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Kurz & Allison Battle of Pea Ridge, Ark.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00317.01 Author/Creator: Kurz & Allison Place Written: Chicago, Illinois Type: Print Date: 1889 Pagination: 1 lithograph : col. ; 53 x 71.3 cm. Order a Copy

Published by Kurz & Allison, Art Publishers at 76 and 78 Wabash Avenue in Chicago. Depicts a charging column of mixed Confederate calvary and infantry on the right side of the image. Most of the Confederate calvary are American Indians dressed in traditional garb, feather headdresses, and spears. Lower right foreground has a particularly detailed rendering of an Indian. Union lines are held by a mixture of infantry and artillerymen. Several Federal calvaryman are situated in the lower left foreground. Only two men lay wounded or killed, one on each side of the battle. Smoke is depicted throughout, but no blood is visible. The landscape is hilly and grey with leafless trees scattered throughout. Below the Union side of the lithograph is a listing of the units in the battle: "March 5' to 8' 1862_3'15'25'35'36'37'44'59' Ill., 2'3'12'15'17'24' & Phelp's Mo., 8'18' & 22' Ind., 3'4' & 9' Iowa, Inf._1'4'5' & 6' Mo., Cav._B&F 2'Mo, 2' Ohio, 1' Ind., x A, 2' Ill. Art." Paper discoloration because of matting around the image. Small tear has left a piece of the right border missing.

On the night of March 6, 1862 Major General Earl Van Dorn set out to outflank the Union position near Pea Ridge, dividing his army into two columns. Learning of Van Dorn’s approach, the Federals marched north to meet his advance on March 7. This movement—compounded by the killing of two generals, Brigadier General Ben McCulloch and Brigadier General James McQueen McIntosh, and the capture of their ranking colonel—halted the Rebel attack. Van Dorn led a second column to meet the Federals in the Elkhorn Tavern and Tanyard area. By nightfall, the Confederates controlled Elkhorn Tavern and Telegraph Road. The next day, Major General Samuel R. Curtis, having regrouped and consolidated his army, counterattacked near the tavern and by successfully employing his artillery, slowly forced the Rebels back. Running short of ammunition, Van Dorn abandoned the battlefield. The Union controlled Missouri for the next two years.

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