama where they would continue to guard the road until May 1864.

On May 5, 1864 the 2d Iowa Infantry would be sent to northern Georgia where they would take part in Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.  They would fight at the battles of Resaca (May 13-15), Dallas, New Hope Church, Allatoona Hills (May 25 – June 5) and the operations around Marietta.  They were assigned to Brigadier General Elliott Rice’s First Brigade, Thomas Sweeny’s First Division of Major General Grenville Dodge’s XVI Corps.  On June 27, they would take part in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain where they would attack the fortified position the Confederate Army of Tennessee held on the north face of the mountain.  They would suffer significant losses in this largely one sided battle – a battle which Sherman would quickly realize was hopeless.

Sherman would eventually push around the right flank of General Joseph E. Johnston’s army, pushing them all the way into Atlanta.  Johnston would be removed from command and be replaced with hard fighting General John Bell Hood.  With the Federal armies fully encircling the north approaches of Atlanta, Hood would attack Sherman’s left flank on July 22, 1864.  In what would be called the Battle of Atlanta, the 2d Iowa Infantry would be positioned near the far left flank of the Army of the Tennessee.  Hood’s Confederates nearly rolled up the entire flank before being repulsed.  Once again, the 2d Iowa would take significant casualties but would retain their position at the end of the battle.  Sherman, settled in for a siege that would last for several weeks before he was able to push Hood from Atlanta.

The 2d Iowa Infantry would stay with Sherman’s army and would participate in the March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign.  They were with the army when General Joseph Johnston, once again commanding the Army of Tennessee, surrendered to Sherman in April 1865.  They would participate in the Grand Review of the armies, in Washington City, on May 24, mustering out of Federal service on July 12.  They would return to Davenport, Iowa on July 20 having suffered 283 casualties.  The men of the 2d Iowa Infantry could be proud of their service.  They were the first regiment to hoist their colors on the Confederate parapet at Fort Donelson and would witness the surrender of two Confederate armies.(ii)

(i) Woodworth, Steven E., Nothing But Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865, published by Vintage Civil War Library in October 2006, Pgs. 109-110.
(ii) The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System was used to research this article.

Missouri was one of the most hotly contested states in the Union.  Abraham Lincoln knew the strategic importance of Missouri to the Union and thus established his department of the West in St Louis.  In August, 1861, Federal troops led by Brigadier General Nathanial Lyon pushed southwest, from St Louis, to the Springfield, Missouri area, to confront Missouri State Guard troops under Major General Sterling Price, and Confederate troops under Brigadier General Ben McCullough.  On August 10, these troops met at Wilson’s Creek, where Lyon would be killed (the first general to die in the Civil War) and Union troops would be repulsed.

After the defeat at Wilson’s Creek, Union troops would move back to Rolla, and St. Louis, for the winter.  Missouri State Guard troops, under Price, would remain on the offensive, taking a fort near Lexington, Missouri in September.  Price would winter his troops in the vicinity of Springfield, while McCullough would winter his troops near the Boston Mountains in northwest Arkansas.

In November, 1861, in order to bring a cohesive command to the Department of the Missouri, John C. Fremont was removed in favor of Major General David Hunter and then by Major General Henry W. Halleck on November 18, 1861.  Halleck was called “Old Brains” for his tactical understanding of fighting battles.  However, preferring to administrate, from St. Louis, he left Brigadier General Samuel Curtis in charge of the troops near St. Louis.  In December, 1861, Curtis’ command would become known as the Army of the Southwest.

In February, 1862, Curtis was instructed, by Halleck, to push the rebel troops from the state of Missouri.  Moving his troops to the Springfield area, on February 11, Curtis would push Price’s Missouri State Guard troops down the Telegraph Road and into northwest Arkansas.  Price would unite with McCullough in the vicinity of the Boston Mountains.  Curtis, in pursuit of Sterling Price, stopped along Little Sugar Creek, just south of a hostelry, Elkhorn Tavern.

In early March, Jefferson Davis installed Major General Earl Van Dorn to command his Army of the West.  Immediately traveling to northwest Arkansas, he met with his new lieutenants – Ben McCullough and Sterling Price.  Van Dorn, being an aggressive fighter, immediately made plans to engage Curtis.

Meanwhile, Curtis, expecting Van Dorn to attack from the south, fortified his position along Little Sugar Creek.  His defensive works were impressive, and he was certain he could handle anything Van Dorn could deliver.

Moving out on March 4, a day that brought snow to northwest Arkansas, Van Dorn pushed his troops north.  On March 6, Van Dorn encountered, and quickly routed Federal rear guard troops commanded by Brigadier General Franz Sigel, near Bentonville.  Van Dorn pressed on, out pacing his supply train, marched his two divisions along Bentonville Detour, determined to get behind Curtis, blocking his escape route north, into Missouri.  Bentonville Detour, being a little known local road became clogged with Confederates.  By mid-morning Price’s division had reached Telegraph Road, north of Elkhorn Tavern, but McCullough’s troops were still far behind.  In order to shorten their route, Van Dorn instructed McCullough to take a shorter route, south of Elkhorn Mountain, meeting Price’s troops at Elkhorn Tavern.  This fateful decision would haunt Van Dorn, as he separated his army, in front of a powerful foe.

Meanwhile, Curtis, being alerted by Sigel, early on March 7, had pressed his troops into action, reversing his army, that was facing south, to face north, the direction Van Dorn would approach from.  This was truly a feat and was one of the most celebrated “changes of front” occurring during the Civil War.

