, 1862-12-20
Ul)ifa9o Qribn1re.
BATTLE OF PRAIRIE Gn0VEE. {.
The Victory More Compile than
First Stated.
Highly Interesting Details OIL
tFle E5sattIc.

present sah bUhA W IiE DCCASiDNS a1n1tu 10.
The details are as follows:
Gen. Blunt had advanced some twenty miles
south Of Fayetteville, Arkansas. with his forces,
and there drawn the attuck Of Hndman- who |
advanced upon Him rapidly from Van Buren,, |
with about 3o,o0o troops and twenty-two
pieces Of artillery Blunt, with his little band |
Of IL, coo men ut Cane Hill, would have been ;
but mouthful Tor such an immense army Of I
well disciplined soldicry as this. He knew lis /
danger and sent hurried messages to General |
Heron, who has the command Of the I'd and |
Sd divisions Of the ARMY Of the Frontier, and !
YVES 1T that time ut Wilson's Creek, four miles I
south If Springfield, Mo. The moment Gen.
Heron received intelligence Of Gen Blunt's |
danger he set his army in motion and made
forced marches, accomplishing the feat Of !
miles it tire days, and his cuulay one hundred
ara Mi,sy-tno nt;lts iat teo days aad a ha!f.
On the morning of tie Tth inst, as the ad- |
vance guard, consisting Of the LIST Arkansas |
cavalry and portion Of the 9Th and fth Mis-
south bank Of Illinois Greek, ten miles south
Of Fayetteville, they we're fired upon from
ambush aud thrown into panic that resulted |
in rout, aud thc loss Of their baggage train
Of twenty-four wagons. They went flying |
main body, when they were rallied once more
Major Hubbard, Of Pea Ridge fame, with a
portion Of two companies Of the LIST Mis-
souri cavalry, tried to stem the tide Of
the rebels, but without success. Their
superior numbers bore down everything be-
fore them, and amongst Others this little band.
Major Hubbard himself aud two Of bis Lieu
tenants were captured, and the remainder
forced to retreat at double quick. Our infAn-
try were soon brought forward, and a few
lieces Of ;artiiery got into position that sent
the bold scoundrels back as rapidly as they
came. Gen Heron followed up his advantage
as quickly as possible, and sot,n found himself
in contact with the mail rebelforee.
This splendid army, contrary to our expec-
tatiions, was well clothed, well armed and
diers. II consisted Of Il corps Of 20 600 men,
commanded By Gen. Hind:nan, and Nas i'll
four divisions, commanded respectively by
Generals Parsons, A1armaduke, Rims and
Frost, aud was supported by park Of arti1-
| 1e,y If twenty-five guns. Besides this, they
had !: great adyantasc in position. The battle
field was Il magnificent stretch Of open ground
| skirIcl OF. The cast by an abrupt hill, coGercd
| with thick woods. On this bluff, concealed
| by the forest, were posted the rebels III fall
| force.
| Our frrces only number 1000. and consisted
Of the following i11fantry: The .4th and 3?itl
| Illinois; the 18th and 2Oth Iowa; the eth In-
| diana and Goth Wisconsin. III addition to
| thrsc were four companies of artillery who
worked twenty~fonr guns, aud some half Il
worn down by 4 long and continuous forced
| march, and some Of them had been without
food for twcnty-four hours. However, when
The bail ol,cned they deploycd into the field
with loud huzzas, and went at the work in
land with great bravery. It took some little
lime 10 get int position aud place the batte-
rlc- i'll TIE most commanding localities, and it
was fully 10 oulock j. III. before5thc artillery
duel was in full voice. As may be imagined,
f,rty-tiyc Or fifty cannon well manned and dis
charged as rapidly as possible, nr,ke Il trc~
lucntloue racket. This was kept up until
dark, wl.c.1 by that time green troops who
had never seen 4 cannon before Laid down
within 4 yard Of a gun and slept, undlsturbesl
l,y the firing. We lid not lusc Il single 1na1,
throughout the whole day byartiIlery, though
! :: scurt or two Of horses Were killed. OuE
| ..l,1il1ers wvre much more skilled and precise
il, their aim than the rebels, (which was shown
by the result:
Upon The bluff or ridge occupied by the
seecsh, were many fine firm houses, which had
been erected upon the elevation to escape TIT
damps and vapors Of the plain below. From
the rear of two Of these houses, Was Kept III
| :. well directed fire of some eight or nine guns
Gen. Heron ordered the whole fire of ou. ar
tillery to be directed upon the one nearest K
liz, and silenccd it in ten minutes.
1e20tll Wisconsin infantry, led by Lieut.
