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The Battle Of Pea Ridge

The battle at Pea Ridge was an interesting battle for lots of reasons. It was in many ways an extenuation of Wilson’s Creek that took place just outside of Springfield, Missouri.

There were many German immigrants who took part in both battles. These were not the Germans who came mostly from west of the Rhein River in the 1700 and settled in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. These were men who had for the most part fled Baden, Hessen, and Bavaria because of the attempted revolution in what is now Germany in 1848/49. These men under Friedrich Hecker, Franz Sigel, and others had attempted to unite the German states under one country and promote freedom from the Kings, Princes, and Dukes that were subduing the population. They initially had success, but the Bavarian and Prussian Armies were too much for the rebels.

There were large numbers of Germans who fled to the US during the years just prior to our Civil War. Nearly all were in favor of a strong central government after their experiences in what is now Germany and therefore sided with the Union. Their prior military experience in Germany made them natural soldiers when the war broke out.

There are several books written on the fighting which took place in Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas. Probably the best one is “Borderland Rebellion by Elmo Ingenthron. It was published in 1980 by the Ozark Mountaineer. It is no doubt still available directly from the Ozark Mountaineer, Route 3, Branson, MO 65616.

There were several German-speaking commanders at both Wilson Creek and Pea Ridge: Franz Sigel discussed above was a regimental commander at Wilson Creek and a division commander at Pea Ridge. Peter Joseph Osterhaus commanded a regiment at Wilson Creek and a brigade at Pea Ridge. Others include Schäfer and Schützenbach who commanded artillery units.

Here is a short description of the battle at Pea Ridge:

On 7 and 8 March 1862, Union troops led by Springfieldian Colonel J. S. Phelps took part and helped win the battle of Pea Ridge Arkansas. Phelps' mother, Mary, cared for many of the 2,500 casualties.

Many of those taking part were the same troops who had faced each other just seven months before near Springfield. The Union called the earlier battle Wilson's Creek while the Southerners called its Bloody Hill. Again, each side had their own name for this battle……..Pea Ridge by the North and Elkhorn Tavern by the South.

The Union troops were largely volunteers from SW Missouri and German immigrants from the St. Louis area and Illinois. There were also Union troops from Iowa and Ohio.

The Southern troops were a strange mixture of Missouri and Arkansas volunteers, Texas Rangers, Louisiana Pelican Guard, and more than 3,600 Indians. Some of the Southern troops were peace-loving neutralist from Northern Arkansas who were forced to serve. The Indians were a mixture of different tribes and were for the most part mounted on little ponies. The warriors’ faces were embellished with war paint. Some carried rifles, but about half carried bows and arrows, tomahawks, and war clubs.

The Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas saw nearly 25,000 men engage in desperate combat. The Northern forces under General Curtis numbered over 14,000 with about 50 pieces of artillery. The South fielded about 10,500 with 49 pieces of artillery. More than 30% of the Southern troops were Indians. The odds in this battle were in favor of the North unlike the Battle at Wilson’s Creek a few months earlier.

The North won the battle, but both sides paid a heavy price. Reports vary as to the total number of men killed and wounded, but conservative estimates place the figure at more than 2,500 or 10% of the total force.

Colonel John Phelps of Springfield (he has a street, school, and park named after him in Springfield) commanded the Phelps Missouri Regiment composed mostly of men from SW Missouri. He had seven officers killed or wounded, 11 enlisted men killed, and 74 wounded, captured or missing. The Ninth Iowa suffered 218 casualties.

Many members the “German” regiments from St. Louis and Illinois suffered an especially horrible fate. The Confederate Indians were pitted against them and the dead and wounded Germans were subject to scalping and mutilation.

The commander of the Iowa troops was wounded and captured by the Rebels. In time, he recovered and was exchanged. He was later promoted to Brigadier General and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism at Pea Ridge.

P. J. Osterhaus and Franz Sigel were veterans of the unsuccessful 1848 democratic revolution in Germany and fled to the United States and became US citizens. They each commanded German regiments from St. Louis and parts of Illinois. Both were later promoted to Brigadier General and took part in many battles later in the war such as Gettysburg and Second Manassas.

This page was last updated on: June 15 2010 08:04:02