Hindman's combat and tactical strategies

This map visualizes both Union and Confederate significant commanders during the battle of Praire Grove.

During the Civil War, it was a known fact that the Confederates were at a severe disdvantage in terms of sheer man power. At the begenning of the war both armies were at near equilivalent strength, but as years went on, around 1863, the Union army outnumbered the Confederate army by a ratio of two to one. The Union army amounted to nearly 600,000 troops at this time. knowing this, Major General Thomas C. Hindman and the Confederates were forced to use less popular or uncommon fighting tactics. One of the most significant styles they utilized was Guerilla Warfare. Guerilla Warfare is a fighting style in which the attackers use the element of surprise by taking advantage of their enviromental sorroundings as concealment. This allowed for successful surprise attacks that resulted in very few casualties and rewarded heavily for the confederates. This helped the confederates gain a little bit of a upper hand when they using this war tactic against the union. 

Thomas C. Hindman and his army of the trans-Mississippi on December 6th, (one day before the battle of Praire Grove) obtained infromation that Union Commander James Blunt had just requested reinforcements from two divions of the Union frontier because he believed the confederates would attack him soon. Knowing that reinforcements would soon be at Blunt's side, Hindman and his subordinates decided to intercept the reiforcements at Praire Grove on December 7, 1862. The Confederates were able to push back the Union cavalry until Herron and his division was able to force them back to the top of praire grove ridge were the Union would unleash artillery fire on them. This would allow for Union infantry to capture the Confederates artillery. Hindman, knowing that the Union had superior technology, strategically camoflauged his men in the woods just past the Praire Grove Ridge. When the Union infantry advanced past the captured artillery, the Confederates surged out from the woods launching a fierce counter-attack. General Herron and General Hindman would go back and forth, not gaining much ground against either sides, advancing and retreating many different times. Lastly, upon the arrival of commander James Blunt, Herron and his divisions were saved. Hindman moved his troops off of Reed's mountain to skirmish with Blunt's troops. During this time, the Confederates faught the federal troops in the nearby woods until Blunt gave the command to fall back into the cannon fire line. Believing that this was an opportunity to win the battle, Brigadier General Moseby. M. Parsons asked Genreal Hindman if he could launch a counter-attack to try and finish the Union off. Hindman allows it, Parsons and his infantry charge across the William Morton Hayfield at around 4P.M. As the Confederates advanced, they were met with devastating artillery and cannon fire causing for an immediate retreat into the darkness. As nightfall arrived, the savage battle had subsided. Both sides truced to care for the wounded and dead. Following, the confederates covered their cannons and ammunition and retreated into the night as the Union army stayed the night on the battle field of Priare Grove to ensure the tactical victory over the confederates. Overall, Hindman had great battle ideas and strategies like guerilla warfare and precise counter-attacks. Though Hindman's strategy was sound, the Union had too much of an advantage in terms of man power due to the Unions ability to reinforce their army on the battlefield with things like food, ammo, weapons, and men.

1.) “Thomas C. Hindman.” Wikipedia, October 23, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Hindman.