Prairie Grove Research Articles

Revision of Phaenocora Ehrenberg, 1836 (Rhabditophora, Typhloplanidae,Phaenocorinae) with the description of two new species.

A morphological and taxonomical account of the taxon Phaenocora is provided. An effort was made to locate and study all available material and, where possible, species are briefly re-described. We also describe two new species: Phaenocora gilberti sp. nov. from Cootes Paradise, Ontario, Canada and Phaenocora aglobulata sp. nov. from Prairie Grove, Alabama, USA. Species recognition is based on a combination of both male and female morphology. A comparison of and discussion on all species is given, resulting in a total of 28 valid species, three species inquirendae, five species dubiae, and one nomen nudum. An identification key is provided.

Terrestrial Macrofungi of Illinois Old-Growth Prairie Groves

Abstract Macrofungi from two old-growth prairie grove remnants in the Midwestern United States (Brownfield and Trelease Woods, Champaign Co., IL ) were surveyed over two summer and fall fruiting periods. Communities of Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes and Myxomycetes were sampled and compared using multivariate statistical analyses. Standard estimations of species richness were calculated for comparison with other studies of fungal diversity. Environmental factors (rainfall, humidity, air temperature and soil temperature at 10 cm depth) as well as leaf litter composition, and woody plant communities were surveyed to assess their impact on fungal communities. Fungal community structure was found to differ significantly both between and within Brownfield and Trelease Woods. Communities of terrestrial macrofungi were determined to be strongly influenced by seasonality, with soil temperature at 10 cm depth showing the strongest correlation to changes in community composition. Brownfield and Trelease Woods, formerl...

Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on the Wire Road

Review of: "Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on the Wire Road," by Earl J. Hess, Richard W. Hatcher, III, William Garrett Piston, and William L. Shea.

Life with the Mountain Feds: The Civil War Reminiscences of William McDowell, 1st Arkansas Cavalry

DURING THE CIVIL WAR, Arkansas contributed an estimated 60,000 soldiers to the Confederate States of America. Union sentiment remained strong in northwest Arkansas, however, and the state is also credited with sending approximately 10,000 men to the Federal army, constituting ten infantry regiments or battalions, four cavalry regiments, and two artillery batteries.1 The most famous of these unionist regiments was the 1st Arkansas Cavalry, an organization composed mostly of refugees from northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. Marcus LaRue Harrison, a thirty-two-year-old New Yorker and member of the 36th Illinois Infantry, was authorized to recruit the 1st Arkansas Cavalry in 1862. Commissioned a colonel, Harrison began organizing the regiment in June at Springfield, Missouri, and by October had raised the required twelve companies.2 During the unit's three-year existence, the Mountain Feds of the 1st Arkansas spent the majority of their time patrolling the region between Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Springfield as scouts for Federal forces.3 They also fought Confederate guerrilla bands and regular forces and actively protected pro-Union civilians. Despite being routed at the battle of Prairie Grove in December 1862, the troopers of the 1st Arkansas quickly recovered and, in the words of a recent historian of the guerrilla war in Arkansas, became the primary counter-guerrilla unit in the northern part of the state. 4 Yet, apart from scattered official reports and a few other contemporary pieces of evidence, little is recorded of the activities of the 1st Arkansas. Fortunately for historians, Priv. William E. McDowell, a member of Company G, penned his recollections of army life for a small Missouri newspaper, the Crane Chronicle, in 1915 and 1916. In his nine letters to the Chronicle, McDowell did not attempt to write a comprehensive unit history but instead recalled certain incidents during his service with Union forces, first as a member of the Stone County (Missouri) Home Guards in 1861 and then as part of the 1st Arkansas from 1862 until 1865. Despite the selective and inevitably retrospective nature of McDowell's recollections, his short newspaper contributions provide details about the experience of an ordinary soldier in Arkansas and help capture the unique character of the Civil War in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas. One of twelve children, William E. McDowell was born on January 31, 1840, in Stone County, Missouri. His parents, Wiley and Margaret Williams McDowell, had moved to southwest Missouri from Kentucky in 1838. They began farming along Flat Creek, one mile northeast of the town of Cape Fair. In 1852, McDowell s mother died. Two years later, his father married a widow, Nancy Dennis, and moved to a farm near Galena. A staunch Democrat and well-known member of the community, Wiley lived on that farm until his death in 1875.5 As a young boy, McDowell worked on the family s Ozarks farms and in a sawmill. In spring 1861, with the sectional crisis gripping the nation, McDowell declared his loyalty to the Union by enlisting in Capt. William A. Carr's Company B, Stone County Home Guards. The company served in Stone and Barry Counties but disbanded on November 6, 1861. Many members of the Home Guards subsequently served in other Union organizations (one source even claimed that every man in the Stone County Home Guards enlisted in one of the other regiments that formed in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri). Given the close proximity of Stone County to Arkansas, many of its citizens joined the 1st Arkansas.6 By spring 1862, McDowell had returned to farming and planted a crop along the White River. He found it difficult to tend his crops, however, as he was constantly dodging bushwhackers. In fact, he was taken prisoner twice and temporarily held by the rebels. McDowell soon grew tired of this mixture of farming and warfare and decided to take up arms once again to defend the Union. …

