One hundred and fifty years ago today, Union troops were on the march
on unimproved roadways from near Springfield, Missouri, to what became the
Prairie Grove battlefield near Fayetteville, Arkansas. Although the mileages
differed from regiment to regiment, the 2nd Division of the Army of
the Frontier logged about 105 miles in three and a half days; the 3rd
Division marched about 120 miles in a similar time frame. An incredible feature
to this is that at the end of the march, the men went almost directly into
heavy combat at Prairie Grove. Another amazing aspect of the march is the
weather: on the mornings of December 4th and 5th, the temperature
was about 20 degrees. And, if you’re in need of one more detail, the roads
traversed terrain that was fairly rugged in places. Bill Shea, the author of
the best book on the campaign, labels this march “an epic of human endurance,”
and I agree with his assessment.
Source of quote: William L. Shea, Fields
of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign (Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 2009), p. 128.
Jane,
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree with that assessment. Fans of Stonewall Jackson's foot cavalry may disagree, but they can't come close to matching this pretty much forgotten march which saved the Union Army at Prairie Grove.