Col. Bertram, then charged up the hill AM
took hc battery upon double quick The,
lad nn sooner gained possession Of the wei
earned prize, than the rebels arose in myriad
| from the bushes in tile rear Of tho garden eon
/
| trr into the ranks Of our boys that sent thel
columns reeling back down the dccliyit,
| again, with great loss Of life aad limb. Ii
, tIis struggle 1877 were reported officially u
I killed and wounded.
Within twenty minutes afterwards. the 1911
! Iowa. with the t;alllntTy characteristic Of tn!
, soldiers nf thai State, essaycd the vain fea
:, with similar ill success Tl,cy performed deed
ofvaor almost Incredible, and shed their eli hloo'
in torrents, but it WAS I'LL useless. They re
took tho battery. and were on the point .
removing il within our lines, When the rebel
poured il upon them in endless number: an
;. fiycd them ''acss NTH 5tr:1t slaughter. Lieut.
Col. Mcfarland. who led this glorious charge
lost his life, am, 1:s,Ey privatcs were also lei
y upon the field. The cotor-bearcr rallied tb
y regiment TWICE. .,llit led them mp to tue yer
. ca1lnon's mouth. This battery was afterward
entirely disabled. the horsvs killed, and gu
carrlagcs trri:tsl 10 pieces by the fire Of Oh
> Of urr t:ltteries. which hl the ln.rk thus pre-
cIscly at a dist;:;;.'.' Of more than mile, wit
missiles disri,ar:ctd from Parrott guns. Fiy
caisofss filled with ammunition were subs.
quent1y captured and brought away.
The different rebel batteries we're silence
J., one by one, until the booming of the tanuo
e had nearly celscd. The emmy perceived til;
ID nothing could l,e accomplished at long rang
50 they nassed themselves upon our front ii,
= both ilankj and commenced moving fOrWA1
to capture our batteries. Immense hord.
came out Of the woods on our left and sprea
upon the field. locking from Il distance like
nest Of ants Our infantry seemed me
handful in comparison to this multitude, bl
they held them in check while Coles batte
ran III, and siuck their guns under their ye
g noses and fired canister into them with SUI
y deadly effect as to cause them first to pau
in their career, then lie down. and final
hastily to retreat. Again they made their Il
rcarsl1lcc still farther on the left, in Il numb
!. batteries again opened fire briskly, aud for
time the fortunes Of the battle seemed again
ea cn us. The immense and overwhelming ol
- enabled them to lsar:,ss and approach US iso
three directions. The greatest discourasil
DIS circumstance. however, was in the fact that
e. trc1ne Tighs, nearly two miles from our CT
1T 1T ter. This was a 5 o'clock in the afternoo
-. Agood portion Of our infantry Was fearfu
'Se crl up, and nearly disheastened-
500. Everyth'ng, nearly, pointed to defeat
nee Backof and the Peoria battery kept pouri
CALLING fire into the opposing forces. 7
men were again rallied, and 1T half past thT
the Ilippity Of the shells, the booming;
the cannon, and the continuous roll of
o"' mined to hold the field if possible till dark
all The rebels fought desperately, and seer,
Te. no more to regard 4 shower Of bullets q
,cks storm Of grape than if it had been but su
he nscr wind. No sooner had solid 81
taall I'll ploughcd its way through their columns {
tIes Ies shell opened gap in their lines, than the
axe c:ncies were filed by others. They advan
steadily once more uIon our left, and til
- We knew would be the hottest tug of the d
es'- '''Tis darkest Just before. the dawn 50
one has said. Twas SO in our case. B.
bold movement the rebels were once nj
checked, and just then the word came that
,tes. firing on our extreme right 7ras thtf Of 6
h,a. HuH{, arho had dTs,i,ed sitA strong battery
tirnn | a1ent ,gfsr thousand n's7. This intelligc
'' added new courage to our men, and SCI
me figur into every movement that meant Wet
it or death.
General Blunt ranged his twenty -four pis
'anl and in line and opened CALLING fire upon
fur. left wing Of the rebel army, and drew 4
bcrs ton Of their attention towards his for
Thcy advanced upon him from the woods
. | louble-auick, i'll eight ranks, seemingly h;
nile long. They went down gentle snlc
slope, will, an easy pray apparently in Y!
- When they had got to a certain point, vi
ca canister range, he opened his entire fire II
ated them, t4fairly lif: iny them from the grou,
E is as lie afterwards described it. This ellet
con: their impetuosity and put terror into t
,aviy hearts, but still they went Oh. Another
CIR another yolley was giEen to them until
n broke and fled, and when the renlnont Of
1zey. stor1Ding party had left the field the gre
In was strewn and piled with rebel slain. In
81 w. meantime our boys had not been idle. !
- pressed The enemy hoty at every point,
18th is the sun went down they were falling
in every direction. Before it had bee
fully dark the only sounds Of firing heard
ARY | those Of our OVID musketry and cannon.
'sipni field was won and the victory gained.
,ssa. AT 9 O'Clock Of the same evening the CT,