Cleveland Morning Leader US
THE BATTLE AND VICTORY OF
PRAIRIE GROVE.
The following details of the splendid victory won by General Herron, at Prairie Grove, Arkansas we copy from the correspondence of the St. Louis Democrat. As will be seen by the account, that officer has proved himself possessed of true military capacity, although he is but twenty-six years of age.' The result of the battle, when the terrible disparity of numbers is considered seven thousand federals against twenty-six thousand rebel something unparalleled In the history of the war, and stamps every man in General Herron's army as a hero. General Blunt came up at just the right time, and managed his artillery with splendid effect. Altogether, there has been no more brilliant victory since the war commenced. A portion of the Second Ohio Cavalry were with General Blunt. The account says:
PRAIRIE GROVE, Arkansas Dec. 8.
There has just been another great battle in north western Arkansas, exceeding in fierceness that famous contest at Pea Ridge, as was remarked by some of the veterans who were present on both the
occasions alluded to. The details are as follows:
General Blunt had advanced some twenty miles south of Fayetteville, Arkansas, with his forces, and there drawn the attack of Hindman, who advanced upon him rapidly from Van Buren, with about
30.000 troops and twenty-two pieces of artillery. Blunt, with his little band of 10,000 men at Cane Hill, would have been but a mouthful for such an immense army of well-disciplined soldiery as this. He knew his danger, and sent hurried messages to General Herron, who has the command of the second and third divisions of the Army of the Frontier, and was at that time at Wilson's Creek, four miles south of Springfield, Missouri. I he moment General Herron received intelligence of General Blunt s danger, he set his army in motion, and made forced marches, accomplishing the feat of pushing his infantry 113 miles in three days, and his cavalry 132 miles in two days and a half.
On the morning of the 7th inst., as the advance guard, consisting of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry, and a portion of the 6th and 7th Missouri Cavalry, were entering a wood upon the south bank of Illinois creek, ten miles south of Fayetteville, they were fired upon from ambush and thrown into a panic that resulted in a rout, and the loss of their baggage train of twenty-four wagons. They went flying back two or three miles until they met the main body, when they were rallied once more. Major Hubbard, of Pea Ridge fame, with a portion of two companies of the 1st Missouri Cavalry, tried to stem the tide of rebels, but without success. Their superior numbers bore down everything before them, and among others this little band. Major Hubbard himself and two of his lieutenants were captured, and the remainder forced to retreat at double quick. Our infantry were soon brought forward. and a few pieces of artillery got into position that sent the bold scoundrels back rapidly as they came. General Herron followed up his advantage as quickly as possible, and soon found himself in contact with the main rebel force.
This splendid army, contrary to our expectations, was well-clothed, well-armed, and well-fed, and better drilled than our own soldiery. It consisted of a corps of 26,000 men, commanded by General Hindman, and was in four divisions, command respectively by Generals Parsons, Marmaduke, Rains and Frost, and was supported by a park of artillery of twenty-two guns. Besides this, they had a great advantage in position. The battlefield was a magnificent stretch of open ground. skirted on the east by an abrupt hill, covered with thick woods. On this bluff, concealed by the forest, were posted the rebels in full force.
Our forces only numbered 6,500 or 7,000, and consisted of the following infantry : The 94th and 37th Illinois ; the 18th and 20th Iowa ; the 25th Indiana and 20th Wisconsin. In addition to these were four companies of artillery, who worked twenty-four guns and some half a dozen companies of cavalry. Our men were worn down by a long and continuous forced march, and some of them had been without food for twenty-four hours. However, when the ball opened, they deployed into the field with loud huzzas, and went the work in hand with great bravery. It took some little time to get into position and place the batteries in the most commanding localities, and it was fully ten o'clock A. M. before the artillery duet was in full voice. As may be imagined, forty-five or fifty cannon well-manned and discharged as rapidly as possible, make a tremendous racket. This was kept up un dark, when by that time green troops, who had never seen a cannon before, laid down within a yard of a gun unconcernedly and slept, undisturbed by the firing. We not lose a single man throughout the whole day by artillery, though a score or two of horses were killed. Our gunners were much more skilled and precise in their aim than the rebels, which was shown by the result.