Prelude to Prairie Grove: Cane Hill, November 28, 1862

ON THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, 1 862, Union and Confederate forces clashed for eight hours in a spectacular twelve-mile running fight in northwest Arkansas. The battle of Cane Hill has attracted a modest amount of attention from historians in recent years, but the handful of published accounts have failed to place the episode in its proper context or make effective and judicious use of the available primary sources. This state of affairs is lamentable because Cane Hill was an important military engagement that had a significant impact on the course of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi. It brought the war to within thirty miles of the Arkansas River, damaged a vital center of culture and education, and precipitated the battle of Prairie Grove.1 The story of Cane Hill began in May 1862, when Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman arrived in Arkansas with instructions to restore order, rebuild Confederate military fortunes, and recover Missouri. Hindman worked feverishly to accomplish these goals and soon felt confident enough to launch what proved to be an overly ambitious offensive from his base of operations at Fort Smith. In early September, he crossed the Boston Mountains at the head of an ill-equipped and ill-trained force of about six thousand men known as the Trans-Mississippi Army. Hindman encountered no opposition in northwest Arkansas and pushed into southwest Missouri, but at this critical moment he was called to Little Rock. His army continued on him. The Union commander in Missouri, Brig. Gen. John M. Schofield, was caught off guard by the unexpected Confederate incursion, but he responded with great energy and quickly cobbled together a makeshift force called the Army of the Frontier. After several sharp engagements, most notably at Newtonia, the Federals gained the upper hand and drove the Confederates back into northwest Arkansas. When Hindman resumed command in mid-October, he recognized that his gamble had failed. He sparred with Schofield for a few weeks, then fell back across the Boston Mountains to Fort Smith.2 Schofield concluded that the immediate threat to Missouri was over and returned to Springfield with two of his three divisions. Another Confederate offensive seemed unlikely with winter approaching, but Schofield was wary of the resourceful and unpredictable Hindman. Just to be on the safe side, he directed the commander of his largest division, Brig. Gen. James G Blunt, to remain in northwest Arkansas and keep a close watch on the Rebels. Blunt was a stocky amateur soldier from Kansas who often wore a business suit instead of a uniform. He drank too much and had other personal shortcomings, but he was a bold, resolute, and intrepid commander who liked nothing better than leading soldiers into battle. His lack of pretense and love of action made him immensely popular with his men. Blunt jumped at the chance to operate independently in hostile territory, but he chafed at the defensive nature of his assignment, for he was one of the most aggressive officers in the Union army. Nonetheless, for the next few weeks he dutifully followed Schofield's instructions to remain alert and avoid taking unnecessary risks. In mid-November, Blunt and his powerful Kansas Division, so called because it was composed largely of volunteers from that state, was camped along Flint Creek in western Benton County, a short distance north of present-day Siloam Springs.3 Sixty-five miles to the south in the Arkansas Valley, Hindman labored with renewed zeal to prepare his frazzled command for another round of offensive operations, but his efforts were hampered by a crippling shortage of food. The summer of 1862 was exceptionally dry, and the fall harvest was the poorest in years. The scarcity of food in the region was compounded by low water in the Arkansas River, which made it difficult to bring in supplies from other parts of the Confederacy. Lt. Col. George W. Guess of the Thirty- first Texas Cavalry reported that his men were without any bread or meal and had been reduced to panking corn in the ashes and eating it for breakfast. …

"The Eagle of the 11th Kansas": Wartime Reminiscences of Colonel Thomas Moonlight

FORTY-TWO YEARS AFTER SERVING WITH Col. Thomas Moonlight, a veteran recalled was no better or braver man in the Civil War.1 While many might disagree with this grandiose assessment, there can be little doubt that Moonlight led an extraordinary life and was a significant participant in that conflict. Born in Forfarshire, Scotland, in 1833, Moonlight ran away from home at the age of thirteen, boarding a ship bound for America. Landing at Philadelphia, the destitute youth worked numerous jobs before his enlistment in the Army in 1853. He served in the artillery and proved a capable soldier, rapidly rising to the rank of orderly sergeant. After participating in numerous military campaigns against Native Americans in Florida and Texas, Moonlight was ordered to Kansas. Mustered out of the Army in 1858, he settled near Leavenworth, Kansas, and worked as chief clerk in the commissary department of the nearby fort before purchasing a farm south of Leavenworth in 1860. When the Civil War began, Moonlight, despite his military knowledge and an acute need for experienced veterans, found it difficult to secure an officer s commission. As a committed Democrat, he was initially unable to obtain such an appointment from the state's Republican leadership. Trained military personnel, and in particular artillerymen, were rare commodifies on the Kansas-Missouri border, however, and Moonlight was soon mustered into service. He quickly rose from captain in command of a single small howitzer to lieutenant colonel of the Eleventh Kansas Infantry. While an officer with that regiment, he was assigned the additional duty of serving as chief of staff to Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt, the commander of the District of Kansas. Promoted to colonel in 1863, Moonlight would end the war as the commander of the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry. Moonlight penned his memoir soon after the war. As it was addressed to Kansas adjutant general Thomas Jefferson Anderson, who served from April 1866 until August 1867, perhaps it was to be included in the Official Military History of Kansas Regiments during the War for the Suppression of the Great Rebellion, printed by his office in 1866. If so, it was not, for some reason, included in that work and is published here for the first time.2 The memoir offers a rare primary account of the war in the Trans-Mississippi. It includes vivid descriptions of the Battles of Prairie Grove and Cane Hill and the Federal expedition against Van Buren that will be of particular interest to students of Arkansas history. Certainly Moonlight did not write an unbiased general history. He caustically evaluated the performance of others while lauding his own actions. But Moonlight's observations on the early fighting add immeasurably to our understanding of the extremely violent nature of the war on the border and the rise of reciprocal terrorism. His comments on the loathsome patronage battles within Kansas shed further light on the feud between the state's leading politicians and military leaders, a war within a war. Historians exploring the pivotal battles of the Trans-Mississippi theater will find the memoir an indispensable primary resource, and Moonlight s perceptions of Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis's handling of Sterling Price's 1864 raid proves both fascinating and controversial. Finally, his observations offer unique insight into the role African Americans played in the conflict, both as slaves and as their own armed liberators. The Moonlight reminiscences are part of the Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. The transcription preserves Moonlight's writing style by retaining many of his abbreviations and errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation, although some changes in these areas have been made when deemed necessary for the sake of clarity. The original manuscript is difficult to read in places and may have resulted in the inadvertent misspelling of place names. …

