Pea Ridge

When you discuss the Civil War in Missouri Sterling Price is the central figure.

By the time of the Civil War he was 52, a former Missouri Governor and a veteran of the Mexican war. He could be arrogant and overbearing and no historian has ever accused him of being a military genus. Jefferson Davis once described him as ‘the vainest man he had ever met". He had intense loyalty from his troops, who called him “Old Pap” and, after his victories at Wilson’s Creek and Lexington, he was wildly popular in the South, but Davis and much of the Confederate leadership questioned his competence and loyalty. While Virginia born and a Sothern sympathizer, Price initially opposed secession.

He might have maintained that position had it not been for Nathaniel Lyon.

Lyon was the most brilliant general in the West. He was also an avid abolitionist and a hothead, with a reputation for dealing out harsh punishment to his own men. In January of 1861, his comments on secession were “it is no longer useful to appeal to reason but to the sword".

There is no doubt that Governor Claiborne Jackson and Daniel Frost wanted to seize the weapons at the US Arsenal in St. Louis. However by the time of the Camp Jackson affair (May 10) the weapons had been moved to Illinois and there was no way the 800 poorly trained, poorly armed militia at Camp Jackson, many of whom were not secessionists, was a match for the ten thousand Federal Soldiers in St. Louis. Still Lyon wanted to make a show of force that would punish and humiliate the Missouri State Guard, so he surrounded and captured the Guard at Camp Jackson. As Lyon paraded his captives to the arsenal, a hostile crowd threw rocks and bottles. One of the soldiers pushed a drunk who pulled out a revolver and shot him. Lyon’s men began wildly firing into the crowd. By the time it was over 28 civilians, including a woman and 5 children were dead and at least were 75 wounded. This event, known as the Camp Jackson Massacre to Southern sympathizers, pushed many Missourians into the secessionist camp. T he next day there was another incident at 5th and Walnut in which 4 soldiers and 5 civilians were killed.

Even after Camp Jackson, Price negotiated a truce with William Harney, commander of the Army in Missouri. Price agreed to “direct the whole power of the Sate officers to maintain order among the people” and Harney pledged not to “make military movements which might otherwise create excitements and jealousies”.

Of course Blair and Lyon worked together to have Harney removed and Lyon took his place. Lyon was in no mood to dilly dally with the rebels. A last ditch effort to avoid conflict took place at the Planters House Hotel in St. Louis on June 11th. Lyon ended the meeting by shouting “Rather than concede to the State of Missouri for one single instant the right to dictate to my government in any matter however important, I would see you, and you, and you, and you and every man woman and child in the State, dead and buried”. “This means war. In an hour one of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my lines.” With that he stormed out of the room. The result was the series of battles leading up to Pea Ridge.

Meanwhile, Jayhawkers, desperate for revenge over bleeding Kansas wasted no time. On June 19th Charles Jennison

made a raid against Independence, followed by raids against Morristown and Harrisonville.

Although Jefferson Davis had no faith in Price as a commander, he ordered Brigadier General Ben McCulloch to cooperate with him to the degree that it was consistent with his primary mission of protecting Arkansas and the Indian Territories from the Union force.

McCulloch shared Davis view of Price and his State Guard. On July 18th, he wrote the War Department saying that the Guard was “badly organized, badly armed, and now almost entirely out of ammunition. This force was made by the concentration of different commands under their own generals. The consequence is that there is no concert of action among them, and will not be until a competent military man is put in command of the entire force.”

For the most part he was correct.

To call Price’s State Guard, at this time, an army is perhaps too kind. Almost without exception, his men lacked uniforms, tents or other military equipment. Several thousand of them were unarmed and most who were armed carried shotguns and squirrel rifles they had brought with them. In January of 1862 Federal Colonel Frederick Steele wrote.

“Two of my spies … went through all his (Prices) camps safely: and saw everything. … At present he has no discipline, no roll-calls, no sentinels, nor picket to prevent passing in and out of Springfield.”

McCulloch and Price did manage to work together to defeat Union forces at Wilson’s Creek, the second major battle of the Civil War. Had Lyon not been killed in the battle the outcome might have been different.

After Wilson’s Creek, Sterling Price was eager for an invasion of Missouri. McCulloch didn’t think this was a good idea, so Price said “OK fine, I will do it myself”, and marched north with about 6,000 men.

His first encounter, on September 2nd, was with a group of about 500 Jayhawkers near the Kansas border who were under the command of Jim Lane.

It didn’t take much to chase the interlopers back into Kansas. However, Lane re-entered Missouri 10 days later with about 1,500 men and began a campaign of looting and burning. On September 23rd, he burned the town of Osceola to the ground.

As Price proceeded toward the Missouri river, Southern sympathizers swelled his ranks. By September 18, when he was ready to attack the Union fort at Lexington, he may have had as many as 18,000 men. These same men deserted in droves when John Fremont's 38,000 Union Forces began chasing Price south. Many of these men ended up joining guerrilla bands who continued to harass Union forces throughout much of the war. One notable such individual was a former Ohio schoolteacher named William Clark Quantrill.

Sometime in October he formed Quantrill’s Raiders.

By November 2nd, the day he was relived of his command, Fremont pushed Price as far south as Pineville Missouri, on the Arkansas border

After the battle of Wilson’s Creek, Fremont had had quite enough of Missouri’s intransigence. He declared Martial law in Missouri and ordered that anyone found to be in opposition to the Union would have their property confiscated and their slaves freed. Furthermore, any rebels caught between Fort Leavenworth and Cape Girardeau to be shot. Lincoln didn’t think this was a good idea, and relieved Freemont of his command when Fremont refused to rescind his order. Fremont’ successor, Major General David Hunter chose to abandon the pursuit and withdrew to Rolla

As the weather turned nasty, Price chose Springfield as his winter headquarters and McCulloch withdrew to Arkansas. The Union was in control of the vast majority of the State while Price held on to the southwest corner. No one expected anything to happen till spring.