Upon the bluff, or ridge occupied by the secesh, were many fine farm-houses, which been erected upon the elevation to escape the damps and vapors of the plain below. From the rear or two of these houses was kept up a well-directed fire of some eight or nine guns. General Herron ordered the whole fire of our artillery be directed upon the one nearest to us, and silenced it in ten minutes.
The 20th Wisconsin infantry, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Bertram, then charged the hill and took the battery upon a double-quick. They had no sooner gained possession of the well-earned prize, than rebels arose in myriads from the bushes in the rear of the garden containing the battery in question, and poured a into the ranks of our boys that sent their columns reeling back down the declivity again, with great loss of life and limb. In this struggle 197 were reported officially as killed and wounded.
Within twenty minutes afterward, the 10th Iowa, - with the gallantry characteristic of the soldiers of that State, essayed the vain feat with similar ill success. They performed deeds of valor almost incredible, and shed their blood in torrents, but it was all useless. They retook the battery, and were on the point of removing it within our lines, when the rebels poured in upon them in endless numbers and forced them back with great slaughter. Lieutenant Colonel McFarland, who led this glorious charge, lost his life, and many privates also were left upon the field. The color bearer rallied the regiment twice, and led them up to the very cannon's mouth. This battery was afterward entirely disabled, the horses killed, and gun carriages broken to pieces by the fire of our batteries, which hit their mark precisely at a distance of more than a mile, with missiles discharged from Parrott guns. Five caissons filled with ammunition were subsequently captured and brought away.
The different rebel batteries were silenced one by one, until the booming of the cannon had nearly ceased. The enemy perceived that nothing could be accomplished at long range, so they massed themselves upon our front and both flanks and commenced moving forward to capture our batteries. Immense hordes came out of the woods on our left and spread upon the field, looking from a distance like a nest of ants. Our infantry seemed a mere handful in comparison to this multitude, but they held them in check while Cole's battery ran up and stuck their guns under their very noses and fired canister into them with such deadly effect as to cause them first to pause in their career, then lie down, and finally hastily to retreat. Again they made their appearance still farther on the left, in a number equal, apparently, to our entire force. Their batteries again opened fire briskly, and for a time the fortunes of the battle seemed against us. The immense and overwhelming odds enabled them to harass and approach us from three directions. The greatest discouraging circumstance, however was in the fact that a new battery had opened a heavy fire at our extreme right, nearly two miles from our center. This was at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. A good portion of our infantry was fearfully cut up and nearly disheartened.
Everything, nearly, pointed to a defeat our forces. Murphy's battery, a portion of Backof’s and the Peoria battery, kept pouring a gauling fire into the opposing forces. The men were again rallied and at half past three the flippity-whiz of the shells, the booming of the cannon, and the continuous roll of musketry told us that our boys were determined to hold the field if possible, till dark.
The rebels fought desperately, and seemed no more to regard a shower of bullets or a storm of grape than if it had been but a summer wind. No sooner had a solid shot ploughed its way through their columns, or a shell opened a gap in their lines, than the vacancies were filled by others. They advanced steadily, once more upon our left, and there, we knew, would be the hottest tug of the day. "The darkest just before the dawn," some one has said; 'twas so in our case. By a bold movement the rebels were once more checked, and just then the word came that firing upon our extreme right was that General Blunt, who had arrived with a strong battery and about five thousand men. This intelligence added new courage to our men and sent a vigor into every movement, that meant victory or death.
General Blunt ranged his twenty-four pieces in a line and opened a galling fire upon the left wing of the rebel army, and drew a portion of their attention toward his forces. They advanced upon him from the woods at a double-quick in eight ranks, seemingly half a mile long. They went down a gentle slope, with an easy prey apparently in view. When they had got a certain point within cannister range, he opened his entire fire upon them, "fairly lifting them from the ground," as he afterward described it. This checked their impetuosity and put terror into their hearts, but still they went on. Another and another volley was given them until they broke and tied, and when the remnant of this storming party had left the field the ground was strewn and piled with rebel slain. In the meantime our boys had not been idle. They pressed the enemy hotly at every point, and as the sun went down they were falling back in every direction. Before it had become fully dark, the only sounds of firing heard were those of our musketry and cannon. The field was won and the victory gained.