A Civil War Letter: Benjamin Fullager's Account of the Union Expedition against Van Buren

As 1862 DREW TO A CLOSE IN ARKANSAS, the military situation looked particularly bleak for Confederates in the Trans-Mississippi. Earlier that year, the state received its first taste of battle at Pea Ridge, where the Rebels were badly defeated by the Union army. The year also saw the Federals establish a presence in many areas of northern Arkansas. Union troops were able to garrison select towns and provide a certain sense of security to some of the populace. But in many parts of northern Arkansas there was near anarchy. The conflict quickly broke down what order existed in the area, and barbarism ruled the day for thousands of Arkansans. In December, the opposing armies met once again in northwest Arkansas, this time at Prairie Grove. The bruising slugfest that ensued was crippling for both sides, but the battle was especially devastating for the Confederates. The Rebel army virtually disintegrated, and the resulting catastrophe left the state open to further Federal conquest.1 Shortly after their victory at Prairie Grove, Union generals Francis J. Herron and James G. Blunt began planning their next move. They decided on an expedition against the Confederate garrison at Van Buren. However, poor weather prevented them from immediately moving against the town. The Union commanders met again on Christmas night and finalized their plans for the campaign. On the morning of December 27, 1862, the Federals moved out with 8,000 picked men and thirty pieces of artillery.2 Among the Union troops was Benjamin Fullager, a quartermaster sergeant of Company A, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry. Born in London, England, Fullager heeded his adopted country's call for service and enlisted at Sparta, Wisconsin, on October 21, 1861. The twenty-six-year-old farmer joined for duty as a wagoner. He was promoted to quartermaster sergeant on October 20, 1862. Shortly before the close of the war he was promoted to the rank of captain and transferred to Company K of the unit.3 Fullager wrote home a few months after the expedition and described the events. His account of the campaign and his musings on army life provide great insight into the Civil War's impact on Arkansas.4 Also worthy of note is Fullager's candid discussion of Copperheads, as Confederate sympathizers in the North were known. His thoughts provide compelling evidence of the widespread disdain felt by many soldiers for those in their ranks who they suspected of being Copperheads. In fact his words border on the menacing. Fullager's contempt for some of his officers is indicative of the myriad of divisions that existed within the opposing sides, underscoring the complexity of the Civil War. Camp Salomon, MO5 March 14, 1863 Dear Friend Mary Your kind and welcome letter of Jan. 25 came to hand a day or two ago. I have been long looking for a word from you and scolded uncle Sam's mail arrangement a good deal for being so slow for I could not bring myself to think that the fault could be with you who has been so punctual heretofore and sure enough I was right for once. I am pleased to hear that you are having a pleasant time with your school but I hope you will not apply yourself so closely as to endanger your health for I do not think you owe enough to the rising generation to pay the debt by jeopardizing your own happiness but perhaps I am borrowing trouble on your account if so forgive me for I sin not intentionally in that case.6 Since writing you last I have been through many scene changes and vicisitudes incident to a soldiers life. Some pleasant and full of excitement, and some disagreeable and tending to depress our spirits and try our souls and health if not our patriotism. On the 27th of Dec. at the rather early hour of four in the morning our bugle's shrill notes sounded the reveille and soon after Boots and Saddles then the assembly and we soon found ourselves drawn up in line with three days rations in our haversacks ready to march we knew not where as yet, it might be to Mis. …

Letters Home: Henry Matrau of the Iron Brigade , and: An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan, Sergt., 6th Wisconsin Volunteers (review)

