From the Benton County Daily Record

Monday, March 6, 2006

PEA RIDGE — More than 140 years after the Battle of Pea Ridge, the battlefield, and the men who fought upon it are still being remembered today.

Doug Lamen, Commander of the northwest Arkansas chapter of Sons of Confederate Veterans, and Todd Wilkinson, Commander of Phelps Camp No. 6, a chapter of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, shook hands in front of the United Soldiers Monument at Elkhorn Tavern at the park on Sunday. A wreath was laid at the foot of the monument in memory of the battle and the men who fought in it. "All those who fought here did so with a spirit of heroism we can all be proud of," Wilkinson said, adding that commemorations like Sunday’s should move us "to remember the soldiers, both blue and gray," who fought at Pea Ridge.

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"I feel that I would like to shoot a Yankee, and yet I know that this would not be in harmony with the spirit of Christianity."

Confederate Soldier

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The director of the National Park Service, Fran Mainella, told the small crowd at the commemorative event that the success of Pea Ridge National Military Park comes in part from a strong partnership between local, state, and federal governments. "I do want to tell you that what you have here is one of the most pristine and most protected battlefield areas I’ve seen," Mainella said.

Congressmen John Boozman thanked corporate sponsors and volunteers for their work in preserving the battle site. "All of this today has come about to move the park forward and make it tremendous and a really great thing," Boozman said. "It truly is hallowed ground."

Mainella also announced that Pea Ridge National Military Park was recently chosen to be one of seven parks in the country to participate in a pilot program that promotes exercise through history.

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"If the settlement of the war was left to the Enlisted men of both sides we would soon go home."

Federal Soldier

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The program is called Health Through History and seeks to provide citizens with an interesting way to get fit and learn about history. An intern will be hired at the park in May to work out the specifics of the program, Scott said.

The preliminary idea is to use the park’s 17 miles of trails to create certain long-term health challenges for program participants. Playing off a military theme, each challenge met will promote the participant to private or sergeant or other rank.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

Washington, March 27, 1861.

SECRETARY OF WAR:

The letter of Hon. Charles B. Mitchell, U.S. Senator from Arkansas, dated the 17th instant, in relation to the military posts in Arkansas, having been submitted to Lieutenant-General Scott, he has the honor to report, speaking not from documentary information but rather from oral testimony, as follows:

Fort Smith is an old established post, from which the troops had been for a time withdrawn, but which has been lately used as a depot to supply the advanced posts soon to be named.

 
The honorable Senator proposes that the troops at Fort Smith shall be transferred to a point called "Frozen Rock”, about fifteen miles southeast of Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas River, which is said to be a suitable position for a post. If this idea is to be entertained, a competent officer, and the title to the land, the sources of supply, lines of communication should make a preliminary examination of the site, &c., should be ascertained. By act of March 3, 1859, "No permanent barracks and quarters shall hereafter be constructed unless detailed estimates shall have been previously submitted to Congress, and shall have been approved by a special appropriation for the same." Until these previous steps are taken, no movement can be taken to transfer the troops from Fort Smith.

Fort Washita, also an old-established post, is about 160 miles from Fort Smith. It is a highly important military point. The public buildings are good and in repair. Orders were given Lieutenant-Colonel Emory, First Cavalry, the 18th instant, to proceed there and establish his headquarters as commander of his regiment, with discretionary power to concentrate at or in the vicinity of the post two companies of cavalry and five of infantry, now at Forts Arbuckle and Cobb, in addition to the two companies of cavalry already at Fort Washita. Orders were transmitted the same day, by telegraph and express, to move in advance one company of infantry from Fort Arbuckle to Fort Washita, in consequence of a report, dated the 3d instant, from the commanding officer of the latter post, referring to rumors of a contemplated attack from Texas.

Fort Arbuckle, about 60 miles west, a little north of Fort Washita, has a garrison of two companies of cavalry. It is of no importance as a military point, and will, no doubt, be broken up under the discretionary orders to Lieutenant-Colonel Emory. Fort Cobb, about 160 miles northwest of Fort Washita, was first occupied by troops October 1, 1859. The site is on a portion of the Choctaw country, leased as a reserve for several detached bands of Comanche and other Indians, which were moved there from points within the limits of Texas. This arrangement was made for the convenience of the State of Texas, and Fort Cobb was designed for the double purpose of protecting these friendly bands against incursions from the hostiles of their own tribes and to restrain the latter in their descents upon Texas. The attitude now assumed by Texas changes the relations of Fort Cobb to that State, whilst present maintenance is no doubt necessary for the protection of the Indians of the reserve. But in connection with this point must be considered the safety of the garrison in case of attack by a superior force and the possibility of supplying it. The post is at such a distance from the base of co-operation as to leave it unsupported; the retreat of its garrison would be easily cut off; hence, it requires a powerful garrison, if any. The supply trains must pass over a section of country so open to incursions from Texas as to make strong escorts necessary to guard them. Subsistence and forage are said by the chiefs of the staff departments to be difficult to obtain and very high.

