War in the West: Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove

by William L. Shea, Grady McWhiney (Editor)

Overview

Early 1862, Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis drive Confederate forces led by Brigadier General Sterling Price out of Missouri and into Arkansas. The Confederates, now representing combined forces under General Earl Van Dorn, Commander of the Trans-Mississippi District, counter-attack and strike Curtis's isolated Union army at Pea Ridge in March 1862. Despite being outnumbered and almost surrounded, the Union army wins a stunning victory. Nine months later, a new Confederate army under Major General Thomas C. Hindman tries again. At Prairie Grove in early December, a furious and bitter battle results in another Confederate defeat. The matter of Missouri is decided on two cold, rocky battlefields atop the Ozark Plateau in Northwestern Arkansas. Never again would the Confederates make a serious effort to recover Missouri; never again would they make a serious effort to stop the conquest of Arkansas. The story of dramatic campaigns, ferocious battles, and grim heroism that decided the outcome of the Civil War west of the Mississippi. William L. Shea holds a Ph.D. from Rice University and is Professor of History at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He is co-author, with Earl Hess, of Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West, an alternate selection of the History Book Club and the Book-of-the-Month Club.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781893114296
Publisher:	State House/McWhiney Foundation Press
Publication date:	04/03/2012
Series:	Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	539,062
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

WILLIAM L. SHEA holds a Ph.D. from Rice University and is Professor of History at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He is co-author, with Earl Hess, of Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West, an alternate selection of the History Book Club and the Book-of-the-Month Club.

Table of Contents

1.	Beyond the Mississippi	13
2.	The Union Offensive	24
3.	The Confederate Counteroffensive	34
4.	The Battle of Pea Ridge: Leetown	43
5.	The Battle of Pea Ridge: Elkhorn Tavern	55
6.	Confederate Resurgence	73
7.	Return of the Armies	86
8.	The Battle of Prairie Grove	94
9.	The Final Act	104
Appendix A	Organization of Federal Forces at Pea Ridge	108
Appendix B	Organization of Confederate Forces at Pea Ridge	110
Appendix C	Organization of Federal Forces at Prairie Grove	113
Appendix D	Organization of Confederate Forces at Prairie Grove	116
	Further Reading	118
	Index	121