Union Organization
Union forces under General James G. Blunt's command, remained in the Cane Hill area after the Battle of Cane Hill leading to an inconclusive result.2 Blunt knew General Thomas C. Hindman and the confederate army would be quick to strike back and make an attempt to cut off the Union supply into Springfield, Missouri.2 Brigadier General Francis J. Herron, who was camped about 120 miles from Springfield, immediately ordered a force to march to Cane Hill to assist Blunt and his men on December 2nd. This force completed one of the most extraordinary marches of the war and averaged 35 miles per day.1 With Herron’s men joining the fight unexpectedly, Hindman was caught off guard and shifted his men to fight Herron instead of Blunt.
Herron’s men reached Prairie Grove on the morning of December 7th and encountered confederate forces.1 Herron deployed his artillery which created heavy fighting along the hill mountain side. Six miles away, as Blunt was expecting an attack form the confederate army and heard all the gunfire, he put his command on the move and headed for Prairie Hill. Blunt pushed his men across the valley to attack the left side of Hindman’s army. The fighting sputtered as nightfall came, and the confederate army slipped away across the Boston Mountains to the Arkansas River.
Although the battle of Prairie Grove was labeled a tactical draw, Blunt and Herron were not satisfied with how things ended and also feared another attack from Hindman and his army.1 Blunt and Herron made a very aggressive decision to attack a crippled Confederate army and on December 27-30, most of the Army of the Frontier, went on a raid across the Boston Mountains to Van Buren on the North bank of the Arkansas River. The Union army was able to burn seven steamboats, destroyed a large amount of stores, as well as freed hundreds of slaves.1 As the Union army returned to Prairie Grove without the loss of a single soldier, this was labeled as one of the most successful raids of the war.1
1Earl, Hess, Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove : A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on Wire Road (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2006)
2Montgomery , Don. “Battle of Prairie Grove.” Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 16 June 2023, encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/battle-of-prairie-grove-513/.