Pea Ridge: St Louis, then Huzzah!

A Union invasion of northern Arkansas ground to a halt in early 1862 due to logistical difficulties. The alarmed Confederates sent Earl Van Dorn to coordinate the fractious Southern forces to repel the Yankee invaders. Van Dorn, aggressive but careless, launched a quick offensive that nearly trapped Sam Curtis’ Union Army of the Southwest, until Curtis extricated his army and placed it in a well-entrenched position on the plateau of Pea Ridge.…