On November 19^th Hunter was replaced by Major General Henry W. Halleck. As long as Price remained in Missouri Halleck was reluctant to contribute forces to campaigns outside the state. As William Sherman summarized the situation as soon as Halleck “moves a man from the interior to go to Cairo, Price will return. That is his game. And in that way with a comparatively small force he holds in check five times his number”. In December, Halleck created the Military District of Southwest Missouri, put Brigadier General Samuel R. Curtis in charge and decided to launch a winter offensive.

Meanwhile, at Neosho, Claiborne Jackson held a rump session of the Missouri legislature which passed an ordinance of secession and elected senators and representatives to the Confederate Congress. On November 28th Missouri was accepted as the 12th member of the Confederate States of America. Whether this was ultimately a good thing for Price is debatable because it meant he and much of the State Guard became part of the Confederate Army, for whom the liberation of Missouri was not the top priority.

With the addition of the Missouri forces to the Confederate Army, Jefferson Davis saw the need for a unified command. The Missouri delegation thought Price was an excellent choice for this position but Davis had no confidence in Price and, given the tension between Price and McCulloch, there was no way this would work. Apparently Southern generals were not falling all over themselves for the assignment. Davis’ first choice was Colonel Henry Heth, who declined. His second choice was Braxton Bragg, who also declined.

Finally he settled on Major General Earl Van Dorn.

Apparently Van Dorn and Price hit if off well. They were fellow megalomanics. Van Dorn dreamed not only of conquering St. Louis but also of invading Illinois. They both had grand ideas but were not too keen on logistics.

Van Dorn was killed in 1863 when he was shot by a jealous husband.

Curtis and an army of 12,000 Union Soldiers left Rolla on January 13^th and marched south. As they approached Springfield Price beat a hasty retreat in weather so cold water was freezing in their canteens and their beards were turning white with frost. Price withdrew into Arkansas, through Bentonville then through Fayetteville and finally to Cove Creek, where he linked up with McCulloch and Van Dorn. Curtis had halted his advance at Fayetteville and then withdrew to Bentonville.

At his disposal Van Dorn had not only Price’s State Guard and McCulloch’s army but also a Cherokee Confederate Indian Brigade

under the command of Brigadier General Albert S. Pike. Pike candidly described his 2,500 native soldiers as “entirely undisciplined, mounted chiefly on ponies, and armed very indifferently with common rifles and shotguns”. The Cherokee were just one of several tribes that fought with the South. The Chicksaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole and Osage all contributed forces to the Confederate Army

On March 4th the combined forces moved North. Hearing of Van Dorn’s advance Curtis assumed a defensive position at the base of Pea Ridge Mountain, so named because of the wild peas growing on its side. The federal position was just north of sugar creek strung out across telegraph road.

Rather than make a frontal assault on what was an excellent defensive position, Van Dorn decided to make a night march along the Bentonville Detour which branches off of Telegraph Road south of Sugar Creek and reconnects with it about two miles north of Elkhorn Tavern. Price would take the lead followed by McCulloch and Pike. Before setting out Van Dorn lit campfires sent out pickets south of Sugar Creek convincing Curtis that the rebels had settled in for the night. If all went according to plan, at sunrise the next morning the entire Confederate army would come streaming down Telegraph road from the north and hit the Union troops from the rear.

It would have been a brilliant plan except.

• Van Dorn hadn’t made any provisions for crossing Sugar Creek. The Confederates ended up crossing almost single file over a hastily constructed bridge. This really slowed things down.
• Van Dorn had not bothered to reconnoiter the Bentonville Detour. Had he done so he would have realized that Curtis had anticipated the possibility of such a maneuver and obstructed the detour with fallen trees.
• Finally somebody screwed up big time and Van Dorn’s wagon train with his reserve ammunition returned to Bentonville.

At dawn, about the time Curtis realized he had been deceived and turned his forces to face north, Price was several miles from Telegraph road and McCulloch and Pike still hadn’t got all their forces over Sugar Creek. So Van Dorn’s had lost the element of surprise and his army was split in two on either side of Pea Ridge with no way to communicate. Van Dorn decided to attack anyway. Even Price thought this was a bad idea. McCulloch and Pike charged from the west side of Pea Ridge while Price continued to Telegraph Road and proceeded south until he encountered Curtis’ right wing north the Elkhorn Tavern.

Initially McCulloch and Pike were successful, driving the Federals back. Pike’s Indians overran a Union battery but then stopped to plunder and take some scalps. When they came under Union artillery fire they ran off into the woods and refused to come out. At the same time McCulloch's troops weren’t faring any better. They were taking murderous Federal fire. McCulloch was killed with a bullet through his heart. The Confederates were routed and fled down the Bentonville Detour.

Price had much greater success. By nightfall he had pushed the enemy back to a position south of Elkhorn Tavern and his men were feasting on captured Federal commissary stores. He was confident he would complete his victory in the morning. It wasn’t till 2AM he realized his true situation. McCulloch was dead. He was facing Curtis’ entire army and he had no reserve ammunition. The federals attacked the next morning and Price's only option was to retreat.

By this point ,Grant’s victories at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson worried Jefferson Davis a lot more than control of Missouri. The Army of the West was ordered to Des Ark to be ferried to Memphis. Price and most of his State Guard were part of this army. Price complained bitterly but ultimately went along with the move. Several times over the course of the war he petitioned to be allowed to return to Arkansas and attack Missouri. This was not granted until late in 1864 when the war was a lost cause and his raid was an act of desperation.

Guerrilla warfare raged in Missouri for most of the war.