Impact of the Battle on the USA
Impact of the Battle on the United States
- Gabe Davis
Impact on the soldiers
In the aftermath of the battle, the soldiers of Prairie Grove were worn and beaten as they did not know for certain if the battle was over 1. That night was also especially cold, so cold to the point where soldiers disobeyed the orders from their generals stating that they could not light fires 1. In the night, one soldier, James C. Dungan, wrote about the grave scene they were all witness to. “Your blood would chill if you could have walked over the field with me that night [and seen] the ghastly distorted faces gazing up into the cold sky” 2. This writing helps visualize the horror that Union soldiers were witness to. Once the next morning came and it was announced that the fighting had ceased, the soldiers were tasked with burying the dead. Not many regiments chose to bury the dead with coffins, instead, they chose to bury the dead “as close as they could lay with their clothes on and blankets wrapped around them” 3. Additionally, some Union soldiers felt that the battle was not well planned by their commanders. There were differing opinions as to why but many seemed to blame Generals Blunt and Herron, for poor tactical decisions and instead pointed to things like superior artillery and the tenacity of the soldiers 4.
Impact on the Union Commanders
The Union commanders were not nearly as downtrodden as their soldiers after the battle. Both General Blunt and Herron took credit for the defeat of the Confederate General Hindman, with Herron stating that “we have given Hindman and company a damned sound thrashing, and that they have indefinitely postponed their Missouri trip” and Blunt stating that the battle was a “complete victory” 5. Samuel Curtis, the general for the Battle of Pea Ridge was informed by Blunt and was likely elated by this information as he congratulated and thanked both the generals and the soldiers who fought in battle 6. He then went on to recommend to General Halleck that both Blunt and Herron “deserve special commendation for their gallantry” 6. There was one general however who was not as happy to hear the news of the victory at Prarie Grove and that was General Schofield. Schofield saw that the victory meant promotions for both Blunt and Herron and grew envious of the fact that he did not play a significant role in their victory 6. He sought General Halleck to transfer over to the east of the Mississippi as he believed there were more opportunities for promotion 6.
Impact on Union military strategy
Despite the death of so many Union soldiers and the resentment many of the soldiers had for the tactics of the battle, it ended up being a tremendous strategic Union victory. General Blunt explains, “Had our little army been defeated, there was nothing in our rear to have checked their progress” 7. Had the Union been defeated, the counteroffensives that the Confederacy had been engaging in around Maryland, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Mississippi would have continued, and the North would have lost more of the ground that they had covered in battles prior 7. The Union’s victory in Prairie Grove meant an end to Confederate advancements towards the Missouri River, as they retreated back into Arkansas 7. One Colonial, Colonial Cloud, stated that the battle was the “most decisive of the war upon this side of the Mississippi River” 7.
1William, Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. (Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009), pg. 253.
2William, Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. (Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009), pg. 256.
3William, Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. (Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009), pg. 257.
4William, Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. (Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009), pg. 264.
5William, Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. (Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009), pg. 254-255.
6William, Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. (Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009), pg. 255.
7William, Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. (Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2009), pg. 265.