2Ó2CIVIL WAR HISTORY war, had a short but memorable career in Congress, and then followed the glory road, rising to the rank of major general despite a lack of military training . His 1862 service in Arkansas marked the first sustained attempt to place an entire state on a total war footing. Hindman sanctioned guerrilla warfare, enforced his own version of the draft, and ruled the state by martial law decrees . He created a host of enemies, becoming perhaps the Confederacy's most notorious violator ofcivil liberties. Defeat at Prairie Grove in December 1862 effectively ended Hindman's experiment. Later, he urged the recruiting of slaves into Confederate armies in support of his friend Pat Cleburne. In the field he distinguished himself at Shiloh and Chickamauga but quarreled with first Bragg and then Hood. At the war's end, he fled to Mexico, where he failed to prosper. After returning to Arkansas, he did not endear himself to President Andrew Johnson (whom in 1861 he had attempted to capture), and he remained unpardoned although politically active at the time of his assassination in 1868. Obviously, there is plenty to work with despite a lack of family correspondence. Although the authors provided a balanced account of Hindman's life, drawn mostly from secondary sources, the personality of this diminutive fireeater remains shrouded. Among the most urgent unanswered questions is how sincere Hindman was in 1866-67 m urging biracial cooperation. Although the authors were reasonably diligent in their research, they missed the (misnamed) Alexander Papers at Columbia University which contain every scrap of paper from Hindman's period of rule in Arkansas. Since his experiment in total war is perhaps the most important phase ofhis military career, this omission is to be regretted. A few typographical errors appear, and Mercer University Press provided a dust jacket photograph suggestive of Louisiana rather than Arkansas. Family photographs are reproduced, and the index is useful. Michael B. Dougan Arkansas State University Letters Home: Henry Matrau of the Iron Brigade. Edited by Marcia ReidGreen . (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Pp. xvii, 166. $22.50.) An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan , Sergt., 6th Wisconsin Volunteers. By William J. K. Beaudot and Lance J. Herdegen. (New York: Fordham University Press, 1993. Pp. xii, 189. $27.50.) These slim volumes are must-buys for specialists and anyone interested in the Army of the Potomac, the war in the east, or human courage. Neither man mentioned the other, though both served in the 6th Wisconsin, Companies G (Matrau) and K (Sullivan). The sons of immigrants, they recited the same BOOK REVIEWS263 irreverent soldiers' grace before meals, were underage and small when they went off to save the Union, and stuck it out to the end. They did not fight initially to free the slaves, but they gained sympathy for blacks and came to believe that slavery must be destroyed. Both men saw their first serious combat at the Brawner Farm and fortunately missed Antietam, Matrau because of illness and Sullivan because of a wound at South Mountain. They were also at Fitzhugh's Crossing, the terrible first day at Gettysburg, and the final campaigns in 1864-65. Born in 1845 near Watervliet, Michigan, Henry Clay Matrau's sixty-three unpublished letters have been ably edited by his great-granddaughter. They span exactly four years, from his basic training in July 1861 at Camp Randall, Wisconsin, to his return there in 1865. Matrau reenlisted in December 1863 for the bounty and furlough home but, more important, also because he wanted to finish what he had started, like many in the regiment. He was never wounded. Matrau liked McClellan and Hooker, but he criticized other generals and was depressed by early defeats. After Fredericksburg he wrote, "Who is to be blamed for this enormous sacrifice of human life I leave to a more competent judge than I am. Soldier's are all discouraged. We think that this war is never going to be ended by fighting for the North & the South are to[o] evenly matched" (39). In September 1864 he admitted, "Politics dont trouble us here in the Army much. The most...

The Lion of the South: General Thomas C. Hindman (review)

BOOK REVIEWS26 1 and A.O. Abbott from which he is able to invigorate his narrative with much human interest. Among the book's weaknesses is the scant attention paid to western prisons , including the most important, Camp Ford at Tyler, Texas. Even in dealing with the East the tendency is to focus on such well-known prisons as Andersonville and Elmira. Thus the entry for November 25, 1864, makes no mention of the major uprising at the prison in Salisbury, North Carolina. The conclusion shows signs of haste with contradictory information on pages 368 and 369 concerning the taking to Washington of Andersonville commander Henry Wirz and the attribution to that captain of the erroneous title ofmajor. Moreover, the book ends abruptly with Wirz's hanging, omitting reference to such prison-related matters as the outcome of the trial of Salisbury commander Maj. John Gee. Overall, Denney's book is a useful introduction to its subject. As might be expected of the author of a previous Civil War chronicle, Denney puts his subject into the context of the war's battles whose outcomes, of course, did much to provide inmates for the prisons. The author's background as a professional soldier does much to inform the often cynical critical observations concerning the military bureaucracies (North and South) which are among his book's strong points. The excellent foreward by Edwin C. Bearss, which effectively compares the number of names on a hypothetical monument to those who died in Civil War prisons with the list actually carved on the Vietnam Memorial's black wall, should convince any doubters of the significance of this subject. Other supporting materials are more varied in quality. The appendices do contain a helpful reprinting of the cartel for prisoner exchange and of both sides' laws governing treatment ofprisoners. But they also reprint a statistical compilation by a former Confederate officer, yet neither here nor in the prologue is there an analysis of the problems with this and the equally questionable United States statistical estimates that is as critical as that in Hesseltine's old book. There is a section of illustrations ranging in content from irrelevant (a few) through routine to excellent, but all are unfortunately too small. Even worse for a topic so closely related to railroads and other forms oftransportation is the complete omission of maps. Still, those without convenient access to the sources on which this book is based are likely to find it to be an attractive investment. Frank L. Byrne Kent State University The Lion of the South: General Thomas C Hindman. By Diane Neal and Thomas W. Krenn. (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1993. Pp. 319. $24.95.) Thomas Carmichael Hindman (1828-68) has long needed a biography. This pre-Civil War fire-eater revolutionized Arkansas politics just prior to the 2Ó2CIVIL WAR HISTORY war, had a short but memorable career in Congress, and then followed the glory road, rising to the rank of major general despite a lack of military training . His 1862 service in Arkansas marked the first sustained attempt to place an entire state on a total war footing. Hindman sanctioned guerrilla warfare, enforced his own version of the draft, and ruled the state by martial law decrees . He created a host of enemies, becoming perhaps the Confederacy's most notorious violator ofcivil liberties. Defeat at Prairie Grove in December 1862 effectively ended Hindman's experiment. Later, he urged the recruiting of slaves into Confederate armies in support of his friend Pat Cleburne. In the field he distinguished himself at Shiloh and Chickamauga but quarreled with first Bragg and then Hood. At the war's end, he fled to Mexico, where he failed to prosper. After returning to Arkansas, he did not endear himself to President Andrew Johnson (whom in 1861 he had attempted to capture), and he remained unpardoned although politically active at the time of his assassination in 1868. Obviously, there is plenty to work with despite a lack of family correspondence. Although the authors provided a balanced account of Hindman's life, drawn mostly from secondary sources, the personality of this diminutive fireeater remains shrouded. Among the most urgent unanswered questions is...

