Civil War Troop Movements
Both the Confederate and
Union armies of the Civil War used a number of roads and trails
across Northwest Arkansas leading up to the battles at Pea Ridge
and Prairie Grove.
Pea Ridge National Battlefield Park
The Battle of Pea Ridge, often erroneously
referred to as the largest battle west of the Mississippi, was
in fact the most strategically decisive Civil War battle ever
fought west of the great river. It crushed the best efforts of
the Confederates to reestablish a presence in Missouri, guaranteeing
that state’s political loyalty to the Union. From a military
standpoint, it permanently shifted the balance of power in the
region to the Union, making possible other larger campaigns for
control of the strategic Mississippi river. [Click
here for more…]
Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park
On December 7, 1862, the Confederate Army
of the Trans-Mississippi clashed with the Union Army of the Frontier
just west of Fayetteville at Prairie Grove. The bloody battle
resulted in about 2,700 casualties in a day of fierce fighting.
Today the Prairie Grove Battlefield State
Park is recognized nationally as one of America's most intact
Civil War battlefields. The park protects the battle site and
interprets the Battle of Prairie Grove. You can walk along the
ridge and into the valley where the heaviest fighting took place
and see wayside exhibits on the 1-mile Battlefield Trail, or travel
the park's 6 1/2-mile Driving Tour.
Exhibits, tours and other programs describe
the battle and its local effect. The park hosts Arkansas's largest
battle reenactment on the first weekend of December on even-numbered
years.
[Click here
for more…]
