The Average Soldiers experience

The experince of the common soldier tells us something about the confict they fought in. For Prarie Grove it tells us two main things, first that the condition of the troop was less than steller, as they were excaused and over marched. Secondly it can tell us about the abject horror many soldiers felt during the battle and how the horror and power of the battle is reflected in their points of view. 
it must be recognized, however that these are from all Union sources, than thus may be biased to some extent. It is my belief that the Confederate experince at Prarie Grove was not that different from the Union experince, however it is still importnt to keep in mind that this only does depict one side of the battlefield. 

Charles DeWolf. 

Though Charles DeWolf was an officer, and thus not a common soldier, he was in active battle during the battle of Prarie Grove, and thus his Journal can tell us vitally important information about the experices of the Cavalry during the battle of Prarie Grove. 

From his Journal we know that the 7th Missouri Calvalry, the division DeWolf was a part of, was given orders to start marching as early as 2am1.  DeWolf later mentions that because of this order he would wake up at 1am in the morning 2. It is important to mention this because DeWolf was a lieutienent and it is likely the everyday soldiers were waking up even earlier in thier march to Fayetteville.

On the day of the battle, December 7th, DeWolf mentions that he had a "misrable time" trying to go sleep 3. There is nothing that I have read that would make me think an officer would have a harder time sleeping than the regular soldier, though it could be a personal problem. Later, he also describes some the men as the Colonel was giving orders. the day of Prarie Grove He says they were "Bearheaded" and missing saddles and armmements in some cases 4. The soldiers claimed that they were attacked by confederates, causing them to lose their gear, and to DeWolf at least it seemed true 5. This means at the very least some people went into the battle on December 7th without some of their gear, and thus, unprepared.

I think there are few moments in DeWolf's account that better descirbes the experinces of the Battle of Prarie Grovethan one line. As DeWolf is entering the battlefield he describes what he is seeing as "All the splendors and Horrors of a battlefeild," 6. From this I think it is fair to assume that while there was the traditional golry assosiated with battle, that it was also a horrific fight. 

Henry Elliott Thompson. 

The dairy of Corpral Henry Elliott Thompson is a valuable reasource in documenting the Trans-Mississippi war, and this is true of Prarie Grove. Thompson enlisted with the 20th Wisconston on July 19th 18621. The 20th Wisconston's first battle was the battle of Prarie Grove on december 7th 1862, showing us how th ordinary soldier at Prarie Grove may have lacked experince or extensive training.2

Thompson, like DeWolf describes a long and arduous match towards Fayetteville. For example, his entry for October 20th includes the line "Nothing to eat,"3  his November 5th entery describes the weather as "cold and windy,'4 and his December 5th entry from 2 days before Prarie Grove says "Hard march. Boys Tired."5 All of this reinforces the idea that the march too Fayetteville before the battle of prarie grove was grueling, leaving them exhausted and ultimately unprepared before the battle. 

We also know from Thompson's reports that at least parts of the battle occured within cornfields and that they even had to fire artillery among the fields.6 These areas are not known for having clear lines of sight, or for bein easy to fight in. At one point, Thompson mentions that they moved their fighting to the woods and that "Nearly half of both regiments fell." 7 Once again, this emphasizes the difficulty of the battle and even the bloodshed involved in it that I feel is vitally important to acknowlege. 

Henry Eliot Thompson also creates a list of the dead from his company, and often refers to the people within it as his "friends" 8. I simply wish to mention this because it does show a certain care that soldiers had for one antoher during this war. The care and comradery among the orginary soldiers is important to their story as well as their struggles. I also belive that this care is something that deserves to be rememebered. 

37th Illinois

Most of my information on the 37th Illinois comes from an article by Jeremey H Wilder, published in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. It is an overview of the experinces and actions of the 37th Illinois from at the battle of Prarie grove, and once again the experinces of the soldiers reinforce the ideas we had about the battle as a whole. 