The Thirty-Seventh Illinois at Prairie Grove

The Thirty-seventh Infantry Regiment was formed as the Fremont Rifle Regiment August 1861 Chicago, Illinois, response the call for an additional 300,000 troops after the Union defeat at First Bull Run. The regiment saw service Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, and was mustered out on May 15, 1866, at Houston, Texas. Of these almost five years of service, two were spent southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas, where, on December 7 and 8, 1862, the unit took a prominent part the battle of Prairie Grove. The major part of the research for this article was done with original source material, principally a massive manuscript collection of correspondence of the Black-Fithian family held the Manuscript Division at the Illinois State Historical Library Springfield. Letters of Gen. John Charles Black, his brother Capt. William P. Black, and their stepfather, William Fithian, are a part of this collection. The letters of Lt. David Ash are from the manuscript collections at the United States Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The Eugene B. Payne correspondence is the author's collection. Of these correspondents, John Charles Black practiced law after the war and served as an Illinois congressman, United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and United States commissioner of pensions. He was commander of the Grand Army of the Republic at the height of its political power 1905 and died ten years later, 1915. William P. Black was a corporate attorney postwar years and ruined his career by serving as lead defense counsel the anarchists charged the Haymarket bombing incident Chicago 1886. He died Chicago 1916. David Ash was discharged 1864 and died 1 865 of chronic dysentery and malarial fever contracted the army. Eugene Payne resigned from the army at the end of his three-year term of service 1864, and practiced law with a specialty soldier's pensions and bounty claims, served the Illinois legislature, was postmaster for a time at South Evanston, Illinois, and retired as a pension claims examiner for the United States Bureau of Pensions. He died Washington 1910. Gen. Henry N. Frisbie left the Thirty-seventh 1863 command the Ninety-second United States Colored Volunteers, and was discharged 1 865. He was a businessman and practiced law after the war. Henry Frisbie died New Orleans 1896. The end of November 1862 found the Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry camp near McCullough's Springs, Missouri, about fourteen miles west of Springfield. They had been there since November 19 resting, according Eugene Payne, captain of the Waukegan Company, to allow our Generals go St. Louis purchase a new supply of liquors. Payne went on: Since we have been here we have had a considerable deal of sport. There are plenty of game here, such as deers, wild turkeys, and smaller game of all kinds. Each day a half dozen or more large fine deer are brought our regt, shot by our boys, and turkeys without number. On Thanksgiving day, we had a dinner fit for a king, venison and wild turkeys cooked a variety of ways.1 Such periods of rest created opportunities for all kinds of mischief, and also afforded time for discipline. Quartermaster John Peck charged Pvt. Jacob Hawkins with beating a horse in a cruel manner with a large club. Sgt. John Brown and Cpl. Vernon Hendee were reduced private for conduct unbecoming, etc. Pvt. Charles Porter was charged with stealing a quilt and acquitted. Lt. Col. Black charged assistant surgeon Elijah Clark for remaining on hospital detail Springfield.2 In the midst of all this, Capt. Will Black wrote home about his time camp: We are camp at the same place as before with the same valley, the same hills, and rocks, and thickets of scrub-oak surrounding us. Nothing break the monotony of the scene, and nothing stir up the sluggish waters of our every day life, which wears on from dawn dark, from dark dawn, the same routine of camp duties, recreations, and pursuits of interest or pleasure. …

