The Desha County Artillery was assigned to Colonel Emmett MacDonald's brigade of Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke's division of Major General Thomas C. Hindman's 1st Corps, Army of the Trans-Mississippi during the Prairie Grove Campaign. At that time the battery consisted of sixty one men, one 6-pounder field gun, and two 12-pounder field guns. The unit did not join Marmaduke's force until after the Battle of Cane Hill on November 28, 1862. According to Captain West's report on the Battle of Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862, Brigadier General Marmaduke ordered the battery to support Brigadier General Fagan's brigade of Shoup's Division. The battery fired in support of Shoup's Division until driven off by the rifled guns of the union artillery. The battery then supported Brigadier General Roan's brigade until nightfall ended the battle.