March 7, 1862
After the Union victory at Wilson's Creek in Missouri, General Samuel Ryan Curtis was given command of the Army of the Southwest. He confidently marched his 10,500 men south into Arkansas. After being alerted to Confederate General Earl Van Dorn's strategic move to outflank and split his troops to attack from the north and south, he readied his men and ordered his men to dig in and prepare for battle.
Confederate General Earl Van Dorn was determined to reinvigorate the Rebel cause in the Trans-Mississippi area and prove his capabilities as an aggressive and successful leader. His army, 16,000 men strong, marched over the Boston Mountain, with little sleep, to meet General Curtis at Pea Ridge. He split his troops; Brigadier General Benjamine McCulloch would move around the western edge and come in behind the Union troops while Major General Sterling Price would take the Bentonville Detour and the Telegraph Road to link with McCulloch at Elkhorn Tavery.
Under command of Colonel Peter J. Osterhause, the Second Division was dispatched to determine the Confederate strenght to the west. Knowing he was being outflanked, General Curtis wanted to see if he could find out how badly he was outnumbered. The first shots of the battle were fired here by the Confederates, sending the Union soldiers into a panic. The Union Calvary rushed back to warn Curtis of the impending strenght and determination that the Confederates possessed.
After the early victory of the overwhelming Confederate forces, luck would switch sides to the Union. Confederate General McCulloch decided to personally scout ahead of his troops, which were secured in the forest of this picture, and was killed. His second in command, Brigadier General James McIntosh, was also killed shortly after. Unfortunately, the men were not aware that their commanders had been killed and waited patiently in the forest, with the sounds of battle encompassing them.
After waiting some time in the woods, Colonel Louis Hebert assumed command after his two fallen leaders and would lead his force of 2,000 to battle - right into the waiting hands of Colonel Jefferson and the Third Division. Colonel Hebert was captured, leaving the Confederate to Brigadier General Albert Pike - who retreated into the forest and did not move.
Meanwhile, General Price, continuing down the path of Telegraph road, ran into Colonel Eugene Carr's Fourth Division. After a harsh battle, where Confederate forces far outnumbered the Union forces, the Confederate pushed back Colonel Carr's troops past Elkhorn Tavern. Missouri Confederate troops led by Colonel Henry Little pushed them further back to Ruddick's cornfield. The Union tried one lasy hurrah with Colonel Grenville Dodge's Fourth Iowa Division, which was quickly squashed. At nightfall, the Confederate were victorious - but the battle was far from over. Tired, hungry and with their supply train miles away, the Confederates were not prepared for another day of battle.