The Aftermath of Prairie Grove: Union Letters from Fayetteville

Civil War literature tells of generals and campaigns and battles. Few books or articles chronicle quiet but desperate struggle to provide adequate medical care for thousands of wounded soldiers left in wake of clashing armies. Nevertheless, often nightmarish world of Civil War medical care should be of considerable interest to anyone who seeks to understand military, scientific, or social aspects of war. Special Collections department of University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, holds a small but valuable collection of documents written by a Federal surgeon and his son while serving in Arkansas. documents provide a rare view of treatment of wounded soldiers after battle of Prairie Grove. They also contain interesting information about life in and around Fayetteville during a time of travail. fighting at Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862, was extremely intense and casualties were heavy. Federal records state that Army of Frontier lost 1251 men (175 killed, 813 wounded, and 263 missing). Confederate records, less reliable and probably conservative, indicate that First Corps of Trans-Mississippi Army lost at least 1317 men (164 killed, 817 wounded, and 336 missing). The troops of enemy were armed with Enfield Austrian muskets, shot guns, and a few squirrel rifles, observed a Federal surgeon. Most of severer wounds were caused by conical bullets; but nearness of contending forces at times gave to round balls nearly same penetrating and crushing effect. Another Federal medical officer added that armies were engaged at such murderously close range that most of balls passed entirely through, causing lacerated wounds of a terrible character.1 After Confederates withdrew, victorious Federals found themselves overwhelmed by number of wounded, both their own and those left behind by enemy. Little in way of additional medical expertise or supplies could be found in war-ravaged frontier region of northwestern Arkansas. A civilian doctor described situation: wounded from this battle were removed to Fayetteville, and public buildings and private houses were taken for hospitals; but there was a great deficiency of means to take proper care of men, town and country around it having been greatly impoverished by war, and inhabitants being of poorest class. There was no adequate supply of bandages, lint, bedding, stimulants, nor means of fitting up empty houses and making them comfortable, nor of cooking food. A minister in Fayetteville recorded that the number of wounded was so great, and supplies so scanty, that for a few days little I was able to furnish them seemed luxurious when compared with coarse fare with which they were served. These observers might also have noted that Army of Frontier was short of skilled medical personnel, for some of Federal regimental surgeons and assistant surgeons were practitioners of dubious quality. A medical crisis of serious proportions was developing in aftermath of Prairie Grove.2 Military authorities in St. Louis responded as best they could to grim news from northwest Arkansas. Dr. Ira Russell and several other capable surgeons were dispatched to Fayetteville from St. Louis. Russell was a prominent Massachusetts physician with considerable medical and administrative skills. He had risen rapidly in army since joining Eleventh Massachusetts Infantry as regimental surgeon in 1861. He quickly was promoted to brigade surgeon, commissioned an officer in United States Volunteers, and sent to Baltimore to establish a military hospital. His success in Baltimore resulted in his being assigned to St. Louis in November 1862 to establish a similar hospital there. Several weeks later, he was hurrying to Arkansas accompanied by his sons Fred and Erwin, who served as his clerks and aides. …

Lower Pennsylvanian (Morrowan) Ammonoids from the North American Midcontinent

The Lower Pennsylvanian Hale Formation, which comprises the lower portion of the type Morrowan Series, in northwestern Arkansas, is subdivided into the Cane Hill and overlying Prairie Grove Members. The Cane Hill Member includes interbedded shale and sandstone with a basal conglomerate containing clasts reworked from underlying, truncated Mississippian formations. The Prairie Grove Member is highly variable, but includes sandy biosparite and calcareous sandstone. Highly fossiliferous pebble conglomerate and calcirudite lenses occur sporadically throughout the Hale Formation. Ammonoids and conodonts show that the Cane Hill-Prairie Grove boundary is unconformable.Several thousand ammonoids collected from more than 100 localities in the Hale Formation show that four ammonoid zones and two subzones are recognizable in the Hale succession, and consequently in the redefined Halian Stage of the Morrowan Series. These are, in ascending order, theRetites semiretia, Quinnites henbesti, Arkanites relictus(including theArkanites relictus relictusand overlyingCancelloceras huntsvillenseSubzones) andVerneuilites pygmaeusZones. Halian Stage ammonoids are known primarily from northern Arkansas, but an upperArkanites relictusZone (Cancelloceras huntsvillenseSubzone) ammonoid assemblage occurs in the Primrose Member of the Golf Course Formation in south central Oklahoma.Conodont-ammonoid associations in the Hale sequence provide a basis for integration of independently based zonal information.Rhachistognathus primusZone conodonts occur in theRetites semiretiaZone; theIdiognathoides sinuatusZone ranges through theQuinnites henbestiandArkanites relictus relictusSubzone. The overlyingCancelloceras huntsvillenseSubzone andVerneuilites pygmaeusZone both contain conodonts of theNeognathodus symmetricusZone.The Hale ammonoid succession has few, if any, species in common with the type Namurian of Europe, but numerous genera are common to both sequences and the generic successions coincide and are equivalent in degree of development. TheRetites semiretiaZone is equivalent to theReticuloceras circumplicatileZone (R1a); theQuinnites henbestiand lowerArkanites relictusZones correspond to some portion of the R2b–R2c interval; and the upperArkanites relictusZone and theVerneuilites pygmaeusZone correlate to Zone G1. TheRetites semiretiaZone correlates to the lowerReticuloceras-BaschkortocerasGenozone (Nm2b1) of the upper Namurian in the south Urals; theQuinnites henbestiZone is equivalent to some portion of the Nm2b2–3intervals of this zone; the lowerArkanites relictusZone is equivalent to the lowerBilinguites-CancellocerasGenozone (Nm2c1) and the upperArkanites relictusandVerneuilites pygmaeusZones correspond to the uppermost interval (Nm2c2) in the south Urals sequence.Systematic descriptions of biostratigraphically significant Halian taxa, includingReticuloceras tiroGordon,R. wainwrightiQuinn,Retites semiretiaMcCaleb,Arkanites relictus relictus(Quinn, McCaleb, and Webb),A. relictus redivivusn.subsp.,Quinnitesn.gen. (type speciesQ. henbesti(Gordon)),Q. textum(Gordon),Bilinguites eliasin.sp.,Cancelloceras huntsvillensen.sp., andVerneuilites pygmaeus(Mather) are also presented.