These are the main subjects for the large discretion devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Emory, and it is not doubted he will appreciate them and decide with judgment.

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War.
By command of Lieutenant-General Scott:

 
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General General.

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Visit

www.civilwarbuff.org

Join folks from around the state on Saturday April 15, 2006 for Confederate Flag Day/Heritage Day, Arkansas State Capital. It starts with a reading of those who gave their life to preserve the Confederacy at 10:30.

Arkansas State Statute on Confederate Flag Day.
(a)  The Saturday immediately preceding Easter Sunday of each year is designated as "Confederate Flag Day" in this state.

(b)  No person, firm, or corporation shall display any Confederate flag or replica thereof in connection with any advertisement of any commercial enterprise, or in any manner for any purpose except to honor the Confederate States of America.

(c)  Any person, firm, or corporation violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). 

COMING IN MAY 

The event will take place on the actual battle site, a rare event now days. Amenities include powder for artillery, cavalry, infantry, water, firewood, and, hay, and a meal on Saturday evening.

10 a - Talk on Arkansas in the War Between the States by W. Danny Honnoll;

11 a - Cannon Demonstrations; Noon –

1 p - Marching & Rifle Firing Demonstrations;

2 p - Re-enactment

Followed by Grand Review Parade of Troops returning to Camp and

3:30 p - Ladies Demonstrations of Refugee Camp.

Sunday May 7th;

11 a - Church Service by Rev. Terry Bandy;

1 p - Memorial Service to Gen John Sappington Marmaduke

2 p - Living History - Re-enactment and Followed by Grand review Parade of Troops returning to Camp.

COMING TO THE IMAX  

Edge of Conflict

At this event, the SCV, COC, UDC, Reenactors from around the state, and the Civil War Roundtable of Arkansas will have a direct involvement in promoting and being visible at this event. Mark your calendars now for this Civil War extravaganza!

PROGRAMS 2006

March 28: John C. Scott, NPS –

The Pea Ridge Story including

Dr. Doug Scott’s recent archeological survey of the battlefield

We Who Study

    Must Also Strive To Save!

Whatever You Resolve to Be

Essays on Stonewall Jackson

Whatever You Resolve to Be remains as relevant today as when it was first published. Greene stays primarily true to his original observations on the general, despite new revisionist interpretations. For scholars and non-scholars alike, this book should be the starting point for any understanding of Stonewall Jackson.

A. Wilson Greene is the executive director of Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier near Petersburg, Virginia. He also has taught at Mary Washington College and worked for sixteen years with the National Park Service. His most recent book is Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion: The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign.

Patrick Ronayne Cleburne

(1828-1864)

Pat Cleburne, one of only two foreign-born officers to attain the rank of major general in the Confederate service, was born March 17, 1828 in Bridgepark Cottage on the River Bride, ten miles west of Cork, Ireland. After a three-year enlistment in Her Majesty's 41st Regiment of Foot, he purchased his discharge and emigrated to the United States in 1849, landing at New Orleans. Educated as an apothecary (pharmacist), he first worked in Cincinnati but soon took up residence in Helena, Arkansas, where he became a partner in a drugstore, and then studied law. By the outbreak of the Civil War, he had become successful in the legal profession, and had accumulated considerable property. He was elected colonel of the 15th Arkansas in 1861, and was promoted brigadier general to rank from March 4, 1862. The month following he led a brigade at Shiloh and later commanded a brigade at Perryville and a division at Richmond. His promotion to major general dated from December 13, 1862.

Cleburne rapidly established a reputation as a superb combat officer on every battlefield of the western army. He further distinguished himself at Murfreesboro, and received a vote of thanks from the Confederate Congress for saving the trains of the Army of Tennessee after the Chattanooga campaign. A savage fighter of the Bedford Forrest stamp, his death at the battle of Franklin, on November 30, 1864, in the forefront of his division, was a calamity to the Confederate cause perhaps only exceeded by the demise of Stonewall Jackson. Perhaps the best division commander of the Confederacy, Cleburne was eulogized by his friend and former commander, William J. Hardee: "When his Division defended, no odds could break its lines; When it attacked, no numbers resisted its onslaught”.

First buried near Columbia, TN, Cleburne's remains were removed to his adopted home town of Helena, Arkansas, in 1870, where he is buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Maple Hill Cemetery.

VISIT THE BATTLEFIELDS

WHEN YOU CAN...WHILE YOU CAN

SEE YOU TUESDAY NIGHT

for The Pea Ridge Story

GOD BLESS AMERICA