The Battle of Prairie Grove
The Battle of Prairie Grove is one of the lesser-known battles of the Civil War. For one thing, the battle was a tactical draw involving modest-sized forces. It took place on the western edge of the Confederacy, far from population, media, and political centers. It did not involve famous military commanders. And within weeks, major battles involving much larger armies at Fredericksburg, VA, Chickasaw Bayou (near Vicksburg), MS, and Murfreesboro, TN, eclipsed Prairie Grove.
Yet the battle is significant for a variety of reasons. Above all, the battle took place at a decisive point in the war politically and militarily. Like the three better-known battles listed above, Prairie Grove was the result of Union and Confederate efforts to gain the upper hand at a crucial point in the war.
On the Union side, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862. The proclamation was scheduled to take effect January 1, 1863. Lincoln urgently sought military victories in late 1862 to show that Union victory and emancipation were inevitable. His concern was well-founded. In the fall congressional elections, Democrats showed a resurgence in the North, eroding the Republican Party’s dominance, though Republicans retained both houses of Congress. Democrats had tapped into public concerns about the cost of the war, threats to civil liberties, and emancipation. Volunteer enlistments lagged in the summer, and a mandated state quota system failed to supply enough troops. Without Union victories in December, Lincoln feared, Union war gains might be rolled back by opponents of the war in 1863.
On the Confederate side, President Jefferson Davis faced a grim picture by November 1862. Specifically, the Confederate States of America’s (CSA) summer offensives had failed on all fronts. Major CSA defeats at Antietam, Corinth, and Perryville in the fall left the Davis administration on its heels, its armies battered. The defeats had grave political and diplomatic consequences. France and Britain had seemed on the verge of recognizing the CSA as a sovereign nation in August 1862. But the pattern of military failure in all key theaters, coupled with Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, gave Britain pause. Furthermore, the failure of Northern Democrats to capture the US Congress made a peaceful end to the war unlikely. Last, the CSA was running out of men. The CSA had enacted national conscription in spring 1862. Yet resistance to the draft and high desertion rates left CSA ranks thin by the end of 1862. The stakes were very high for Davis as 1863 approached: could the CSA armies defeat the Yankees and, thereby, show Europe that the CSA could win independence, strengthen the peace movement in the North, and revivify the Rebel cause in the South?
The stage was set in November 1862 for a series of dramatic events across all theaters of the war as the Union and Confederacy desperately struggled to gain the upper hand in the war—including the tiny farming community near Prairie Grove Church in the northwestern corner of Arkansas.
The Significance of the Battle of Prairie Grove
The main goal of the Prairie Grove class project is to conduct an investigation of the battle and determine its significance.
A logical starting point is to test conventional interpretations of the battle’s significance. Historians generally agree on two main points: that the Battle of Prairie Grove was a tactical draw, yet the CSA suffered a strategic defeat. The traditional analysis of the battle argues that CSA forces under Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman succeeded in surprising part of Union Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt’s forces, but neither side could claim victory as they could not drive the other from the field. However, the Union “won” strategically in most scholars’ evaluation. This is because Hindman’s campaign objective was to a) drive Union forces out of northwest Arkansas in preparation for an invasion of Missouri: b) link up with CSA forces in the Indian Territory and Texas to drive Union armies out of the region; c) establish CSA civil authority in northwest Arkansas to conduct the draft and suppress unionist activity among the civilian population. However, after achieving a tactical victory at Prairie Grove, Hindman withdrew, leaving the battlefield—and northwest Arkansas—in Union control. Hindman attempted to claim victory (you can read his letters in the Official Records), but he was unconvincing. The region remained a Rebel objective. The CSA would attempt two more raids in the area in 1863 under Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke & Maj. Gen. Sterling Price., respectively But Prairie Grove all but ended the CSA’s bid to gain control of northern Arkansas, Missouri, and the Indian Territory.
For the Union, on the other hand, Prairie Grove nearly brought disaster to its dispersed forces. But the retreat of CSA forces on December 8 freed US forces in the area, enabling the Union to attempt to pacify the rebel population while transferring combat units to support operations around Vicksburg in 1863.
These circumstances enable us to use Prairie Grove as a case study of why and how the Union began to slowly win the Civil War in late 1862—despite racking up tactical defeats in all 4 of the major battles that December. Also, the battle gives us an opportunity to investigate other factors that combined to bring the Union victory and the Confederacy defeat in the war.
The Confederate Army at the Battle of Prairie Grovepainting by Andy Thomas, Hindman's Arkansas attack through a cut hayfield in a vain attempt to disrupt Blunt as he deployed.
Portrait Photo of General Samuel R. CurtisAn upper body portrait photo of General Samuel R. Curtis
Model 1861 Rifle Musket DetailsClose up image of the Model 1861 Rifle Musket with details