Life before the Civil War

Thomas Ewing:

Thomas Ewing was born in the northern state on Ohio August 18^th, 1829¹. He attended Cornell and started his professional career as an attorney in Leavenworth in the Kansas territory. This led him to become the first justice of the Kansas Supreme Court when the state entered the Union in 1861² and was picked to be the representative from Kansas at the 1861 peace convention ³. However, Ewing’s time in public office would be cut short when the Civil War broke out, as he resigned his position as Chief Justice and helped recruit the Kansas 11^th Calvary ⁴. His leadership of multiple Kansas regiments during the battle of Prairie Grove, along with brave fighting and tactical understanding of the battlefield (such as how the hills and roads could be used as advantage points for his soldiers) ⁵; earned him the rank of brigadier general. Ewing’s life before the war is different than most of the common foot soldiers of the civil war, he was educated and held a high up and important political office in the state government of Kansas, but his willingness to fight and background as leader in the state of Kansas was a unique feature that allowed Ewing to have success on the battlefield.

Ewing's prewar activity such as being the Such as being the delegate of Kansas to the peace convention seems to be at odds with serving in the army, both Ewing and his father also hoped that peace with the South could be attainable instead of drawing the sword against his fellow countrymen⁶. Such as being the delegate of Kansas to the peace convention seems to be at odds with serving in the army, both Ewing and his father also hoped that peace with the South could be attainable instead of drawing the sword against his fellow countrymen ⁷. However, Ewing still resigns from his post as Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court to serve in the army. Ewing did have some motivation to join the ranks of the Union army, his three other brother joined as well (one his foster brothers went William Sherman went on to become the famous general who marched to Atlanta)⁸. The pre-war life of Thomas Ewing doesn’t tell the full story of the man who goes on to become a brave leader at the battle of Prairie Grove, and shows that ones motivations for joining the conlfict didn't always align with mtoviations of the thousands of others who pciked up arms for the Union.

Henry Elliot Thompson:

One of the few accounts of a foot soldier at Prairie Grove is written by a soldier Henry Elliot Thompson, and is the main subject of a Journal article written by Kim Allen Scott detailing the dairy of Henry during his service in the Arkansas campaign. Henery Elliot was one of four siblings born in Cooperstown Pennsylvania on March 13^th, 1841⁹. He eventually moved with his family to Wisconsin and would be in the same area when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Because Wisconsin was a somewhat of a Republican stronghold during the election of 1860, state militia units were already forming in Wisconsin; Henry’s brother decided to join one of these early in the war¹⁰. Henry’s brother ended up becoming sick, and with the need for more Union volunteers, Henry in 1862 decided to join the ranks of the Union army. Scott mentions in the beginning of his observation of Henry’s journal that the life of the common foot-soldier before the war wasn’t well recorded¹¹, the lives of these soldiers seem to be lost in the record books of history. Like Henry Thompson most of the common soldiers fighting in Prairie Grove came from humble backgrounds like laborers or farmers, which makes the lack of a historical record understandable (pictures were a luxury and weren't common among those who were "lower class")

Henry’s motivation for joining the war effort isn’t clearly understood in the eyes of Scott, due to the lack of primary source material of available to him. However, Henry’s brother being sick while fighting in the Union army could be an explanation, as the pull to serve the Union cause while his brother lay sick¹².  The story of Henry Thompson is similar to the hundreds of other foot-soldiers who fought in the battle and Prairie Grove. The dairy of an unknown Iowa 19^th Infantry member found at the battle of Prairie Grove, tells a similar story¹³. While the solider is unknown, the same humble beginning is present, along with the descriptions of the recruitment process¹⁴. The importance of understanding the “unimportant past” of the Prairie Grove soldiers is imperative when examining the impact that the battle had on the minds of the young soldiers. In this unknown dairy, the author talks about the bloodshed and screams form the battlefield, the horror of conflict and warfare¹⁵. These descriptions are very new to these soldiers, as in their past much of them were farmers or laborers not exposed to the horror of the battlefield.

Francis Asbury Shoup:

Francis Asbury Shoup went on to become a confederate general present at the battle of Prairie Grove, but was born in the Northern state of Indiana on March 22^nd, 1834¹⁶. The pre-war life of Francis Shoup is one of intrigue and betrayal and is a prime example why the pre-war life of soldiers are important to study. He received his education at West Point military academy, and was stationed down in Florida to help rid the “Seminole” problem in the state¹⁷. With a military record and a well-connected family in the North, it seemed like Francis Shoup was destined for military success when the Civil War broke out in 1861. However, Francis Shoup and his family were both ardent Democrats, Shoup even ran as district attorney for Indianapolis a position he ran for after resigning as leader of the Indiana militia under odd circumstances¹⁸. Instead of fighting for his home state and the Union, Francis Shoup decided to move down to Charleston and fight for the Confederate, as he didn’t support the goals of the Union, and knew because to the amount of success that Lincoln had in the 1960; there was no place in the North for opposition ¹⁹. His unquie background as an Union and northern resident moving to the South to pick up arms was written about extensively.²⁰

The unique story of Francis Shoup shows the motivations that led the soldier to fight in the Civil War. Pre-war life gives an insight into why someone might have the motivation to fight for one side over the other, and in the case of Francies Shoup this is true. Shoup called his move to the South courageous while others called it cowardice, but his motivations for doing so are rooted in understanding his pre-war life.