Tree Stratum Composition and Distribution in the Streamside Forest

The woody vegetation of the streamside forest in Robert Allerton Park, Piatt Co., Illinois, is described in relation to the distribution of river level frequencies of the Sangamon River. The habitats most frequently flooded are dominated by Acer saccharinum. With decreasing flooding frequency, dominance is transferred to Celtis occidentalis and Quercus imbricaria. The areas experiencing no flooding are dominated by Q. alba. Changes in the vegetational structure of elevational increments of .304 m (1 ft) are discussed. The principle that communities change gradually along environmental gradients is illustrated in a vertical elevation of less than 4 m. INTRODUCTION With the current expanding need for water resources, many civil works contractors are rapidly harnessing rivers and streams with a continuing emphasis on the construction of dams and reservoirs. Increased importance is also now being given to the environmental quality of these areas, and this emphasis is expected to intensify in the future. The clash between these seemingly widely opposed philosophies can only be rationally dicussed, and reasonable alternatives suggested, if an understanding of the streamside ecosystem is sufficient to adequately predict the effects of proposed perturbations. Historically, efforts to increase production have received vastly more attention than efforts to measure and mitigate the damaging effects of modern society on our water, land and air resources. As a result, relatively little informations about the effects of dams and similar structures on the dynamics of streamside ecosystems is now available. If ecological changes resulting from water resource development are to be objectively determined, then parameters of the natural biophysical environment must receive added attention. Certainly the riparian forests of the Midwest have come under stress as the industrialization and urbanization of areas within the farm belt have intensified the need for water. Forests within tihe Peninsula section of the Oak-Hickory Forest region described by Braun (1967) are considered to be of three general types: bottomland forests which line most of the streams, upland forests occurring in the upland areas bordering the major rivers and streams, and those isolated timber areas within the prairie, the Prairie Grove forests. The Prairie Grove forests have been considered in some detail by Boggess (1964), Boggess and Bailey (1964) and Boggess and Geis (1966). The upland communities associated with river courses were considered to be older than the Prairie Groves (Boggess and Geis, 1967), as the drainage ways in the Illinois prairie were believed to have been the major migratory pathway for tree in-

General T. C. Hindman and the Trans-Mississippi District

When the student of Arkansas history encounters the name of Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, Jr., it is generally connected in some manner with the failure of the Prairie Grove Campaign in December 1 862. Certainly this defeat was significant, but it is unfortunate that relatively little attention has been devoted to his success in organizing and administering the Trans-Mississippi District in June and July of the same year. During a scant two months, Hindman dramatically demonstrated what a determined individual could accomplish. However, on the negative side, his dictatorial methods did little to endear him to the people of Arkansas or to impress the Confederate authorities in Richmond, Virginia. This important period of Hindman's career has usually been passed rapidly over with a favorable remark about his organizational ability and an adverse comment concerning his arbitrary methods. This leaves the reader with an incomplete picture, because it fails adequately to explain the general's acts or to discuss the conditions in the state that undoubtedly influenced him. Therefore, before judgment can be passed on Hindman's conduct, an analysis must be made of the difficulties that would have faced any Confederate commander in Arkansas by the spring of 1 862. Hindman's assignment to the Trans-Mississippi District grew out of the Confederacy's rapidly deteriorating military fortunes throughout the Mississippi Valley in the early months of 1862. By February, Rebel forces in western Kentucky and Tennessee were in retreat due to the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson. West of the Mississippi River, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, commander of the Trans-Mississippi District, attempted to lead Confederate forces in a sweeping invasion of Missouri and was checked almost before he began. While advancing through northwest Arkansas, the general's troops were met by a determined Union army under the command of Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis. The result was a bloody two-day engagement on March 7 and 8 at Pea Ridge that ended with Curtis 's army administering a stinging defeat to the Confederate invasion force.1 Shortly after the battle, Van Dorn's army was ordered east of the Mississippi River to shore up sagging Confederate defenses being severely tested by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Thus, the battle of Pea Ridge left northwest Arkansas and southern Missouri under Federal control and the remainder of Arkansas open to invasion. In accordance with orders received on March 27, 1862, Van Dorn began to move his command to Memphis, Tennessee, and by May 1, the transfer was complete, leaving no organized Confederate troops in Arkansas.2 On April 11, Van Dorn appointed Brig. Gen. John S. Roane to organize the defenses of Arkansas. His orders gave him authority to put into the field all troops under the conscript law and all cavalry forces that may come through.3 Roane's assessment of his position was not encouraging. In a letter to Van Dora dated May 4, he expressed little hope of saving the state and felt that he was not capable of commanding the area. Even in the matter of the enforcement of the conscript law, he refused to act positively, stating that if I shall judge it wise, I may raise more troops, but I will not do so unless I am compelled to.4 Roane's immediate problems, which were intensified by his pessimistic attitude, paralyzed any effort to coordinate the defensive preparations in Arkansas. His predecessor had not only removed all the organized troops from Arkansas but also taken all the available military supplies and machinery. The only troops immediately available to Roane were under the command of Brig. Gen. Albert Pike in the Indian Territory. Although ordered by Van Dora to send all non-Indian troops to Arkansas, Pike had refused to comply. Roane's position was further weakened by the actions of Gov. Henry M. Rector. Enraged by the withdrawal of Van Dora's forces, the governor, on May 5, issued a proclamation that Arkansas had been deserted by the Confederacy and hinted that it might become necessary to form a separate western nation. …

