41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well Done, Even-Handed, Scholarly -- A Useful Addition to a Civil War Library, November 4, 2009
This review is from: Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign (Civil War America) (Hardcover)
The author takes on a difficult project -- that in telling the story of the Arkansas/Missouri conflict in the later part of 1862 culminating in the Battle of Prairie Grove. The difficulty stems from the paucity of writings and sources on the Confederate side, but the author does a masterful job in recreating what most likely took place.
For those readers unfamiliar with the Civil War in Missouri and Arkansas (other than along the Mississippi River), the initial campaign was by the Union General Nathaniel Lyon that ended disastrously at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861 (skipping over the actions by Missouri home guards and militia). The Federals regrouped and General Curtis led another expedition into Southwest Missouri and Northwestern Arkansas, defeating the Confederates at Pea Ridge on March 8, 1862. The Confederates then dispersed, with Van Dorn taking the bulk of the troops to Mississippi. At this point, the fortunes of the Confederates were at a very low ebb in the West, Missouri was lost, and the entire state of Arkansas was in danger of being occupied by Federal troops. That is where this book takes up its narrative.
General Hindman was sent to Little Rock to form an army, drive the Federals from Arkansas, and lead a campaign into Missouri. Unfortunately, Hindman was only one man, and he was not given any troops, supplies and support. Nonetheless, he re-energized the Confederates in Arkansas (many of those in Northern Arkansas were Unionists), and rapidly built an army out of almost nothing to hold an East-West line along the Arkansas River. The author puts Hindman in a rather favorable light, but is brutally honest with Hindman's superior, General Holmes. Hindman was faced with almost insurmountable difficulties, but managed to place a force in the field on the northern edge of the Boston Mountains to confront the Federals who could move south from Springfield, Missouri.
The author then presents the Union personnel rather thoroughly, introducing the readers to Generals Curtis, Schofield, Blunt, Totten and Herron. The Union "Frontier Army" had difficulties of its own, most notably in operating so far away from its supply bases in Missouri and the terrain difficulties presented by Northwestern Arkansas.
After several skirmishes and endless marching back and forth, Blunt took up a rather isolated position at Cane Hill, Arkansas, where Hindman determined that Blunt's Division invited a surprise attack. Accordingly, Hindman crossed the Boston Mountains, and prepared to attack Blunt when he received word that Herron's Division was rapidly moving south from Fayetteville to rescue Blunt. Hindman then changed his plan and decided to move due north to attack Herron along his route of march, then turn southwest and destroy Blunt. The point where he debouched to intercept Herron was at Prairie Grove.
The actually battle on December 7, 1862 was mishandled on both sides, and after suffering heavy casualties neither side was able to gain an advantage. However, the Confederates were nearly out of ammunition and extremely short of supplies, so Hindman had no choice but to withdraw back across the Boston Mountains to the Arkansas River. The battle therefore became a strategic Federal victory. Hindman eventually returned to Little Rock and was transferred to Bragg's Army, and the Federals eventually captured Little Rock. This ends the book's narrative, although Sterling Price later led another expedition into Missouri that ended in failure, and the Confederates were able to repulse Union General Steele in his attempt to move south from Little Rock and attack Shreveport, Louisiana in 1864. Nonetheless, Prairie Grove turned out to be the decisive battle that cost the Confederacy Missouri and Northern and Western Arkansas.
The author does a masterful job in depicting the battle and its unit actions, regiment by regiment, and artillery battery by battery. There was a great deal of heroism on both sides, and in many respects the battle was the classic and representative Civil War battle. The troops overcame great adversity to fight effectively, and although the Confederates withdrew, both sides felt they had won the battle as a tactical contest.
This is a scholarly work that is necessarily light on Confederate accounts since so few of the Confederate participants wrote reports or accounts (that survived) dealing with the campaign and battle. The author does the best he can to present the actions from both sides, and fully deserves his five stars. Approximately 8,000 Federal troops took part and they suffered sixteen percent casualties, the Confederates had about 11,500 men of which thirteen percent became casualties. The Federals were fairly well supplied, but the Confederates fought this campaign on a shoestring with not enough rifles to equip the entire army, no tents and few blankets to face the cold weather, and with many of the soldiers barefoot, hatless, and poorly dressed. Food was extremely scarce, and many of the Confederate soldiers fought the battle without having eaten anything for the previous two days.