At nine o’clock of the same evening the enemy were in full retreat toward Van Buren, and at daylight this morning they were twelve miles away. A more complete and glorious victory never was obtained. As soon as the pall of night had descended upon their motions a perfect stampede took place. Everything this morning denotes a hasty flight and great least we should pursue them. Although their force was large enough to crush as completely-in fact, annihilate us-and were well equipped and handled, our little army of comparatively inexperienced troops effected a brilliant repulse and won unquestionable victory. This morning the contested ground and every inch of the battlefield are in our hands, and the only rebels in view are the piles of dead and the ambulance parties carrying away the wounded.
Long before daylight Gen. Marmaduke came with a flag of truce and remained for two hours, evidently with a view of creating delay. He had no sooner reported back to his command than another message was received requesting an interview with Gens. Blunt and Herron. This consumed three hours more, and by that time their army was at a safe distance.
The ruse was perfectly transparent, yet the game had progressed too far to be stopped without transgressing the etiquette of war before their intention was fully divined.
The weather of the 7th was delightful. The sun shown clearly in a cloudless sky, and the air was as balmy and quiet as on a June morning. It was remarked by many old soldiers that if the continent had been searched it would have been impossible to have selected a more beautiful field of battle than that of Prairie Grove.
General Herron's forces entered it from the northern extremity, and those of Gen Blunt from the southern. The rebels were posted upon the hills and in the woods for four miles along the eastern side of the field, while our batteries occupied the elevations upon the western side, a little more than a mile from the rebel lines. The intervening space was firm sward, ploughed fields, stubble land, standing corn, and a narrow strip of brushwood, which skirted a little brook running through the middle of the valley. This open country was held by our infantry, and there they went through their manoeuvres in full view of General Herron, who, for a good portion of the time, occupied a little hill near Murphy's battery, on the western side of the field. There could be witnessed the whole of this intensely exciting strife, not a movement of which escaped the quick attention of our young commander. , The brilliant but disastrous charges made by the 20th Wisconsin and 16th Iowa upon the rebel battery were as plainly to be seen as the moves upon a chess-board. The swarms upon swarms of rebels that came trooping out of the wood upon our left in numbers sufficient to appal a heart less strong than that of our commander, were as openly seen with their gleaming muskets and flaunting banners, as if it had been a holiday parade, instead of the hottest battle that has taken place this side of the Mississippi. As an imposing spectacle, it was one of the most terrific, and, at the same time, magnificent sights imaginable.
Our loss is roughly estimated at 800 and wounded. Col. McFarland, of the 19th Iowa, is killed. Major Hubbard, of the 1st Missouri cavalry, was taken prisoner. Col. Black, of the 37th Illinois, and Major Wm. Thompson, of the 20th Iowa are slightly wounded. Capt. McDermott and Lieut. Brinknuff, of the 20th Wisconsin, are killed. Several other commissioned officers are wounded, but none of them dangerously. One or two field officers in Gen. Blunt’s command were severely wounded. I have not been able to learn his loss.
The rebel losses as nearly as can be ascertained are three to our one. Their officers and their deserters all admit that they lost in killed and wounded over two thousand. Very few prisoners were taken on either side, and all of them were paroled this morning.
This defeat has been a most disastrous affair to the rebels. The country around about Fort Smith and Van Buren has been gleaned of every particle of forage and provisions for a distance of fifty miles. So Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri are regarded by them as a sort of promised land, flowing with sorghum and hominy.
The rebel expedition was carefully fitted out with comfortable clothing, abundant supplies of flood, and the best of arms and ammunition. The muskets were a complete copy of the Enfield gun, and stamped "C.S.A, Richmond, Virginia," though they were undoubtedly made in England. A large number of them were captured, and all showed the most perfect finish and workmanship. The packages of cartridges were stamped "J. D. Lowe, .Birmingham." A portion of some few of their regiments were composed of conscript, and when these men were exposed to a fire they had a regiment of cavalry posted behind them, with orders to shoot them down if they did not fight. Every arrangement and exertion was made to place the chances of victory beyond a peradventure. They are now beaten back beyond the Boston Mountains again, disheartened and completely demoralized.
The whole country north of the Arkansas river is at our mercy, and nothing remains for us to do but to enter and take possession. Gen. Herron has added new laurels to his bright reputation, and, as may be supposed, he is the idol of his men. Our Government has in him a vigorous and skilful General and a sleepless soldier.
The Army or the frontier can now march forward to new conquests, with the prestige of a most glorious victory. You will hear from us next upon the banks of the Arkansas river.