Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE, ARKANSAS.

201

CHAPTER XVIII.

BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE IN ARKANSAS-GENERAL CURTIS-ATTACK OF THE REBELS ON THE REAR OF THE FEDERAL ARMY-GALLANTRY OF GENERAL SIGEL-CONTINUANCE OF THE BATTLE ON THE SECOND DAY-INCIDENTS OF THE CONTEST-IT IS RENEWED UPON THE THIRD DAY-COMPLETE ROUT OF THE REBELS-RESULTS OF THE VICTORY-SKETCHES OF GENERALS CURTIS AND SIGEL-PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ORDERS TO THE FEDERAL ARMIES TO MOVE ON THE TWENTY-SECOND OF FEBRUARY-GENERAL MCCLELLAN'S ADDRESS TO THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC-SUDDEN EVACUATION OF MANASSAS BY THE REBELS-MOVEMENT OF FEDERAL TROOPS-BOMBARDMENT OF ISLAND NUMBER TEN-INCIDENTS OF THE CONTESTREDUCTION OF THE REBEL WORKS-OPERATIONS OF GENERAL POPE-ARTIFICIAL CHANNEL CUT THROUGH JAMES BAYOU-GENERAL POPE ATTACKS THE REBELS AT TIPTONVILLE-CONSEQUENCES OF THE CAPTURE OF ISLAND NUMBER TEN-SKETCH OF GENERAL POPE-GENERAL BURNSIDE ATTACKS NEWBERN-THE REBELS SURRENDER-CONSEQUENCES OF THIS VICTORY.

THE unromantic name of Pea Ridge will hereafter designate, on the historic page, one of the most protracted and desperate struggles which occurred during the progress of the war against Secession. This rugged spot is situated amid the mountain wilds of Arkansas. It was there that the Rebel Generals Van Dorn, McCulloch, and Price, had concentrated the forces under their several orders; and on the 6th, the 7th, and the 8th of March, 1862, contested the palm of victory with the Federal troops under the command of Generals Curtis and Sigel. The forces of the enemy numbered about thirty-five thousand men; their opponents numbered twenty-five thousand. The latter consisted of volunteers from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. This engagement commenced on the 6th of March by an attack of the Rebel cavalry on the rear of the Union army. The purpose of this movement seemed to be to get possession of the wagon-trains of the Federals. General Sigel being in command of that portion of the troops, resisted the enemy with great gallantry. He protected the train during several hours with eight hundred men against an attack of fifteen hundred. The first day of the conflict wore away in various unsuccessful efforts on the part of the Rebels to get possession of the trains, by breaking and dispersing the right wing of the Federals. At eleven o'clock on the morning of the 7th, the enemy renewed the attack. During the preceding night General Curtis had made important changes in the disposition of his troops, and had strengthened those portions of his line against which he anticipated the most vigorous assaults. The centre of the Rebels was led in person by the notorious Benjamin McCulloch, who made prodigious exertions to overpower the firm and steady ranks of the Federals, commanded by Colonel Davis, of Missouri. Repeatedly did that renowned warrior bring up his men to the attack,

and as often were they with heavy slaughter repulsed. Once only did his troops obtain an advantage by driving back the Federals from "Cross Timber Hollow," which had been occupied by Colonel Carr. But he paid dearly for this temporary success. His columns were assailed with renewed determination, by a combined attack of the troops under Colonel Osterhaus, Colonel Davis, and General Sigel, and were discomfited with immense loss. It was during this struggle that General McCulloch was mortally wounded. He fell while fighting in the thickest of the combat.