In the lead up to prarie grove, the men of the 37th Illinois marched up to 28 miles a day, often with little rest, and upon reaching the battlefeild many people had blistered or bleeding feet 1. Though the article is about the 37th Illinois Wilder mentions that the confederates there were barely any better, and considering all the factors, that is hightly likely.2. 

Wilder's article also once again shows the sheer violence and struggle in the battle. He mentions that the 26th Indiana which the 37th was paired with broke, forcing them to retreat 3. This action whree the 37th was left without support forced them to retreat . The article mentions that their was a casualty rate of 1 in 6 in the 37th during this battle.4

One of the soldiers present for prarie grove in the 37th described their part of the battle as a "Howling Hell." 5 Once again, proving the horrer and the power of the scenes of the battle that the soldiers were witnessing. 

All in all, the article put together by Jeremy H wilder despcribes a truly terrifying scene that the ordinary person in battle whould have had to face. It shows how the Battle of Prarie Grove is a good example of the violence of the Civil war and how because of exaustion it was extraordinarily hard for the Union to with the fight. 

Footnotes

Charles DeWolf

  1. Howard N. Monnett, "A Yankee Cavalryman Views Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, summer 2012: 153, https://www.jstor.org/stable/23390073?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3c173e5ec310975fd32e787483c2b3f4&typeAccessWorkflow=login&seq=3 
  2. Howard N. Monnett, "A Yankee Cavalryman Views Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, summer 2012: 153, https://www.jstor.org/stable/23390073?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3c173e5ec310975fd32e787483c2b3f4&typeAccessWorkflow=login&seq=3 
  3. Howard N. Monnett, "A Yankee Cavalryman Views Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, summer 2012: 155, https://www.jstor.org/stable/23390073?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3c173e5ec310975fd32e787483c2b3f4&typeAccessWorkflow=login&seq=3 
  4. Howard N. Monnett, "A Yankee Cavalryman Views Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, summer 2012: 156 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23390073?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3c173e5ec310975fd32e787483c2b3f4&typeAccessWorkflow=login&seq=3 
  5. Howard N. Monnett, "A Yankee Cavalryman Views Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, summer 2012: 156 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23390073?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3c173e5ec310975fd32e787483c2b3f4&typeAccessWorkflow=login&seq=3 
  6. Howard N. Monnett, "A Yankee Cavalryman Views Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, summer 2012: 156 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23390073?searchText=&searchUri=&ab_segments=&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3c173e5ec310975fd32e787483c2b3f4&typeAccessWorkflow=login&seq=3 

Henry Eliott Tompson

  1. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 164 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis
  2. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 165-166 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis
  3. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 173 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis
  4. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 175 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis
  5. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 180 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis
  6. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 181 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis
  7. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 181 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis
  8. Kim Allen Scott, "Eloquent Brevity: The Arkansas campaign diary of Henry Elliott Thompson," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 70, no. 2, summer 2011: 182 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=a9ae6fe4-9f97-485f-952c-6fdde7c79c74%40redis

37th Illinois

  1. Jeremey H. Wilder, "The Thirty-seventh Illinois at Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, July 2012: 167-168, https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=db09fd36-19de-4fa0-be4f-852b14be0574%40redis
  2. Jeremey H. Wilder, "The Thirty-seventh Illinois at Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, July 2012: 168 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=db09fd36-19de-4fa0-be4f-852b14be0574%40redis
  3. Jeremey H. Wilder, "The Thirty-seventh Illinois at Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, July 2012: 170 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=db09fd36-19de-4fa0-be4f-852b14be0574%40redis
  4. Jeremey H. Wilder, "The Thirty-seventh Illinois at Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, July 2012: 175 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=db09fd36-19de-4fa0-be4f-852b14be0574%40redis
  5. Jeremey H. Wilder, "The Thirty-seventh Illinois at Prairie Grove," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 71, no. 2, July 2012: 171 https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=db09fd36-19de-4fa0-be4f-852b14be0574%40redis
Experiences