Determining to hit the rebels in their flank, as they moved south on the Telegraph Road, Curtis sent two divisions, under Colonel Peter Osterhaus and Brigadier General Jefferson Davis (no relation to the Confederate president, Jefferson C. Davis), toward the settlement, Leetown.  In the Foster farm field, north of Leetown, Union cavalry and an artillery battery, were surprised to find McCullough’s division moving east on Ford Road, in route to meet Price at Elkhorn Tavern.  With cannon unlimbered, the Federals enfiladed the rebels.  McCullough, quickly dispatching his cavalry, supported by two regiments of Cherokees, scattered the Union forces and captured the battery.

This action allowed Osterhaus time to deploy his division in Oberson’s corn field, south of the Ford Road.  Partially protected by fences, the Union troops were engaged by McCullough.  With McCullough riding on a horse, far in the front,  wearing a simple black coat, he became an easy target for Union skirmishers.  McCullough was shot and died instantly, unknown to many of his own troops.  Command devolved to Brigadier General James McIntosh, who lead a general infantry assault further to the Confederate left.  While leading one of his regiments, McIntosh was also killed.  This ended fighting in the Oberson field.

Further left of McIntosh’s position, CS Colonel, Louis Hebert, led 2,000 rebel troops into a dense thicket of woods, east of the Oberson field.  They ran into the two regiments of the Union division commanded by Brigadier General Jefferson Davis, pushing them back toward Leetown and capturing two Federal cannons.  Davis sent two Indiana regiments, from his other brigade, to the right, into the rebel left flank while troops under Osterhaus hit Hebert’s right flank.  Hebert, was forced to retreat to the Ford Road and resumed his march, east, to Elkhorn Tavern to meet with Price’s Missouri troops.

About this time, Franz Sigel arrived at Leetown with additional  Federal reinforcements.  This effectively secured this sector of the battlefield allowing them to march toward the fighting now occurring near Elkhorn Tavern.

While the fight at Oberson’s field was being waged, Van Dorn pushed Price’s troops down the Telegraph Road, towards Elkhorn Tavern.  Just north of the tavern, the Confederates had to cross a deep canyon, called Cross Timber Hollow.  Federal 4th division troops, under Colonel Eugene Carr, were on the south side of Cross Timber Hollow, on the Pea Ridge plateau.  This was an excellent defensive position, but the one division could not hold back Price’s much larger force.  Leaving many wounded, and dead, rebels, in Cross Timber Hollow, Price pushed Carr south of Elkhorn Tavern, near the Clemon farm.  This area of the battlefield was to endure the most desperate fighting of the day.  Fighting for the day ended, as darkness began to cover the field of battle.

During the overnight hours, Curtis, undeterred, began to consolidate his troops south of Elkhorn Tavern, in a formidable line of battle.  On the other side of the field, Van Dorn was enjoying his achievements in pushing Curtis’ troops south of the tavern.  His plan was to finish his work in the morning, believing it would be a fairly quick, and easy conclusion of the battle.  However, he forgot one very important thing.  He had left his supply train miles behind him with food and ammunition.

At dawn, on March 8, Curtis’s troop placements were as follows, left to right: 1st Division (Osterhaus), 2nd Division (Asboth), 3rd Division (Davis), 4th Division (Carr).  These were faced by Price, on the left, and the remnants of McCullough’s army on the right – many of which were entrenched on the face of Elkhorn Mountain.

With the sky beginning to brighten, the Confederate Army could see the entire Union Army spread before them.  It was an amazing sight, one which the soldiers would remember years into the future.  Under cover, of the largest artillery bombardment, to that point in the war, Sigel advanced his troops, turning on his right flank, and pushing the remnants of McCullough’s troops from their entrenchments on the rebel right.  At this point, Curtis advanced the rest of his troops on the Union right.   

Van Dorn was caught by surprise by the aggressive Union offensive.  Furthermore, realizing he had little artillery ammunition to face the Federal offensive, he ordered a retreat southeast on the Huntsville Road, with many of his troops, on the right, scattering towards the north, not rejoining Van Dorn for several days.  Many of the rebels dropped their weapons and returned home, never to rejoin the Confederate effort. 

Unaware of which direction Van Dorn’s Army of the West retreated, Curtis did not give pursuit until the following day, never catching up with him.

Campaign: Pea Ridge

Outcome: Union victory

Troop Strengths
Union: 10,250
Confederate: 14,000

Casualties (estimated):
Union: 1,384 (killed, wounded or missing/captured)
Confederate: 2,000 (killed, wounded or missing/captured)

Battle Aftermath:
Samuel Curtis would continue to pursue  Earl Van Dorn through Arkansas, but would not catch him.  Van Dorn, having been directed by CS General Albert Sidney Johnston, to join him at Corinth, MS, would leave Arkansas in late March.  Unfortunately, he as not able to arrive in time to reinforce Johnston’s troops that would be mauled by U.S. Grant at Shiloh.  Having been beaten by US Major General William S. Rosecrans at Corinth, Van Dorn would be replaced by Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton.  Later, Van Dorn would be “murdered” by a jealous husband, claiming he had “destroyed the sanctity of his home.” 

Curtis’s victory at Pea Ridge would remove any organized Confederate efforts in Missouri for the remainder of the war, with the exception of a brief, largely unsuccessful, incursion by Sterling Price during September and October 1864.  Unfortunately, Missouri would continue to be plagued by rebel guerilla warfare through the remainder of the war – and beyond. 

(i) Battle of Pea Ridge at BattlefieldPortraits.com was used to research this article.