At the end of the second day's engagement, the advantage greatly preponderated in the favor of the Federals. During the following night General Curtis made additional changes in the position of his forces, and when the morning of the 8th dawned he was prepared to receive the renewed attack of the enemy. The combatants on both sides seemed eager for the struggle, and the firing began at sunrise. It soon became general along the whole line, which extended several miles in circuit. The Federal left wing under Sigel made a forward movement against the enemy posted on the hills. General Curtis then ordered his centre and right also to advance, and turning the left wing of the enemy, to assail his centre. This order was admirably executed, and the Rebels were placed by this skillful strategy in the arc of a circle of destructive fire. Having thus enveloped both flanks of the enemy, General Curtis commanded a general charge to be made with the bayonet. The result was decisive. The Rebels were instantly thrown into confusion, and fled precipitately on all sides. The division under Price retreated in one direction, that under Van Dorn escaped in another. The pursuit was continued by General Sigel toward Keithsville, and by the cavalry toward the mountains. The rout of the enemy was complete. Their loss was heavy. The death of McCulloch was a fatal blow to their cause in the remoter southwest, where his reckless bravery and his military skill had long inspired them with energy and hope. Their killed and wounded were about two thousand. The victors captured more than a thousand prisThe Federal loss was about five hundred killed, nine hundred wounded. A peculiar feature of this engagement was the presence of several thousand Indians in the Rebel lines, commanded by Albert Pike. Their savage instincts during the conflict were demonstrated by the fact that after its termination, many of the wounded and slain of the Federal troops were found to have been scalped; thus renewing in those wild western solitudes at the present day, the primeval scenes of sanguinary slaughter, which had characterized and disgraced the earlier struggles which occurred on the American continent.

The chief heroes of this great battle were Generals Samuel R. Curtis and Franz Sigel. The former was born in Ohio in 1807. He entered West Point in 1831, and was breveted second lieutenant of the seventh infantry. He resigned in 1832, and studied and practiced law in Ohio, but

SKETCHES OF GENERALS CURTIS AND SIGEL.

203 soon turned his attention to civil engineering; and in 1837 became chief engineer of the Muskingum river improvements. At a later period he became engineer of the Board of Public Works of the State of Ohio. In 1846 he was appointed adjutant-general of that State. During the Mexican war he served as colonel of the third Ohio regiment; became assistant-adjutant-general to General Wool, and subsequently civil and military governor of Saltillo, Matamoras, Camargo, and Monterey. Returning to the United States, he commenced or resumed the practice of the law; but abandoned it upon being chosen chief engineer of the Des Moines railroad in Iowa. He was afterward elected a Representative of Iowa in the Thirty-Fifth Congress; and was twice rechosen. When the Rebellion broke forth Colonel Curtis raised a regiment in Iowa, of which he took the chief command. He resigned his seat in Congress, and having been made a brigadier-general, assisted General Fremont in Missouri. In January, 1862, he left Rolla with twenty thousand men, drove Sterling Price from Springfield, routed him at Cross Hollow, and crowned his victorious career by his splendid victory at Pea Ridge. In reward for his valuable and gallant services, he was afterward promoted to the rank of major-general.

A far different kind of interest appertains to the history of Franz Sigel. He was nursed in the revolutionary storms of the old world; and when triumphant despots there succeeded in arresting the spirit of liberty, he emigrated to the home of the free in the far West. He was born in Baden in the year 1824, and received his education at the military school at Carlsruhe. His rise in his profession was rapid. In 1847 he had attained the rank of chief adjutant; and was regarded as one of the most accomplished officers of artillery in Germany. In 1848 the revolutionary movements commenced in that country, and his enthusiastic spirit soon enlisted him in the service of those who sought to disenthrall the German Fatherland from the dominion of its hereditary tyrants. He was appointed to the chief command of one of the armies of the Liberals, and in several engagements distinguished himself by gallantry and skill. On one occasion he confronted eighty thousand men with thirty thousand; and though a victory against such immense odds was impossible, he made good his retreat without the loss of men or guns. The conclusion of the war and the subjugation of the patriots compelled him to flee. After various changes and vicissitudes he was chosen professor in a college at St. Louis, in which, among other departments of science, he gave instructions in the military art. When the Southern Rebellion began, it was the signal for Sigel to abandon the peaceful pursuits of academic life, and re-enter the stormy arena of conflict. Such a man as Sigel, in such a time, and in such a cause, could not possibly remain inactive. He took the lead among the gallant Germans of Missouri who tenderea their services to the Federal Government. He assumed the command of

« PreviousContinue »