Soil-Vegetation Relationships in a Prairie Grove Remnant

GEIS, J. W. and W. R. BOGGESS (Univ. Illinois, Urbana). Soil-vegetation relationships in a prairie grove remnant. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 97: 196-203. 1970.-The distribution of soils and woody vegetation is closely correlated in a 24-heetare prairie-grove remnant in Champaign County, Illinois. Although the site has been forested for an estimated 400 to 600 years, soil development has been retarded by excessive moisture conditions, and the soils on 71% of the area are morphologically identical to the Brunizem and Humic Gley soils developed under the original tall grass prairie. An overstory of dead elm (predominantly Ulmus americana), Celtis occidentalis, and Quercus macrocarpa, along with a heavy shrub cover of Lindera benzoin, Euonymus atropurpureus and Xanthoxylum americanum occurs in low physiographic locations on Humic Gley soils. Acer saccharum, Q. rubra, C. occidentalis, U. rubra, and Aesculus glabra dominate a mixed hardwood complex in relatively flat physiographic areas in which Brunizem soils persist. Soils transitional between Brunizem and Gray-Brown Podzolic soils have developed in areas of greatest topographic relief. Acer saccharum dominates these transitional sites, along with Q. rubra, Tilia americana, and C. occidentalis. Species distribution and soil pattern are similarly related to a physiographically based gradient from hydromesic conditions in low-lying and depressional areas to mesic conditions in areas of greatest topographic relief.

Early Effects of Forest Vegetation and Topographic Position on Dark‐Colored, Prairie‐Derived Soils

AbstractA complete development range of soils from the Humic Gley (Haplaquolls) and Brunizem (Argiudolls) soils of the original tall grass prairie to well‐developed Brunizem‐Gray‐Brown Podzolic Intergrade (Mollic and Aquollic Hapludalfs) soils was studied in a recently forested “Prairie Grove” remnant in eastcentral Illinois. The first measurable changes occur in organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, and base saturation. Alterations in color and structural development which distinguish a minimal A2 horizon are followed by accelerated movement of clay from the A to B horizons. Differences in soil development in an area of uniform forest occupancy are related to the physiographic position of the soil units and the subsequent retarding of normal forest soil development by conditions of excessive soil moisture.

Brownfield Woods, Illinois: Woody Vegetation and Changes Since 1925

The first complete inventory of the woody vegetation of Brownfield Woods since 1925 was completed in 1960. This 60-acre woodland is a remnant of a large prairie grove that once occupied an area of 10 square miles northeast of Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois. The stand is mixed mesophytic in composition with 113 trees per acre (3 inches and above in diameter) and a basal area of 114 sq. ft. Twenty-five woody species were tallied with sugar maple (Acer sac- charum Marsh) the leading dominant. The most striking change in the vegetation since 1925 was the 60% increase in the basal area of sugar maple, and a corresponding decrease in that of elm (Ulmus americana L. and U. rubra Muhl.). The latter is due to mortality from phloem necro- sis and the Dutch elm disease. A heavy understory, dominated by sugar maple, has developed. Nearly two-thirds of the trees less than one inch in diameter are sugar maple thus suggesting a continued, or increasing dominance of this species. There have been striking changes in the woody vegetation of Brownfield Woods during the past 35 years. Many of the large trees mentioned by Telford (1926) are still alive, but mortality has been heavy, particularly among the elms. A heavy understory of seedlings and small saplings has developed, aided no doubt by more than 20 years of complete protection from fire, grazing, and public use. Some of these changes, and their implications, are discussed in this paper.

A Yankee Cavalryman Views the Battle of Prairie Grove: The Splendors and Horrors of a Battlefield

A Yankee Cavalryman Views the Battle of Prairie Grove: The Splendors and Horrors of a Battlefield

The Prairie Grove Campaign, 1862

The Prairie Grove Campaign, 1862

Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove

Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove