A Kansan Winning Missouri in Arkansas

It is remarkable to think that the war for Missouri was won in northern Arkansas, but that is precisely what occurred. The Union Army of the Frontier gained significant ground after the victorious Battle of Pea Ridge in early March 1862. However, the Army of the Frontier pulled back out of Arkansas as a result of General Henry Halleck ordering reinforcements sent to the Army of the Tennessee in November of 1862. Major General John Schofield ordered the Army of the Frontier to return to Springfield, Missouri, to be sent east. One division from the Army of the Frontier was left back at Bentonville under the command of General James Blunt.

Thomas Hindman was in command of the Trans-Mississippi Army near Van Buren, Arkansas. Jefferson Davis ordered Thomas Hindman to reinforce Confederate forces in Vicksburg, but these orders were refused, as Hindman saw a chance to retake Missouri and destroy an isolated division of the Army of the Frontier that had just occupied Cane Hill. Blunt learned of the Confederate advance on his position and requested reinforcements from Missouri. Francis Herron and James Totten rushed their divisions to Cane Hill.

Hindman, learning of these reinforcements, sought to interpose himself between these reinforcements and Blunt’s command, placing his army on the well-defended ridge of Prairie Grove. This decision was risky, given the enemy was in his front and rear. Herron and Totten engaged their numerically superior army near the Borden House. Some of the bloodiest fighting took place in the Orchard Field, also known as the “slaughter pen.” Union forces were repulsed multiple times in each engagement, and each time, the Confederates launched an unsuccessful counterattack due to Union artillery.

It seemed as if the Union line was at a breaking point, but Blunt brought up his command consisting of mostly Kansans to their right. Morale skyrocketed in the Union upon seeing these reinforcements after their failed piecemeal attacks. Blunt initially led an attack against the Confederate left flank but was outgunned. He withdrew back to his main line and repulsed a Confederate counterattack. Both sides suffered severe casualties. In the 19th Iowa, they suffered around 200 casualties, almost 50% of their force. Overall, the Union lost roughly more than 1200 men while Confederate forces sustained about 1300 casualties.

Neither side could claim any tactical advantage over the other, except that the Union stayed on the field by the fall of night, and Hindman requested a ceasefire. Strategically, it was an overwhelming Union victory. The Confederates lost too heavily in this fight to continue their attempt to retake Missouri and destroy Blunt’s division. More importantly, they did not stay in Van Buren very long after their retreat, leaving it open to a raid by Blunt and his men. The next time Confederate forces would attempt a large-scale invasion of Missouri would be in October 1864, when Sterling Price led his raid into the state in hopes of drawing away Union forces from the east.