In many respects this is a specialist's book as the Civil War west of the Mississippi generally receives little attention. The case can be made that had the Federals done nothing but defend Missouri, the outcome of the war would have been the same. But to the men of Missouri and Arkansas on both sides, and those of Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Texas and the Indian Home Guards, this fight was vicious and personal. Union artillery was vastly superior to that of the Confederates, and that arm eventually saved the Union army from a serious defeat.
I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in the Civil War. It offers an excellent perspective of war in the West as contrasted to the large scale actions in the other theaters.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellant work., November 22, 2009
This review is from: Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign (Civil War America) (Hardcover)
This study is a very welcomed addition to the other works on the war in Arkansas and the Trans-Mississippi. Shea tells the story of the Prairie Grove campaign in a manner that is easy to follow and understand. The chapters are of reasonable lenght which makes for easier reading too. Having a chapter on the raid on Van Buren rounds out the story quite well.
The maps are many and good but they could have been improved. I would have liked them to be larger to make them easier to see. For the maps that show the attacks of the actual battle it would have been nice for them to have been a little more detailed and there could have been a few more maps to help brake the action down into more segements. But the maps are very adaquate and useful.
I was disappointed that Shea did not use any of the artwork or drawings of the battle that have been made over the years. I know of several. I think using them would have added to the telling of the story.
For the order of battle at the end of the book I would have liked to have seen the casualities listed for each unit if they were known. These seems to be standard practice in most works on battles. I do not know why it wasn't done in this one. But the casualities are given in the narrative of the book, but having them all in one place would have been handy for reference.
My minor suggestions for improvements not withstanding, I throughly enjoying reading this book and learned much from it. I hope that works on the war in Arkansas of this type will continue to appear.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A "must have" book, November 25, 2009
This review is from: Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign (Civil War America) (Hardcover)
By 1862, the "regrettable tendency to concentrate on the East, slight the West and ignore the Trans-Mississippi" is well established. One author that counters this tendency is William L. Shea, "Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West" covered that critical campaign. This is the companion volume to that excellent history, covering the Prairie Grove Campaign in the winter of 1862. Each book is a complete standalone history of a campaign. However, reading both is an enjoyable rewarding learning experience that I recommend.
Prairie Grove is the last major battle on the Missouri Arkansas border. The Union "victory" ensures that Missouri is safe and converts Arkansas into no man's land. This small battle plays a major role in the direction of the war during 1863 and much of 1864. The size of this battle allows the reader to become friends with all of the major players and understand what diverse and colorful armies existed in the Trans-Mississippi. Indians, ruffians, red legs and bushwhackers mix with volunteer units under the command of Kansas Abolitionists, dynamic West Pointers, tired old men and backstabbers. The characters are larger than life and while almost unknown, great fun to read about.
This is a detailed history of the campaign. The first 90 pages, establish the situation, the characters and the hostile environment. The Boston Mountains and the Ozark Plateau are a primitive area presenting major logistical problems. Roads are few, poor and not able to bear the load an army places on them. Moving cross-country is difficult at best and almost impossible at worst. This forces the campaign into a structured environment with few options for either commander. The author excels at explaining the available options and detailing the difficulties the armies face. While doing this, he never loses sight of the civilian population, slave and free, living in the area. The ebb and flow of the armies has a dramatic impact on their lives. Slaves flock to the Union encampments following the army to freedom. Whites welcome their army, shun the other army but find either army is very hard on fences and storehouses. For most of the men in these armies, `Hard War" had started in the late 1850s. They were not reluctant to take what they needed from the "other side" and felt they had no choice if they took it from their side.
The area will be unknown to the majority of readers. Anticipating this, the book contains an excellent series of well-placed maps. I never had a problem understanding the marches and counter marches or in following them on the limited road net. In addition to the maps, illustrations are everywhere. All the major characters and photos of places, most taken just after the war, fill the book. This very nice touch personalizes the history giving names faces and images.
The battles at Crane Hill, Fort Smith, Old Fort Wayne and Prairie Grove are well done and detailed as Blunt, Herron, Curtis, Hindman and Holmes struggle for a Confederate return to Missouri. This is the third Confederate invasion of 1862 and the one we hear the least about. This is a "must have" book in every Civil War library, readable and enjoyable.
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