Evening star. [volume], March 18, 1962, Page 14, Image 118

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
„/vx,
/Atil - —. < va¥Wv''nWrWi'l n! K
?al Jh®w*iqw«kf ki/WsSSOf^-' 7 ' 7
.vwffl X W/ y\/»w r , r ; Alt 11/W;*z ■ A-
Own '7WwlMijr\z
Z A J 2 t - '**
If I -frtfd 4 <Jn IM
- < ; ' ’
■■ a> i wMB Wfc
?s^Me?PwMke M- . kat., Aflk > ZKSHHMHOujtf A V--J ®c I ■MWLaMJH v J
9a' JraA
.-« ‘
,A w "
J-V xaEWwRWBMBMft gyBER&al
W 'W > MSur %•■
After getting pushed around in the early stages of
the two-day battle, the Federals, with a key maneu-
SAMUEL CURTIS
THE CIVIL WAR AS REPORTED BY THE STAR 100 YEARS AGO:
RebelMissouriDriveHalted At Pea Ridge
Compiled by
JOHN W. STEPP
Star Staff Writer
Background
IN THE latter half of 1861,
the fate of Western Mis
souri had washed back and
forth on the tides of war. The
Confederates of Ben McCul
loch and Sterling (Pap) Price
had won a solid victory at
Wilson’s Creek. Moving into
the vacuum created by the
Union retreat halfway back
to St. Louis, they had fol
lowed up by driving all the
way to Lexington, on the Mis
souri River, capturing thou
sands of prisoners and stands
of arms and ammunition.
The Rebels could hardly
stay in that exposed spot,
—however. Yankees were clos
ing in from every which way,
and the Confederate home
14
FRANZ SIGEL
bases in Arkansas were un
comfortably far away. Price
and McCulloch consequently
withdrew southward to win
ter around Springfield and
Keetsville, in Southwestern
Missouri.
Their armies were win
tering there when, in Febru
ary, Brig. Gen. Samuel Ryan
Curtis, New Yorker in Feder
al command of the sector,
moved to break up the con
centration. The Rebels forth
with backed across the State
line into Arkansas, where
they were halted in the Bos
ton Mountains near Fayette
ville by their new over-all
commander, Maj. Gen. Earl
Van Dorn, Mississippian
transplanted from the Vir
ginia operations. Van Dorn
was out to smash Curtis,
whose own lines were over
extended. When Curtis got
SUNDAY. THE STAR MAGAZINE. WASHINGTON. D. C., MARCH IS. 1»B2
. , e. i. j. . . .. BATTLES AND COMMANDERS
ver by Franz Sigel s divisions, rallied and drove Van
Dorn's army from their positions at Pea Ridge.
m y y
ben McCulloch
wind of the impending attack,
he arranged his forces along
The News in Brief
March 12—>News of battle
of Pea Ridge, Ark.,
reaches Washington,
Winchester, Va., evac
uated by Confederates
under Stonewall Jack
son.
March 14 —New Madrid,
Mo., on Mississippi
River, captured by Fed
eral! under John Pope;
New Bern, N. G, taken
by Federals of Ambrose
Burnside's command.
March 17—Federal Army
of the Potomac begins
embarking from Alex
andria for Fortress
Monroe.
an Ozark Mountain crest
called Pea Ridge, near a pub
in
STERLING PRICE
called Elkhorn Tavern. He
had about 11,000 men gen
erated by German-born Franz
Sigel and Peter Joseph Oster
haus, Hungarian-born Alex
ander Sandor Asbotb, Fort
Sumter veteran Jefferson Co
lumbus Davis and the fron
tier veteran, Eugene Asa
Carr, whom the Indians re
spectfrilly called “War Eagle.”
Van Dorn’s force included
not only Price’s and McCul
loch’s men, but Brig. Gen.
Albert Pike’s three regi
ments of Indians, mostly
Cherokees and Creeks.
Van Dorn struck early
March 7. The first that Wash
ingtonians heard of the fight
was Curtis’s official report,
which did not arrive until
five days later. The report
constituted the entire “news”
story that, appeared in The
Star. How well the readers
nrvEx
STAND WATIE
’Jp* vKSfts.
ALBERT PIKE
EARL VAN DORN
figured it out is anybody’s
guess.
From The Eveninc Star,
Wednesday, March 12, 1882
TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.
The Great Battle
in Arkansas.
THE COMBINEITREBEL ARMY
DEFEATED - DEATH OF
BEN M’CULLOCH - OFFI
CIAL REPORT OF GEN.
CURTIS.
ST. LOUIS, March 11.-The
following is the official report of
Gen. Curtis of the great battle
in Arkansas:
Headquarten Army of the Southwest.
Pta Ridge, Ar*., Marc* 9th
General:-On Thursday the
6th instant the enemy com
menced an attack on my right,
assailing and following the rear
guard of the detachment under
Gen. Sigel to my main lines on
Sugar Creek Hollow, but ceased
firing when he met my reinforce
ments, about 4 p.m.
‘ Continued on page 19