page_title: Arkansas Militia in the Civil War
section_title: State troops and the Battle of Wilson's Creek
hierarchical_section_title: Arkansas Militia in the Civil War / Militia operations: Spring and Summer 1861 / State troops and the Battle of Wilson's Creek
caption_attribution_description: English: Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, CSA; commanded the First (western) Division of the Arkansas Army in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek (Oak Hills) on August 10, 1861; served subsequently as a Confederate commissary officer.
context_page_description: The units of the Arkansas Militia in the Civil War to which the current Arkansas National Guard has a connection include the Arkansas State Militia, Home Guard, and State Troop regiments raised by the State of Arkansas. Like most of the United States, Arkansas had an organized militia system before the American Civil War. State law required military service of most male inhabitants of a certain age. Following the War with Mexico the Arkansas militia experienced a decline, but as sectional frictions between the north and south began to build in the late 1850s the militia experienced a revival. By 1860 the state's militia consisted of 62 regiments divided into eight brigades, which comprised an eastern division and a western division. New regiments were added as the militia organization developed. Additionally, many counties and cities raised uniformed volunteer companies, which drilled more often and were better equipped than the un-uniformed militia. These volunteer companies were instrumental in the seizure of federal installations at Little Rock and Fort Smith, beginning in February 1861.
context_section_description: Brigadier General Pearce, who lived in Benton County, established the headquarters, 1st Division, Provisional Army of Arkansas at Camp Walker at Maysville. Thus when a Union army began operating around Springfield in Southwest Missouri, Pearce's state troops were nearby. Pearce's troops, which are referred to as a brigade of State Troops in the official accounts of the battle, numbered 2,234 troops. Pearce agreed to co-operate with Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch and his force of about 8,000 other soldiers from several commands, to form a sizable force and immediately marched toward Springfield. On August 10, 1861, Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, the forceful commander of Union troops in Missouri, attacked the Confederates. The ensuing day-long battle was fought on a number of fronts. Captain William E. Woodruff, Jr., commander of the Pulaski Light Artillery, engaged in a fierce artillery duel with Captain James Totten, who had only a few months earlier surrendered the Federal Arsenal at Little Rock. Captain Totten found himself with an opportunity to gain revenge, and his cannons roared throughout the day.
  The Battle of Wilson's Creek came to an abrupt and inglorious halt when the Union commander was killed. Leaderless and outnumbered five-to-one, the bluecoats fled the battlefield. The Arkansas troops played a major role in winning the battle, but paid a heavy price for victory.  Two Arkansas units suffered particularly heavy casualties. Colonel Thomas J. Churchill's 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles counted 42 killed and 155 wounded out of 600 men. Colonel John Gratiot's 3rd Arkansas Infantry, State Troops suffered 109 casualties, including 25 killed, out of a force of 500 men.
caption: Brigadier General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, Commander, Western Division, Provisional Army of Arkansas
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