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| Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park |
The massive battle erupted when Major General Thomas Hindman emerged from the Boston Mountains with his Confederate army in an attempt to flank the Union army of Brigadier General James G. Blunt before it could be reinforced by the division of Brigadier General Francis J. Herron.
When Hindman came out of the mountains at the site of the modern town of Prairie Grove, Herron's column was at nearby Fayetteville having completed a forced march south from Missouri into Northwest Arkansas. The main Union force, under Blunt, was to the west at Cane Hill (now spelled Canehill).
Hindman succeeded in placing his force directly between the two Union columns and his plan was to overwhelm Herron's Division before it could unite with the main body under Blunt. After initial fighting on the Fayetteville road, the Confederate army took up a defensive position along the Prairie Grove ridge and welcomed the Union attack.
Over the hours that followed, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War in the West took place on the ridges and open ground of Washington County, Arkansas.
To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ArkansasPG1.
